Paul Revere

Heroic Rider of the American Revolution

1735 Born in Boston, Massachusetts
1756
 
Became Boston’s most renowned
silversmith
1760 – Mastered copper-plate engraving
1773 A “Mohawk” in the Boston Tea Party
1773-74 Courier for the Sons of Liberty
1774-75
 
Courier for the Massachusetts Provincial
Assembly
1775 Served on the Committee of Correspondence
1775
 
April 19th – Warned the country of the march
of British Troops to Lexington and Concord
1775 Printed the first Continental money
1778-79 Lieutenant Colonel of Artillery
1788 Established a foundry in Boston
1818 Died in Boston, Massachusetts

 

How did Paul Revere warn the American Colonists of the British Troops’ march to Lexington and Concord?

Paul Revere was a member of Christ Church (Old North Church), Boston. On April 17, 1775, learning that the British regulars were about to march on Concord and Lexington, he arranged for lanterns to be hung in the tall steeple of his church. The enduring fame of Christ Church, Boston, and its place in America’s history is derived from an April 18, 1775, midnight lighting of “two lanterns” by the sexton, Robert Newman – signaling the British Troops’ arrival by sea rather than – “one lantern,” designating their arrival by land.
Upon viewing the signal lanterns, Revere was rowed across the Charles River with muffled oars to the Charlestown shore, from which began his midnight gallop on horseback to Medford and Lexington, alarming minutemen at every house – “the British are coming, the British are coming!” Samuel Adams and John Hancock – there being a warrant against them for opposing British rule – were warned by Revere in Lexington. Continuing this ride, he was stopped by British scouts, but managed to return to Lexington, where he rescued a trunkful of documents belong to John Hancock.1
It was thus, due to Paul Revere’s two lanterns lit in Christ Church’s steeple, and his heroic midnight ride, that the American militia was alarmed, and “the shot heard round the world” was fired the following day on Lexington Green.
Christ Church (Old North Church), Boston was founded in 1722, its first worship service taking place on December 29, 1723. Rev. Timothy Cutler, D.D., former President of Yale College became its first pastor.2

To learn more, click here. (Founders’ book)

___________________________

Bibliography:

1

Christ Church (Old North Church), Boston. Official Documentation.

2

Ibid.

 


Books and DVD
×