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Paul Revere (1734-1818)
A revolutionary patriot and noted American silversmith, Revere
was born in Boston, the son of French Huguenots. Revere became a
celebrated silversmith, considered by many to having been the best
of his time. Paul was also a goldsmith, made copper engravings,
surgical instruments, dental plates and political cartoons for the
patriot cause.
Revere's knowledge of the feelings of the
average working man and his ties with them were instrumental in
developing grass roots support for the Revolution.
In 1770
he created the famous engraving of the "Boston Massacre," became a
leader of the Sons of Liberty and helped organize the Boston Tea
Party.
After only getting a couple hours of sleep, Revere carried
news of the Boston Tea Party to New York City and Philadelphia and
by the opening shots of the Revolutionary War he was a respected
figure throughout the colonies, having logged thousands of miles to
inform of Boston's latest political move.
Revere is most famous for his ride from Boston to Lexington to
warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British troops
intended to arrest them and seize military supplies that had been
stored by local minuteman in Concord.
Along the way he alerted the
Middlesex County minuteman of the impending arrival of the British
troops. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized the event in
his 1861 poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”
During the latter part of the war Revere served as an officer and
engraved the first Continental money and the official
Massachusetts seal.
After the war Revere set up a foundry and manufactured gunpowder,
copper balls, cannons, stoves, and numerous church bells many of
which are still rung today in steeples throughout New England.
Revere invented a method to roll copper and, using the process,
sheathed the dome of the new State House on Beacon Hill and the
bottom of Old Ironsides, the U.S.S. Constitution.
Jimmy’s Tangents:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was inspired to write his poem, The
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, while visiting Old North Church on
the 85th anniversary of the event (1860)
First published in the January 1861 edition of The Atlantic
Monthly magazine it was an effort to inspire Americans to the
Union Cause by highlighting the fact that one person can make a
difference
Poem Inaccuracy #1: the signals were not to Revere but from
Revere to fellow Patriots on the Charlestown side of the bay in
case Revere was captured crossing
Poem Inaccuracy #2: Revere surely did not say, "The British are
coming! The British are coming!" because Revere and all others
were still British subjects at the time
He more likely said: "The Regulars are coming!" or
“The Lobsterbacks are coming!”
Poem inaccuracy #3: Although Revere and fellow rider William
"Billy" Dawes (Dawes took the longer land route) did reach
Lexington to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock that the Regulars
were on their way, neither rider completed the ride to Concord but
were captured (Revere) or escaped (Dawes) British patrols
A Dr. Samuel Prescott, whom Revere
and Dawes ran into on
their way to Concord, was returning from a late courting call and
as a trusted local member of the Sons of Liberty readily agreed to
join in their mission, escaped a patrol of Royal Troops that
captured Revere and Dawes, and completed the most famous horse
ride in history
After the use of Old North Church's steeple to display the
infamous lantern signals, the Old West Church had its steeple torn
down so as to not be used for similar signaling across the bay to
Cambridge and Charlestown
Biographer Esther Forbes noted
that near the end of his life if Revere wanted to see many of his
old friends, he would come down here to the Old Granary Burying
Ground
The largest bell Revere ever cast at his foundry was the 2,437
lb. model still used at King's Chapel, a stone’s throw away; upon
Revere's death in May of 1818, the bell was slowly rung in his
honor 83 times, one ring for every year of Paul’s longest and most
productive ride of all – life.
On January 17, 1950, hours before the men who would commit the
largest cash robbery up to that time in American history, The
Great Brinks Robbery, lead thief Tony Pino called each of his ten
other cohorts with the coded message "Paul Revere is off!" to
signal that the robbery was to go ahead that night
One of the most successful groups of the sixties, Paul Revere
and the Raiders, was indeed led by a man named in honor of the
Midnight Rider and was started in…where else…Boise, Idaho
(Gotcha!)
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