A THE TRUE STORY OF PAUL REVERE k THE TRUE STORY OF PAUL REVE R E HIS MIDNIGHT RIDE HIS ARREST AND COURT-MARTIAL HIS USEFUL PUBLIC SERVICES BY CHARLES FERRIS GETTEMY ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1905 ITHE LJSRARY ©F :' j CONGRESS; Two CoDies ^isnejvad •' SEP 2d 1905 ■ T Aa Copyright^ 1905, By Little, Brown, and Company. All rights reserved. Published October, 1905 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. TO MY WIFE Acknowledgment THE thoroughness with which Mr. E. H. Goss several years ago examined the Revere family papers, and which rendered a duplication of that labor by subsequent historians superfluous, is en- titled to frank recognition. Wherever in the prep- aration of this volume the author has had occasion to quote from these manuscript documents which Mr. Goss first made public he has endeavored to give due credit to the service of that biographer whose two- volume memoir this little book is in no sense intended to supplant, though it is hoped it may fill a demand for a short, concise, and unbiased record of the career of one of the most interesting and picturesque charac- ters of the Revolutionary era. Other authorities consulted have been the Massachusetts records in the original manuscripts preserved in the archives of the commonwealth, the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the publications of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, the news- papers, almanacs, etc., of the period covered by Revere's life, and authentic biographies of Revere's / contemporaries. [vii] Acknowledgment The author wishes also to acknowledge the courtesy of the publishers of the New England Magazine for permission to reproduce substantially the whole of his article, " The True Story of Paul Revere'*s Ride,"" which appeared in that periodical for April, 1902. C. F. G. BosTOK, March 1, 1905. [viii] Contents Page Foreword . . xiii I. The Patriotic Engraver (1735-1774) 1 II. The Messenger of the Gathering Revo- lution (1773-1775) 46 III. The Midnight Ride of April 18, 1775 72 IV. The Citizen and Soldier (1775-1777) 125 V. The Penobscot Scandal and Court- Martial of Revere (1778-1782) 173 VI. The Man of Business after the War (1782-1804) 218 VII. The Declining Years of a Useful Life (1795-1818) 257 [ix] List of Illustrations Paul Revere, from the Portrait by Gilbert Stuart Frontispiece Revere's Engraving of the Boston Massacre . Page 23 Revere's Picture of Boston in 1768 . . . . " 30 The Hancock-Clarke Parsonage, Lexington, Mass '' 76 The Old North Church '' 93 Paul Revere's Ride. From the Painting by Robert Reid, in the State House, Boston .. " 102 Pasture where Paul Revere was taken . . . "114 A View of the Green in Lexington where the British Troops first fired upon the Ameri- cans in 1775 "119 Facsimile of Paul Revere's Bill for Messenger Service "121 General Gage's Headquarters "146 The Old Powder Factory at Canton, Mass. . "171 The Paul Revere House, North Square . . " 282 [xi] Foreword BIOGRAPHIES there are in increasing number of great men who, from the council-chambers of statecraft or upon the floors of parliaments, have formulated policies, and, within the Hmits of human guidance, have directed the currents of the world's history. This little book is of a different sort. It is only the plain, unglossed record of an American patriot of humble origin, who, in his character and career, ex- emplified the traits that have from the earliest settlements formed the real basis of the civilization that came to conquer the western hemisphere. Paul Revere was not a statesman. Nor was he, in the usual acceptance of the term, even a great man. His immediate paternal ancestor had crossed the seas to carve out [ xiii ] Foreword success in the new world, and had educated his son in the shop and the school. The time was big with portentous events. The wonderful new ideas of the rights of man were causing Europe to throb with the pulse- beats of human liberty, and rude pioneers in America were unconsciously becoming the subjects of the same stirring emotions. Men like Otis, Hancock, Warren, and the Adamses soon began to disturb the peace by agitating against the abstract tyrannies of the mother country, and wherever they blazed the way they found ready and willing followers. Revere was one of the latter. He had the keen zest of the citizen whose patriotism is of the lusty type that causes him to wish to take an active part in all movements that make for civic progress, and civic progress from 1760 to the Revolution meant enlight- ened resistance to British parliamentary aggression. He was, as has just been said, a follower ; but if he was not by virtue of natural ability or Harvard College education capable of taking a place around the council boards of [xiv] Foreword statesmen, he recognized the part he was fitted to play, and he generally played it well. If he could not rise to a seat in the legislature, he could succeed in getting elected a fire- ward in the town of Boston ; and if he could not acquire the eminence of the bench, he was at least not to be condemned to the commonplace lot of one who had never crossed the threshold of a court, for his un- bridled temper caused him on one occasion to be arrested and fined for assault. To his country and the cause of liberty he rendered patriotic, useful service, sharing the hard- ships which the Continental Army every- where endured in the war; and in his financial dealings with the government he hardly ever failed to send in bills for work performed which the authorities deemed ex- travagant charges and pruned down accord- ingly. Yet he coupled with such thrifty business traits, which enabled him to die rich, a restive, pugnacious temperament that was probably responsible for some personal enmi- ties and may have caused him to chafe under discipline when serving under the military [XV] Foreword command of superiors. Indeed, he had to endure the humihation, in the closing years of the Revolution, of an arrest for cowardice and disobedience to orders, and a trial by court-martial. The author, however, hastens to assure the reader to whom this little-known episode in Revere's career may come as a shocking revelation that the hero of the midnight ride came through this fiery ex- perience with a tardy acquittal to his credit, and his reputation does not appear to have been substantially damaged by it. He after- wards participated in numerous public- spirited movements, and at the age of eighty headed a list of one hundred and fifty North End mechanics who signified their willing- ness to perform manual labor in throwing up fortifications to keep the British out of Boston. Most men like Revere — somewhat above the average of the mass, but not possessing the usual elements of enduring fame — pass out of life eulogized by their fellow-citizens ; remembered by a circle of admiring and re- specting friends until they also pass away; [xvi] Foreword and are ultimately forgotten, finding no place upon the pages of written history. Paul Revere was rescued from this fate by an accident, — the witchery of a poet's imagina- tion. His famous ride on the night of the 18th of April, 1775, remained unsung, if not unhonored, for eighty-eight years, or until Longfellow, in 1863, made it the text for his Landlord's Tale in the Wayside Inn. Some one signing himself " Eb. Stiles " had, to be sure, written a poem about 1795 which he called the " Story of the Battle of Concord and Lexington, and Revere's Ride Twenty Years Ago," and in which he said : He spared neither horse, nor whip, nor spur. As he galloped through mud and mire ; He thought of naught but liberty And the lanterns that hung from the spire. But Stiles did nothing else in a literary way to perpetuate his name, and he failed to find a publisher capable of rescuing his verses from obscurity. It is to Longfellow's simple and tuneful ballad that most persons undoubtedly owe [ xvii ] Foreword their knowledge of the fact that a man of the name of Revere really did something on the eve of the historic skirmish at Lexington which is worth remembering. The true character of Revere's services, both on the occasion of this particular ride, and during the period preceding, has been a matter of comparatively recent recognition. Bancroft mentions the incident of Revere's ride in the edition of his history published in 1858 ; Hildreth says the alarm had been given, without mentioning Revere's name ; Palfrey, whose History of New England is brought down to the battle of Bunker Hill, says : " They [the British] were watched and, by signals before agreed upon, the movement was made known to the people on the other side." He does not allude to Revere. From the majesty of the closing lines of the poem For, borne on the night- wind of the past. Through all our history, to the last. In the hour of darkness and peril and need. The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of the steed. And the midnight message of Paul Revere. [ xviii ] Foreword it might seem that we are indebted to Long- fellow for some instinctive appreciation of the historic significance of the episode inde- pendent of its poetic value. But poetry and history sometimes become sadly enmeshed, and the language in which such a combination is clothed often remains fixed and is finally accepted as a record of fact. It is one of the missions of poetry and fiction to give glimpses of things in the in- tellectual and physical worlds, and an insight into the beginnings of great movements in history which vast numbers of people could get in no other way. It ought not, there- fore, to be improper or impertinent to inquire whether the poet and romancist, in so far as they deal with historic events and personages and with matters of verifiable record, might not find it possible to hew with greater fidelity, sometimes, to truth, without in any degree detracting from the poetic quality or interfering seriously with that license whose exercise may be essential to artistic literary expression. Such an inquiry is suggested in the once common tendency of historical [xix] Foreword narrative to draw upon poetry for embellish- ment and for the stimulation of a certain human interest in a story which otherwise might possibly make dull reading. Upon how many thousands of schoolboys who have declaimed the stirring lines of Longfellow's description of Paul Revere's ride, and upon how many thousands, too, of their elders has the picture drawn by the poet left its indelible impression ? Certainly it is the sum and substance of all their knowledge of the subject to hundreds of visitors who, every summer, wander through those old, narrow streets of the North End of Boston and gaze with reverence upon the graceful spire of Christ Church. The stone tablet^ placed in the wall of the tower by ^ The proposition for the placing of this tablet, when, brought forward in the Boston city government, precipi- tated a lively controversy. The right of Christ Church to the honor in question was stoutly challenged, it being urged that Revere's own allusion to the North Church steeple probably referred to another North Church located at that time elsewhere in the vicinity. The allegation was met and exhaustively examined by William W. Wheildon, and his views, which are in ac- [XX] Foreword order of the city government in 1878 tells them that THE SIGNAL LANTERNS OF PAUL REVERE DISPLAYED IN THE STEEPLE OF THIS CHURCH APRIL 18, 1775, WARNED THE COUNTRY OF THE MARCH OF THE BRITISH TROOPS TO LEXINGTON AND CONCORD From the summit of Copp's Hill, in the ancient burial ground near by, surrounded by tombstones marked by indentations which the guide-books say were caused by Revolutionary bullets, one may look across the mouth of the Charles, opening just at the cordance with the tradition in favor of Christ Church, are now generally accepted. Another claim brought forward at about the same time, to the effect that Revere' s friend whom he selected to display the signals was one John Pulling, likewise deserves to be rejected. Revere has not left us the name of his friend, but a mass of traditionary evidence supports the belief that he was Robert Newman, the sexton of the church. Many of the parishioners were loyal to their Church of England instincts and adhered to the King's cause, but Newman was a consistent and fervent American patriot, [xxi] Foreword foot of the height into the harbor, and — shutting out from present view the ugly grain elevators, the black coal wharves, the masts of the ships, and Charlestown's brick walls beyond — try to conjure up the vision of the poet's fancy : the stout-hearted mes- senger of the Revolution ferried across the stream under the shadow of the forbidding man-of-war Somerset, his safe landing on the opposite shore, his impatient and fretful slapping of his horse's side as he stands booted and spurred and strains his eyes for a glimpse of the signal rays from the steeple of the old church ; then the ride out through the villages and farms of Middlesex until, in the lines of the poet, — It was two by the village clock. When he came to the bridge in Concord town. It may seem a pity to mar this work of art by the homely daubs of fact ; yet a faith- ful limning of the scene as it was really en- acted would necessitate some retouching. It ought not to be difficult to do this without in any essential respect spoiling the liveliness or romantic spirit of the picture. To be [ xxii ] Foreword sure, the poet's statement that Revere reached Concord was long ago shown to have been incorrect ; but its persistent viriHty only- goes to prove that truth is not the only thing which, crushed to earth, will rise again. The impression, however, is yet more common that the signal lanterns were placed in the North Church steeple forRevere's benefit, and that he waited on the Charlestown shore for the message they were to convey before he was able to start on his journey. The facts are that Revere had all the desired informa- tion before he left Boston, and that the lights were hung out at his instance as a warning to others, who might know by them the necessity of arousing the country in the event of his capture while being rowed across the river. Almost all of the accounts that have been published in popular histories and school text-books of the hanging of the lanterns, those written both before and since Long- fellow's poem appeared, are curiously inac- curate. John Stetson Barry in his History of Massachusetts, published in 1856,^ makes ^ p. 509. [ xxiii ] Foreword an allusion to Revere saying : " A lantern was displayed by Paul Revere in the upper window of the tower of the North Church in Boston" ; and George Lowell Austin in his History of Massachusetts, published twenty years after Barry's work, copies the latter 's statement.^ Even John Fiske, usually as accurate in detail as he is safe in his general- izations, did not take Revere's narrative as his authority, else he would hardly have said^ : ** Crossing the broad river in a little boat under the very guns of the Somerset man-of-war and waiting on the farther bank until he learned from a lantern suspended in the belfj^y ^ of the North Church which way the troops had gone, Revere took horse," etc. The looseness with which Lossing al- lowed himself to write is nowhere more ap- parent than in his allusions to this historic episode. In his Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution^ he says: **Paul Revere and 1 p. 300. 2 The American Revolution, Vol I, p. 121. ^ Italics are mine. — C. F. G. * Vol. I, p. 523. [ xxiv] Foreword William Dawes had just rowed across the river to Charlestown with a message from Warren to Hancock and Adams at Lexing- ton." Dawes, of course, did not accompany Revere, and Lossing, in Our Country,^ cor- rects himself in this respect, but still, serenely careless of his assertions, says : " William Dawes had gone over the Neck to Roxbury on horseback with a message from Warren to Hancock and Adams, and Warren and Revere were at Charlestown awaiting de- velopments of events." Such a statement can be reconciled with itself only upon the supposition that A^^arren, after despatching Dawes, went over to Charlestown and there joined Revere, — a proposition purely gra- tuitous. Lossing not unnaturally also follows other writers in giving the impression that Revere engaged a friend "to give him a timely signal " from the North Church, when, as a matter of fact. Revere personally had no use whatever for such a signal. But it so happens that we have the highest possible authority upon which to rely for an ip. 775. [ XXV ] Foreword account of the events of that night. Revere himself was not so modest and self-effacing as to fall short of appreciating, at something like its full value, the importance of his ser- vices to the cause of liberty on the 18th of April, 1775 ; and posterity, fortunately, has a circumspect and detailed narrative of his movements on that occasion written down by himself One must not, indeed, forget that the real worth of personal reminiscences, as authority for history, is frequently a mat- ter of doubt, and that inaccurate statements, due to a treacherous memory or a faulty perspective, are common occurrences in auto- biographies. But when there is no indis- putable and unprejudiced record that can be cited to controvert an autobiographical narration, and when there is no reason to doubt the truthful purpose of the author, such an account is entitled to stand, and does stand, as an authority outranking all others. Revere's own story of his midnight ride, though written after a lapse of several years, has this quality. None of its assertions in [ xxvi ] Foreword all the warfare of antiquarians and pamphle- teers has been successfully refuted; and no one can read it now without a conscious feeling that here, indeed, is a document from the historic past which will preserve a patriot's fame from the iconoclasm of the modern investigator, even though it may itself make a little iconoclastic havoc among poets and romancers. The historian who likes to select for his chronicles only those deeds which may be pleasing to his sense of patriotism may well be pardoned for ignoring the ill-starred Penobscot Expedition, despatched in the summer of 1779 by the Massachusetts Council against the British on the coast of Maine. It was an episode of the Revolution entirely out of the current of great events, and it cannot be ascertained that it had the slightest influence upon them. It resulted in disaster so complete, so utterly without excuse, and so thoroughly discreditable to American arms as to make its contempla- tion without feelings of shame and humilia- tion impossible. An overwhelming force of [ xxvii ] Foreword Colonial troops, through the clear cowardice of an admiral bearing the proud name of Saltonstall, allowed itself to be frightened into ignominious and panic-stricken desertion of its post of duty by a ridiculously ill- equipped enemy. The ensuing scandal be- smirched reputations hitherto untarnished, and the State of Massachusetts was plunged, on account of the expedition, into a debt of nearly a million and three-quarters pounds sterling. Commodore Saltonstall is sup- posed to have been court-martialled and cashiered ; General Lovell, who commanded the land forces, was acquitted only after a searching inquiry ; and Paul Revere was arrested on charges of cowardice, censured, after an investigation, court-martialled, and at length, as the result of his own persistence, was grudgingly acquitted. This dubious episode is scarcely mentioned in the Revolutionary histories, but it was a serious event in Revere's life and came near stripping him of the laurels he had won by his earlier exploits in the patriot cause. Even now, while we are disposed to cast the [ xxviii ] Foreword mantle of charity over his conduct and ac- cept his own explanations at face value, it must be confessed that it is not possible to extract the exact truth from the official records and to render a wholly disinterested and impartial verdict upon the facts that have come down to us. These are therefore laid herewith before the reader : let him judge for himself. [ xxix ] The True Story of Paul Revere I — THE PATRIOTIC ENGRAVER 1735-1774 PAUL REVERE was born in Boston December 21, 1734, O. S. (January 1, 1735, N. S.). His father, for whom he was named, had come to this country from the isle of Guernsey to learn the goldsmith's trade, and in 1723, after a visit to his boyhood home, had returned to America, determined to settle here for life. Paul, Sr., was a Frenchman, and at birth was christened ApoUos Rivoire. His father's name was Isaac, and his mother's, Serenne Lambert. Isaac's parents, Jean and Magdelaine Rivoire, were of that heroic Huguenot band who were forced to flee their native land after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. in 1685. Simon, Isaac's eldest brother, emi- 1 [1] The True Story of Paul Bevere grated iSrst to Holland and then to Guern- sey, and it was to him that the lad ApoUos was sent at the age of thirteen. A hundred years later the American grandson received this copy of a record made by the careful Isaac : " Apollos Rivoire our son was born the thirtieth of November, 1702, about ten o'clock at night, and was baptized at Rian- caud, France. Apollos Rivoire my brother was his Godfather and Anne Maulmon, my sister-in-law, his Godmother. He set out for Guernsey the 21st of November, 1715." About the first thing young Apollos did after deciding to settle down in Boston permanently was to Anglicize his name, and, for reasons of euphony and conven- ience, he called himself henceforth Paul Revere. Six years after he had begun to fashion gold and silver plate and orna- ments for the people of Boston he had amassed a sufficient competency to warrant him in marrying, and so, June 19, 1729, [2] The Patriotic Engraver he took for his wife Deborah Hichborn, born in Boston January 29, 1704/ Twelve children w^ere born to this union, among them him who was to be known to history as the messenger of the Revolution. Young Paul was put to school under Master John Tileston, who for eighty years was connected with the North Grammar School on North Bennet Street, and about whose name and fame as a teacher cluster many interesting tales and much of the romance of the old North End during its eighteenth-century prosperity. When Re- vere left his school-books it was to graduate at once into his father's shop, where he quickly learned the trade, or, to speak more accurately, the art, of the gold and sil- ver smith, for he proved quite as skilled in drawing and designing patterns for pitchers, ewers, tankards, spoons, braisers, mugs, etc., as in the actual mechanical work of manufacturing them. ^ Paul Revere, the elder, died in Boston January 22, 1754 ; his wife died in 1777. [3] The True Story of Paul Revere In 1756 he had his first military expe- rience, being then twenty-one years old. This was in the expedition against Crown Point, in which he held a commission from Governor William Shirley as a second lieu- tenant in the artillery. The service, how- ever, proved uneventful. It continued for six months, the troops being stationed at Fort William Henry, Lake George, from May till November, when the fall of Forts Oswego and Ontario compelled the little band to retire to a place of safety, and, shortly after, to abandon the enterprise entirely. The summer following this service Re- vere married, Sarah Orne (born in Boston April 2, 1736) becoming his bride on the 17th of August, 1757. From that time forward he took an increasing and a prom- inent part in the political life of the time, and on one occasion, at least, his pugnacious disposition got him into the police court, where he had to pay a fine and be bound over to keep the peace. The record of this [4] The Patriotic Engraver affair/ which came under the jurisdiction of Richard Dana, one of His Majesty's justices of the peace for Suffolk County, runs : "1761, May 11. Tho« Fosdick compl* ag^ Paul Revere for assaulting & beating y^ complain^ as by y^ war^ on file. Def* pleads not guilty, after a full hearing it appears he is guilty. Jud that he pay a fine of C|8, to y^ king & pay costs tax'd at 12|9 & be bound to keep y® peace & be of good behav^ until y^ next gen^ Sessions &c himself in <£10. with 2 Sureties in £5. each, standing convict*^ till perform'^." This entry is endorsed: "1761 May 11. Paul Revere principal, recog^ in £10. NatW Fosdick hatter & Joshua Bracket copper-smith both of Bos- ton Sureties in £5. each to keep y^ peace ^ Copied from a blank-book belonging to Judge Dana, in the possession of his great-great-granddaughter, Eliz- abeth EUery Dana of Cambridge. — Goss' Life of Revere j Vol. 2, p. 667. [5] The True Story of Paul Revere & be of good behav^ until y^ next Court of gen^ Sessions &e according to y^ jud. on y^ other side recorded." But for the most part Revere was no doubt a law-abiding citizen. He was cer- tainly an industrious one, and increased his income from his regular business by turn- ing his mechanical skill to account in many ingenious ways. He even tried dentistry, as appears from an advertisement in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal:'^ "WHEREAS, many Persons are so unfortunate as to lose their Fore-Teeth by Accident, and otherways, to their great Detriment, not only in Looks, but speaking both in Public and Private : — This is to inform all such, that they may have them re-placed with artificial Ones, that looks as well as the Natural & answers the End of Speaking to all Intents, by PAUL RE- VERE, Goldsmith near the head of Dr. Clarke's Wharf, Boston. ^ Issue of September 19, 1768. [6] The Patriotic Engraver " ^^^ All Persons who have had false Teeth fixt by Mr. John Baker, Surgeon Dentist, and they have got loose (as they will in Time) may have them fastened by the above who learnt the Method of fixing them from Mr. Baker." Another advertisement which appeared in the same journal two years later ^ conveys a succinct account of Revere's professional skill: " ARTIFICIAL TEETH ' PAUL REVERE " Takes this IMethod of returning his most Sincere Thanks to the Gentlemen and Ladies who have Employed him in the care of their Teeth he would now inform them and all others, who are so unfortunate as to lose their Teeth by accident or other- ways, that he still continues the Business of a Dentist, and flatters himself that from the Experience he has had these ^ Issue of July 30, 1770. [T] The True Story of Paul Revere Two years (in which time he has fixt some Hundreds of Teeth) that he can fix them as well as any Surgeon-Dentist who ever came from London, he fixes them in such a Manner that they are not only an Orna- ment, but of real Use in Speaking and Eat- ing; He cleanses the Teeth and will wait on any Gentleman or Lady at their Lodg- ings, he may be spoke with at his shop oppo- site Dr. Clark's at the North End where the Gold and Silversmith's Business is carried on in all its Branches." An instance of Revere's dentistry came to light and served an important purpose when in 1776, after the evacuation of Bos- ton, General Joseph Warren's body was ex- humed by his friends from its unmarked burial place on Bunker Hill for the purpose of proper interment.^ The brothers of ^ Article by General William H. Sumner, New Eng- land Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 12, p. 11 9. Warren's body was reinterred in the Old Granary Burial Ground under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Masons. Perez Morton delivered the oration, and Revere [8] The Patriotic Engraver General Warren and his physician were re- inforced in their identification of the body- by Revere, who had set an artificial tooth for the general, and who testified that he recognized the wire he used in fastening it. But it was as an engraver on copper that Revere saw an opportunity for his skill as a draftsman to find perhaps its most con- genial outlet, since the exciting political events of the time readily lent themselves to pictorial treatment, and in a period long before the days of illustrated newspapers could be turned to good financial account. By 1765 his reputation as a clever, if some- what crude, caricaturist was established. In that year he brought out an elaborate allegorical expression of the sentiments of the patriots incensed over the Stamp Act. This odious piece of legislation was per- sonified by a dragon, in front of which stood a man with drawn sword, representing Boston. New York, Rhode Island, New was designated by the lodge to convey its thanks to the orator for his effort. [9] The True Story of Paul Bevere Hampshire, Virginia, and the other colonies are portrayed crowding to the front and backing up Hampden, while the treacher- ous Pym lies prostrate on the ground beneath the dragon's claws. Behind the monster an officer of the Crown is seen dangling from a branch of the Liberty Tree.^ Accompanying the picture is an explanatory bit of pompous verse which reveals Revere's ambition to indulge in lit- erary composition, an ambition productive of results quite as ornate and wonderful as ever came of his skill as an engraver: America ! see thy freebom sons advance And at thy Tyrant point the threatne Lance ! Who with grim Horror opes his Hell-like Jaws, And MAGNA CHART A grasps between his Claws. Lo BOSTON brave ! unstain'd by Placemen's Bribe ' Attack the Monster and his venal Tribe.' See loyal Hampden to his Country true. Present his Weapon to the odious Crew ; ^ The " Liberty Tree," an elm beneath whose spread- ing limbs the patriots used to hold informal meetings, stood near the corner of what are now Washington and Essex Streets. [10] The Patriotic Engraver See 'fore him prostrate treacherous PYM doth fall And A-Sejanus loud for Mercy call ! Whilst brave RHODE ISLAND & NEW YORK support, HAMPDEN and FREEDOM, in their brave Effort : Front to VIRGINIA, bold NEW HAMPSHIRE stands All firmly sworn to shake off slavish Bands And each united Province faithful joins Against the Monster and his curst designs, Mounted aloft perfidious H k you see. Scorned by his Country, fits the Rope & Tree ; This be the real Fate ! a fittest Place For Freedom's Foes a selfish scornful Race ! ^ Above behold where Spite & Envy squirt Their VENOM on the Heads they cannot hurt ; But lo MINERVA with her Spear and Shield' Appears with Hopes to make the Harpies yield. The news of the repeal of the Stamp Act reached Boston May 16, 1766, having been brought by Captain Shubael Coffin of the brigantine Harrison. There was great rejoicing, which took the form of a general demonstration, cannon being dis- charged, bells rung, the streets filled with processions, while music and bonfires added to the gayety. A more formal celebration, which took place on the 19th, reached a cli- max in an illumination of the town and a [111 The True Story of Paul Eevere great display of fireworks on the Common at night. A conspicuous feature of the affair was an obehsk designed by Revere, which was set up on the Common, but which it was intended should be removed after the celebration and placed under the Liberty Tree, there to remain as a permanent me- morial. During the jubilation, however, the obelisk unfortunately caught fire and was destroyed. But its architect had thoughtfully preserved its outlines in a copper-plate engraving, which not only pictured the monument but reproduced the inscriptions composed for its four sides. They made an interesting complement to the allegorical picture and verses of the preceding year. Across the top of the plate is written: " A VIEW of the OBE- LISK erected under LIBERTY-TREE in Boston on the Rejoicings for the Repeal of the Stamp Act 1766," and across the bottom: "To every Lover of LIBERTY this Plate is humbly dedicated by her true born SONS in BOSTON, New England." [12] The Patriotic Engraver The sketch on the first of the four sides of the obeHsk, as portrayed on the copper plate, represents America in the form of an Indian recumbent under a tree and an angel of Liberty hovering overhead; the devil is seen flying towards America with the Stamp Act in his claws, while the Prime Minister, surrounded by his parliamentary supporters, approaches, bearing a chain. This picture is entitled " America in dis- tress, apprehending the total loss of LIB- ERTY," and above it are these fervid lines : O thou, whom next to Heav'n we most revere Fair LIBERTY ! thou lovely Goddess hear ! Have we not woo'd thee, won thee, held thee long. Lain in thy lap & melted on thy Tongue. Thro Death & Dangers rugged paths pursu'd And led thee smiHng to this SOLITUDE. Hid thee within our Hearts most golden Cell And brav'd the Powers of Earth & Powers of Hell. GODDESS ! we cannot part, thou must not fly ; Be SLAVES ! we dare to Scorn it — dare to die. The second picture portrays America be- seeching the aid of friends, whose leader is [13] The True Story of Paul Revere being crowned by Fame, while a thunder- cloud is bursting over the head of the retreating ministers; the accompanying legend explains that " She [America] im- plores the aid of her PATRONS." This is the verse: While clanking Chains & Curses shall salute Thine Ears remorseless G le/ thine O B e ^ To you blest PATRIOTS ! we our Cause submitt niustrious CAMDEN ! Britains Guardian PITT. Recede not, frown not, rather let us be Depriv'd of being, than of LIBERTY. Let fraud or malice blacken all our Crimes No disaffection stains these peaceful Climes ; O save us, shield us from impending Woes The foes of Britain, only are our Foes. The third sketch represents the Liberty Tree with an eagle in its topmost branches feeding her young, v^^hile an angel is seen approaching and bearing an aegis. " She endures the Conflict for a short season " is the rather commonplace inscription below. The descriptive verse reads : Boast foul Oppression, boast thy transient Reign While honest FREEDOM stniggles with her Chain ; 1 Granville. ^ gute. [14] The Patriotic Engraver But know the Sons of Virtue, hardy, brave. Disdain to lose thro' mean Dispair to save Arrouz'd in Thunder, awfull they appear With proud deUverance stalking in their Rear While Tyrant-Foes their pallid Fears betray Shrink from their Arms, & give their Vengeance way. See in th' unequal War OPPRESSORS fall The hate, contempt, and endless Curse of all. The fourth, and last, in this series of caricatures portrays King George the Third in the guise of a Dutch widow introducing America to the Goddess of Liberty, or as the engraver explains, " And has her LIB- ERTY restored by the Royal hand of GEORGE the Third." This final scene in the Stamp Act drama, showing the king in the gracious act of restoring the liberties he had taken away from his subjects, is celebrated with bombastic loyalty in this fashion : Our FAITH approved, our LIBERTY restor'd. Our Hearts bend grateful to our Sover'gn Lord ; Hail darling Monarch ! by this act endear'd Our firm affections are thy best reward Sh'd Britain's self, against herself devide. And hostile Armies frown on either Side, [16] The True Story of Paul Revere Sli'd Hosts rebellious shake our Brunsv/ick's Throne And as they dar'd thy Parent, dare the Son, To this Asylum stretch thine happy Wing And we '11 contend, who best shall love our KING. Each of the four sides of the obehsk bears, besides the caricatures and the verse, pictures of British worthies, which are con- ceived as appropriate in connection with the sentiment expressed by the hnes/ Another of Revere's caricatures, and one that attracted quite as much attention as the Stamp Act series, and had a wide sale, was put out in 1768. It was entitled "The Rescinders," and commemorated one of the many incidents of the stirring years when the Revolution was incubating, and which temporarily threw the community into ex- citement, but which have for the most part been obscured by the more momentous events of the time. The General Court, ^ See pp. 145-147, Vol. 1, Dealings with the Dead, a miscellaneous collection of reminiscences and curious historical facts which appeared originally in the Boston Transcript, but was subsequently published in book form. Lucius Manlius Sargent was the author. [16] The Patriotic Engraver February 11, 1768, passed, by a large majority, certain resolutions authorizing the sending of a circular letter to the sev- eral colonial assemblies. The alarming state of affairs impending in the relations of the colonies with the mother country formed the text for this action, and it was proposed that a system of committees of correspondence be established in order to promote the crystallization of public opin- ion. This gave, as might have been ex- pected, great umbrage to the King, and His ^lajesty directed Lord Hillsborough to order Governor Bernard, as soon as the General Court should convene, to have the House of Representatives rescind its vote and, in addition, to declare its "disappro- bation of and dissent to that rash and hasty proceeding." ^ This humiliating action must be taken under pain of the assembly's ^ New England Magazine, Vol. 3 (1832), p. 308. Letter of Lord Hillsborough to Governor Bernard, April 22, 1768. Journal, House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay, June 21, 1768, pp. 68-69- Also, 2 [17] The True Story of Paul Eevere being immediately dissolved. The gover- nor complied with Lord Hillsborough's in- structions, sending a message in accordance therewith to the General Court on the 21st of June. The committee to which the matter was referred reported against com- plying with the King's demand, whereupon, June 30, it was put to a vote of the House. Seventeen members voted in favor of rescinding and ninety-two against, and the governor at once dissolved the rebellious assembly. The courageous independence of the great majority met, of course, with popular approval, while the seventeen " re- scinders '' brought upon themselves the indignant jeers of all good patriots.^ Journal, pp. 72, 75, 91-96; and MS. Court Records, in Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 27 (1767-1768), pp. 362, 372-373, 382, 392-398. ^ These seventeen rescinders were : William Brown of Salem, Peter Frye of Salem, Richard Saltonstall of Haverhill, John Calef of Ipswich, Jacob Fowle of Mar- blehead, Jonathan Bliss of Springfield, Israel Williams of Hatfield, Jonathan Ashley of West Deerfield, Joseph Root of Sunderland, John Ashley of Sheffield, Timothy Ruggles of Hardwick, Jonathan Sayward of York, John [18] The Patriotic Engraver Revere*s engraving portrayed these sev- enteen gentlemen being thrust into the maw of a monstrous creature having the wide-open jaws of a shark, the Hon. Tim- othy Ruggles being at the head of the company. Ruggles, displaying some hesi- tancy about entering the cavernous mouth of the monster shooting forth flames, is urged on by a little winged devil who is seen coming down upon him, a pitchfork in his claws, and crying, " Push on, Tim." The whole crowd is also being urged forward by another devil, who is exclaiming in high glee: "Now I've got you. A fine haul, by Jove." In the background is seen the cupola of the Province House, the residence of the governor. Altogether it is a very lively print, and it bore a title quite in keep- ing with its subject. It was inscribed: " A WARM PLACE — HELL." While Chadwick of Tyringhara, Josiah Edson of Bridgewater, Chillingsworth Foster of Harwich, William Jernigan of Edgartown, Mathew Mayhew of Chilmark. Journal, House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay, June 30, 1768, p. 89. [19] The True Story of Paul Bevere Revere was at work upon this engraving, Dr. Benjamin Church happened into his shop and volunteered to write a verse to accompany it.^ Taking pen and ink, the appreciative doctor wrote underneath the picture : On brave Rescinders ! to yon yawning cell. Seventeen such miscreants there will startle Hell There puny Villains, damned for petty sin, On such distinguished Scoundrels gaze and grin ; The out-done Devil will resign his sway ; He never curst his millions in a day. ^ " A copy of this print fell by accident, many years ago, into the hands of a gentleman of our acquaintance, who required the particulars respecting it of Colonel Revere. The Colonel was then eighty years of age, and observed he had not seen a copy of it for many years, — was pleased to find that one was in preserva- tion — and offered to buy it. He said he was a young man, zealous in the cause of liberty, when he sketched it, and had forgotten many of the circumstances ; but this he did remember, that while he was doing it, the famous Dr. Church came into his shop, and, seeing what he was about, took a pen and wrote the following lines [given in the text above] as an accompaniment. The Colonel then delivered them with much energy, exactly as they are on the print." — Netv England Magazine (1832), Vol. 3, p. 309. [20] The Patriotic Engraver The ninety-two representatives who re- fused to obey the King's orders to rescind the resolutions were duly rewarded by being presented by fifteen of the Sons of Liberty with a handsome silver punch bowl,^ the ^ The bowl, nearly six inches in depth and eleven in diameter, was made to hold about a gallon. The inscription read : " To the memory of the glorious, NINETY-TWO Members of the Honl. House of Representatives of the MASSACHUSETTS BAY, who undaunted by the in- solent Menaces of Villains in Power, from a strict regard to Conscience and the Liberties of their Constituents, on the 30th of June, 1768, Voted NOT TO RESCIND." A small wreath on the opposite side of the bowl encircles the words : " No. 45 WILKES AND LIBERTY" — an allusion to the English agitator, whose famous Number 45 of his paper, the North Briton, had contained a vindication of the course pursued by the colonies. Representations of standards bearing the words " Magna Charta " and " Bill of Rights," and of a torn piece of a warrant such as gave authority to search houses, also adorn the bowl. For farther details, see Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 13 (1873-1875), p. 200. Also, Benjamin F. Stevens' pamphlet The [21] The True Story of Paul Revere handiwork of Paul Revere, whose name is modestly stamped underneath. Probably the best known of Revere's copper-plate engravings, because the most generally reproduced, is his view of " The BLOODY MASSACRE perpetrated in King-Street, BOSTON, on March 5^^ 1770, by a party of the 29^^^ REG^ " But the painful fact must be recorded that Revere is under grave suspicion of having in this instance appropriated the work of another. The basis of this charge is the following letter ^ written to Revere by Silver Punch Bowl, etc., reprinted from the Boston Herald of January 20, 1895. ^ " Some Pelham-Copley Letters/' by Paul Leicester Ford in The Atlantic Monthly, April, 1893. Pelham and John S. Copley were among the Americans sojourning in London whose actions during this period were being watched by the British authorities. " To what extent," says Mr. Ford, ^^ suspicion was attached to them, it is now impossible to say, but it certainly went so far as to lead these two men to turn over their private papers to the government." Among these papers was this letter which Mr. Ford found in the Public Record Office, London, in a bundle labelled " America and the [22] The Patriotic Engraver Henry Pelham, a contemporary engraver and miniaturist: "Boston, March 29, 1770. "SIR: " When I heard that you was cutting a plate of the late Murder, I thought it im- possible as I knew you was not capable of doing it unless you coppied it from mine and as I thought I had intrusted it in the hands of a person who had more regard to the dictates of Honour and Justice than West Indies, 449." Either the Revere letter, which was dated at Boston, was for some reason never actually sent by its author, being carried by him to London ; or the letter found in London was a copy which Pelham had preserved of the original. In a paper entitled "Christian Remick, an Early Boston Artist," read at a meeting of the Club of Odd Volumes of Boston, February 24, 1904 (of which one hundred copies were published by the club), Henry W. Cunningham questioned the genuineness of certain prints generally attributed to Revere, and commented : " Paul Revere was an ardent patriot, and one of the most useful Americans of his day, and besides was an excellent mechanic ; but history does not show him to have been an artist, and in several instances it does show that he made use of the artistic talents of others." [23] The True Story of Paul Bevere to take the undue advantage you have done of the confidence and trust I reposed in you. But I find I was mistaken and after being at great Trouble and Expence of making a design, paying for paper, print- ing &c., find myself in the most ungener- ous Manner deprived not only of any proposed Advantage but even of the ex- pence I have been at as truly as if you had plundered me on the highway. If you are insensible of the Dishonour you have brought on yourself by this Act, the World will not be so. However, I leave you to reflect and consider of one of the most dishonourable Actions you could well be guilty of. " H. Pelham." This is a serious charge against Revere's honor and integrity, for if Pelham's state- ment is to be accepted, he loaned Revere a drawing he had made of the Massacre, from which Revere made an engraving, and mar- keted it without even so much as giving the real artist credit for his sketch, since [24] The Patriotic Engraver the Revere plate bears only the inscription, " Engraved, Printed and Sold by Paul Revere." That Pelham drew a representa- tion of the Massacre from which prints were made appears to be well established (he says in a letter written his half-brother, Charles Pelham, May 1, 1770: " Inclosed I send you two of my prints of the late Massacre ").' The verse underneath the Revere print, presumably composed by Revere, reads: Unhappy BOSTON ! see thy Sons deplore. Thy hallowed Walks besmear'd with guiltless Gore : With faithless P n and his savage Bands, With murd'rous Rancour stretch their bloody Hands ; Like fierce Barbarians grinning o'er their Pay. Approve the Carnage and enjoy the Day. If scalding drops from Rage and Anguish W>ung, If speechless Sorrows lab' ring for a Tongue, Or if a weeping World can aught appease The plaintive Ghosts of Victims such as these. The Patriots' copious Tears for each are shed, A glorious Tribute which embalms the Dead. But know, FATE summons to that sordid Goal Where JUSTICE strips the murd'rer of his Soul. ^ Ford's article. [25] The True Story of Paul Revere Should venal C ts the scandal of the Land, Snatch the relentless Villain from her Hand, Keen Execrations on this Plate inscrib'd, Shall reach a J UDGE who never can be brib'd. The engraving also records that "the unhappy Sufferers were Mess^^ SAM^ GRAY, SAM^ MAVERICK, JAM^ CALDWELL, CRISPUS ATTUCKS & PAT^ CARR, killed. Six wounded two of them (CHRISi^ MONK & JOHN CLARK) Mortally." The English copy' bears the inscription: "The Fruits of Arbitrary Power; or the Bloody Massacre, Perpetrated in King Street, Boston, by a Party of the XXIXth Regt.," and the scriptural texts (Ps. xciv. 4, i, 6, 7) : " How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage "; " They slay the widow and the stranger, ^ The Bostonian Society has one of the very few original imprints from this plate in its collection at the Old State House^ and also a copy of the London reproduction, which ran through three editions. [26] The Patriotic Engraver and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." Revere also drew a pen-and-ink plan of the massacre, show- ing King Street,^ with the houses facing on the street and the places where the military was drawn up and the victims fell. An engraving of five coffins, which appeared in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal^ March 12, in illustration of an account of the massacre, was contributed by him. As the first anniversary of the massacre approached, the town prepared to celebrate it with fitting ceremony. The public pro- gramme included the delivery of an oration by Thomas Young in the " Manufactory House " and the tolling of bells from noon to one o'clock and from nine to ten at night.^ But Revere made an inter- esting, picturesque, and long-remembered contribution of his own to the observances. He prepared a series of transparencies, ^ The present State Street. ^ Loring. The Hundred Boston Orators, pp. 24i-Q5. [27] The True Story of Paul Bevere which he displayed from the upper windows of his North Square house and which greatly impressed the crowds in the square below. One of these transparencies represented Christopher Snider/ " with one of his fin- gers in his wound, endeavoring to stop the blood from issuing therefrom; near him his friends weeping; at a small distance, a monumental pyramid with his name on the top and the names of those killed on the fifth of March around the base " ; ^ there was an inscription which read; Snider's pale ghost fresh bleeding stands, And vengeance for his death demands. In another window, under the legend " Foul Play," were shown the British sol- diers drawn up in firing line, with dead and wounded lying about, blood pouring from their wounds. A third transparency rep- resented America, in the form of a female ^ A victim of the British soldiery, but not of the " massacre." 2 Boston Neivs Letter, March 7 and 14, 1771. [28] The Patriotic Engraver figure, sitting on a tree stump, with one foot on the head of a prostrate grenadier grasping a serpent. The Boston Gazette reported that " the spectators were struck with solemn silence and their countenances were covered with a melancholy glow." Revere's " views " of the town of Boston and the harbor, of which there are three different engravings, constituted a popular series of prints. They commemorated the coming of the obnoxious 14th and 29th regi- ments of British troops, which were quar- tered upon the town and the presence of which led to the massacre. The first of these views was published soon after that sanguinary event, as appears from an ad- vertisement in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal of Monday, April 16, 1770: *' Just Published and to be sold by Paul Revere, Opposite Dr. Clark's at the North- End, and by the Printers hereof, a Copper- Plate Print, containing a View of Part of [29] The True Story of Paul Eevere the Town of Boston in New England, and British Ships of War landing their Troops in the Year 1768. Dedicated to the Earl of Hillsborough." The picture shows the spires of, appar- ently, six churches and the cupolas of the Old State House and Faneuil Hall. In the lower right-hand corner is the dedication : " To the Earl of Hillsborough, His Ma- jest^ Scr^ of State for America THIS VIEW of the only well Plan'd EXPE- DITION formed for supporting y^ dig- nity of BRITAIN & chastising y^ insolence of AMERICA, is hum^ inscribed." The inscription beneath the picture gives the names of the several vessels shown, and explains that " on fryday Sept^ 30*^ 1T68, the Ships of WAR, armed Schooners, Transports, &c., Came up the Harbour and Anchored round the TOWN : their Cannon loaded, a Spring on their Cables, as for a regular Siege. At [30] The Patriotic Engraver noon on Saturday, October the 1*^ the four- teenth & twenty-ninth Regiments, a de- tachment from the 59*^^ Reg^ and a Train of Artillery, with two pieces of Cannon, landed on the Long Wharf; there Formed and Marched with insolent Parade, Drums beating. Fifes playing and Colours flying, up KING STREET, Each soldier having received 16 rounds of Powder and Ball." This view, as the newspaper advertise- ment tells us, was placed on sale by Revere as an independent venture; the other two views, which were similar in their general character to, though not identical vnth, the first, were engraved for and appeared re- spectively in Edes and Gill's North Ameri- can Almanac and Massachusetts Register for the Year 1770, and in the first issue of the Royal American Magazine (Janu- ary, 1774). Revere charged Edes and Gill £2, 8s. for the engraving which appeared in their almanac. He subsequently fur- nished many engravings for the Royal [31] The True Story of Paul Bevere American Magazine, including portraits of Sam Adams and John Hancock and numer- ous allegorical caricatures. He also illus- trated a two-volume work published in 1T74, in New York, by James Rivington, who styled himself the "King's Printer"; this was an account of "A New Voyage Round the World, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770 and 1771; Undertaken by Order of his present Majesty, Performed by Captain James Cooke." " A Westerly View of the Colleges in Cambridge New England " was one of Revere's most popular and widely reproduced prints. He engraved numerous book-plates, and probably was the maker of the seal of the Phillips Andover Acad- emy, still in use by that institution; and for Joshua Brackett, who kept the Cromwell's Head Inn in School Street/ he engraved a very artistic letter-head showing the bust of Cromwell surrounded by ornate scroll- work. ^ This ancient landmark stood in School Street until 1888, when it was torn down. [32] The Patriotic Engraver On the 3d of May, 1773, Revere's wife died. In the sixteen years since their mar- riage eight children had been born to them : ^ Deborah, born April 8, 1758; (died Jan. 8, 1797). Paul, born Jan. 6, 1760; (died Jan. 16, 1813). Sarah, born Jan. 3, 1762; (died July 5, 1791). Mary, born March 31, 1764; (died April 30, 1765). Frances, born Feb. 19, 1766; (died June 9, 1799). Mary, born March 19, 1768; (died Au- gust, 1853). Elizabeth, born Dec. 5, 1770; (died IzANNA, born Dec. 15, 1772; (died Sept. 19, 1773). Revere's wife died in May; he buried his youngest child, an infant of nine months, in September; and a fortnight after the 1 These dates, as also those relative to the children by Revere's second marria^^e given on pages 277-278, are taken from the Revere family Bible, and the author is indebted for them to Mr. E. H. R. Revere of Boston, a hneal descendant of Paul Revere. 3 [ 33 ] The True Story of Paul Revere latter event he married again. His second wife was Rachel Walker (born in Boston, December 27, 1745), and they were mar- ried by the Rev. Samuel Mather, October 10, 1773. Revere at thirty-nine, the father of a considerable family whose mother was scarcely five months in her grave, appears to have been a light-hearted swain, notwith- standing his household was doubtless, as a descendant charitably has explained,^ " in sore need of a mother's care." He thus made love to his new bride: Take three fourths of a Paine that makes Traitors confess With three parts of a place which the Wicked don't bless Joyne four sevenths of an Exercise which shop-keepers use Add what Bad Men do, when they good actions refuse These four added together with great care and Art Will direct to the Fair One that is nearest my Heart. Is the reader puzzled by this rather labored effort? Then here is the key: ^ Memorial of Paul Joseph and Edward H. R. Revere, p. 6. [34] The Patriotic Engraver " Rack '* is plainly the classic instrument of torture for traitors, and three- fourths of it is certainly " rac," but to be pronounced softly; hell is the place which everybody must know the wicked don't bless, and three parts of it is " hel " ; shopkeepers, in the days before electric cars, unless they were opulent enough to afford chaises, had, per- force, to indulge in walking, and four- sevenths thereof is " walk." Bad men, of course, are prone to err. Ergo, RACHEL WALKER! Surely Revere's sweetheart could not have failed to fathom this simple love riddle. One may find in the official records of the time ample evidence of Revere's active par- ticipation in the affairs of the town during this period. Whenever there was an im- portant message to be carried to the sister colonies, he was the man to whom it was intrusted to be conveyed as speedily as horses' legs could take him, and in the petty matters of local administration he also helped as befitted the good citizen. He was [35] The True Story of Paul Revere repeatedly appointed on committees, serv- ing among others on the Committee on Lamps " when about to fix the Places for Erecting said Lamps." ^ In August, 1774, his name appears with twenty-one others in a list of those who refused to serve on the Suffolk grand jury, the last to sit under the Crown. Among the numerous acts of Parliament intended to break the spirit of the colonists was one making the justices of the Supreme Court in Massachusetts independent of the people for their salaries. The grand jurors, Paul Revere being of the number, who had been returned to serve at the first term of the court after news of the passage of this act was received, held a private meeting and caucused on the situ- ation before appearing in court. After a solemn deliberation all but one of them signed an agreement declining to serve, and this objector ultimately also refused. The document, unique but highly character- ^ Boston Record Commissioners* Reports, Vol. 18, p. 136. [36] The Patriotic Engraver istic of the rebellious temper of the free citizens of Boston, was as follows: "Boston, August 30, 1774. " COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. " We who are returned by the several Towns in this county to serve as Grand Jurors at the Superior Court for this pres- ent Term, being actuated by a zealous Re- gard for Peace and good Order and a sincere Desire to promote Justice, Right- eousness and good Government, as being essential to the Happiness of the Com- munity; would now gladly proceed to the Discharge of the Important Duty required in that Department, could we persuade our selves that by doing thus, it would tend to our own Reputation or promote the Wel- fare of our Country. But when we con- sider the dangerous Inroads that have been made upon our Civil Constitution, the vio- lent attempts now making to alter and annull the most essential Parts of our Char- ter, granted by the most solemn Faith of [37] The True Story of Paul Bevere Kings, and repeatedly recognized by Brit- ish Kings and Parliaments; while we see the open and avowed Design of establishing the most compleat System of Despotism in this Province, and thereby reducing the free born Inhabitants thereof to the most abject State of Slavery & Bondage: we feel our- selves necessarily constrained to decline being impannelled, for Reasons that we are ready to offer to the Court, if permitted which are as follow : " First — Because PETER OLIVER, Esq. who sits as Chief Judge of this Court, has been charged with high Crimes and mis- demeanors by the late hon^^^ House of Rep- resentatives, the grand Inquest of this Province; of which charge he has never been legally acquitted, but has been de- clared by that House unqualified to act as Judge of this Court. "Secondly — Because by a late Act of the British Parliament for altering the Consti- tution of this Province, the continuance of the present Judges of this Court, as well [38] The Patriotic Engraver as the Appointment of others, from the first of July last is made to depend solely on the King's Pleasure, vastly different from the Tenure of the British Judges: and as we apprehend they now hold their places, only in consequence of that Act, all the judicial Proceedings of the Court will be taken as Concessions to the validity of the same to which we dare not consent: " Thirdly — Because three of the Judges, being the major part of the Court, namely, the said PETER OLIVER, Esq., FOS- TER HUTCHINSON, Esq., and WIL- LIAM BROWN, Esq.,^ by taking the Oath of Counsellors under Authority of the aforementioned Act, are (as we are in- formed) sworn to carry into execution all ^ Chief Justice Oliver left the bench in 1775, went to England the next year, and died in Birmingham, October 13, 1791 ; Brown left the country at the out- break of the war, was made governor of Bermuda, and died in England, February 13, 1802; Hutchinson, a brother of Governor Hutchinson, went to England and died there. — William T. Davis, History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts, pp. 92, 97, 98. [39] The True Story of Paul Revere the Late grievous Acts of the British Par- liament, among the Last of which is one made ostensibly for the Impartial Admin- istration of Justice in this province, but, as we fear, really for the Impunity of such persons as shall under pretext of executing those Acts, murder any of the Inhabitants thereof, which Acts appear to us to be utterly repugnant to every Idea of Justice & common humanity, and are justly com- plained of throughout America as highly injurious and oppressive to the good people of this Province, and manifestly destructive of their national, as well as constitutional rights. " Fourthly — Because we believe in our Consciences that our acting in Concert with a Court so constituted and under such cir- cumstances, would be so far betraying the just and sacred Rights of our native Land, which were not the Gift of Kings, but were purchased solely with the Toil, the Blood and Treasure of our worthy and revered Ancestors and which we look upon our- [40 1 The Patriotic Engraver selves, under the most sacred Obligations to maintain and to transmit the same whole and entire to our Posterity. " Therefore we the Subscribers unani- mously decline serving as grand Jurors at this Court. Wm. Thompson Joseph Willet Paul Revere Robert Williams Jam^ Ivers Joseph Pool Lemuel Kollock Nicholas Cook William Bullard Moses Richardson Abraham Wheeler Peter Boyer Thos. Crafts, junr Joseph Hall Henry Plimpton Jonathan Day Nath Belcher Eben Hancock Joseph Jones Tho« Pratt Abijah Upham Samuel Hobart " ' When court opened and the jurors were called they refused to be sworn. The last name on the Hst was that of Thomas Pratt of Chelsea, who inquired, when he was 1 Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, 1875- 1876, pp. 109, 110. [41] The True Story of Paul Bevere called, whether the justices' salaries were to be paid by the Province or the King. " Mr. Pratt," retorted the chief justice, " this court is organized as it always has been, and it can be of no importance to you, as a juror, whether our salaries be paid from the treasury of the crown or of the prov- ince"; to which Pratt replied with spirit: " I won't sarve.'' Revere used often in after life to relate this incident with keen relish.^ Public opinion during the revolutionary period found opportunity to crystallize in both public and private gatherings. It would probably not be possible to exagger- ate the influence of the numerous secret organizations of the time — the Free- masons, the " Sons of Liberty," the North and South End " Caucuses " — upon the events which helped to bring on the conflict with the mother country. In most of these Revere was a moving spirit. The " Sons of Liberty " met in a distillery and also the 1 New England Magazine, Vol. 3 (1832), p. 309. [42] The Patriotic Engraver Green Dragon Tavern, and arose out of the excitement attending the passage of the Stamp Act, being first called " The Union Club," but later taking a more descriptive name from an allusion in a speech of Col- onel Barre, a friend of the colonists, in Parliament/ John Adams in his diary- gives some interesting glimpses of these clubs : " Feb. 1, 1763. — This day learned that the Caucus Club meets at certain times in the garret of Tom Dawes, the adjutant of the Boston regiment. He has a large house, and he has a movable partition in his garrett, which he takes down, and the whole club meet in one room. There they smoke tobacco till you cannot see from one end of the garret to the other. Then they drink jBip, I suppose, and there they choose a mod- erator, who puts questions to the vote reg- ularly; and selectmen, assessors, collectors, ^ Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 13 (1873-1875)^ p. 200 ; also Boston Gazette, August 22, 1768. [48] The True Story of Paul Revere wardens, iirewards, and representatives, are regularly chosen before they are chosen in the town. Fairfield, Story, Ruddock, Adams, Cooper, and a rudis indigestaque moles of others, are members. They send committees to wait on the Merchants Club, and to propose and join in the choice of men and measures. Captain Cunningham says they have often solicited him to go to these caucuses, — they have assured him benefit in his business, &c. " Dec. 23, 1765. — Went into Mr. Dud- ley's, Mr. Dana's, Mr. Otis's ofiSce, and then to Mr. Adams's, and went with him to the Monday night club. There I found Otis, Cushing, Wells, Pemberton, Gray, Austin, two Waldos, Inches, and spent the evening very agreeably. Politicians all at this club. " Jany. 15, 1766. — Spent the evening with the Sons of Liberty at their own apartment in Hanover- Square near the Tree of Lib- erty. It is a counting-room, in Chase & Speakman's distillery; a very small room it is. There were present John Avery, a [44] The Patriotic Engraver distiller of liberal education; John Smith, the brazier; Thomas Chase, distiller; Jo- seph Fields, master of a vessel; Henry Bass; George Trott, jeweler; and Henry- Welles. I was very cordially and respect- fully treated by all present. We had punch, wine, pipes and tobacco, biscuit and cheese, etc. They chose a committee to make prep- arations for grand rejoicings upon the arrival of the news of a repeal of the stamp act." From which it appears that politicians are much the same in all times. Public officials were chosen by a ring in Boston in the year of our Lord 1763 before they were " chosen in the town," and the Revo- lution was hatched in a rum- shop, while those upon whom history has placed the seal of greatness and statesmanship filled themselves with " flip " in an atmosphere dense with tobacco smoke, as they plotted and planned the momentous events of the time! [45] II — THE MESSENGER OF THE GATHERING REVOLUTION 1773-1775 ON the 14th of December, 1773, that Boston patriot and faithful old chronicler of current events, Thomas Newell, took out his diary and made the following entry : ^ "Wind S. E. Tuesday, cloudy. This morning the following handbills were posted up, viz : — " Friends ! Brethren ! Countrymen ! — " The perfidious act of your restless enemies to render ineffectual the late reso- lutions of the body of the people demand your assembling at the Old South meeting- house, precisely at two o'clock, at which time the bells will ring." ^ Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings (1876- 1877), p. 346. [46] Messenger of the Revolution The crisis which had been foreseen for weeks was rapidly approaching. The tea ships were at hand, and it had been resolved by the North End caucus on October 23 that its members would " oppose at peril of life and fortune the vending of any tea that might be imported by the East India Company." ^ Great public excitement at- tended the arrival of the vessels with the consignments of tea, and meetings called by the patriot leaders to see what should be done were the order of the day. At one of these a song was composed and at once became very popular. One of its verses ran: Our Warren 's there and bold Revere With hands to do and words to cheer. For liberty and laws ; Our country's " braves " and firm defenders Shall ne'r be left by true North Enders, Fighting Freedom s cause. Then rally, boys, and hasten on To meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.* ^ Francis S. Drake, Tea Leaves, p. xxiii. ^ From W. W. Wheildon's Scrap-book, in the Boston Public Library. [47] The True Story of Paul Revere The meeting of the 14th of December, to which the citizens had been summoned b}^ the posting of handbills, was adjourned to the 16th without any definite action having been taken. But on that day the Old South was thronged and the people were deter- mined. There was much speech-making, something of which Bostonians are exces- sively fond to this day, and, at half-past four in the afternoon, it was voted, amid great enthusiasm, that the tea should not be landed. What subsequently transpired was thus graphically reported in the col- umns of the Massachusetts Gazette:^ " Just before the dissolution, a number of brave and resolute men, dressed in the Indian manner, approached near the door of the assembly, and gave a warwhoop, which rang through the house, and was answered by some in the galleries, but silence was commanded, and a peaceable deportment enjoined until the dissolution. The Indians, as they were then called re- ^ Issue of December 23, 1773. [48] Messenger of the Revolution paired to the wharf, where the ships lay that had the tea on board, and were followed by hundreds of people, to see the event of the transactions of those who made so gro- tesque an appearance. The Indians im- mediately repaired on board Capt. Hall's ship, where they hoisted out the chests of tea, and when on deck stove them and emptied the tea overboard. Having cleared this ship, they proceeded to Capt. Bruce's, and then to Capt. Coffin's brig. They applied themselves so dexterously to the destruction of this commodity, that in the space of three hours they broke up three hundred and forty-two chests, which was the whole number in these vessels, and dis- charged their contents into the dock. When the tide rose, it floated the broken chests and the tea insomuch that the surface of the water was filled therewith a considerable way from the south part of the town to Dorchester Neck, and lodged on the shores. " There was the greatest care taken to prevent the tea being purloined by the popu- 4 [49] The True Story of Paul Revere lace; one or two being detected in endeav- oring to pocket a small quantity were stripped of their acquisitions and very roughly handled. It is worthy of remark that although a considerable quantity of goods were still remaining on board the vessel no injury was sustained. Such atten- tion to private property was observed that a small padlock belonging to the captain of one of the ships being broke, another was procured and sent to him. The town was very quiet during the whole evening and the night following. Those who were from the country went home with a merry heart, and the next day joy appeared in almost every countenance, some on account of the destruction of the tea, others on account of the quietness with which it was efFe 'cd. One of the Monday's papers says that the masters and owners are well pleased that their ships are thus cleared." Revere was one of the chief actors in this tumultuous aifair, and the next day, [60] Messenger of the Bevolution when the Committee of Correspondence met and resolved to send an account of the event to the patriots in New York and Phil- adelphia, he was the man chosen to carry the message. The letter which he took was addressed to the New York " Sons of Liberty." " The bearer," it read, " is chosen by the committee from a number of gentlemen, who volunteered to carry you this intelli- gence. We are in a perfect jubilee. Not a Tory in the whole community can find the least fault with our proceedings. . . . The spirit of the people throughout the coun- try is to be described by no terms in my power. Their conduct last night surprised the admiral and the English gentlemen, who observed that these were not a r^ob of disorderly rabble, (as they had been reported) but men of sense, coolness and intrepidity." It may well be imagined that Revere sup- plemented this brief description of the [51] The True Story of Paul Bevere Boston Tea Party with a more detailed narrative. The news he brought soon spread among the New Yorkers, and they gathered in the pubhc places in great num- bers. Needless to record, the crowd was in high spirits, and one and all declared that the ships with tea on board, which were known to be at that time nearing New York, must be sent back or the tea de- stroyed. They proclaimed their enthusi- astic approval of what the Bostonians had done and sent the exciting news on to Phil- adelphia. Revere then returned home, and when he announced that Governor Tryon had declared that the tea ships bound for New York would surely be turned back, all the bells in Boston were rung. Revere made this trip in eleven days, arriving in Boston on the 27th of December.^ The next day he was appointed one of the " watch " of twenty-five placed over Cap- tain Hull's vessel and cargo by the level- headed patriot leaders to prevent any of the ^ Newell's Diary. L52] Messenger of the Revolution headstrong among the populace from doing unwarranted damage. A short time after the grand destruction of tea in Boston harbor, word was received of another consignment intended for New England consumption, and members of the resolute band that had destroyed the first shipments disposed of the second lot in the same fashion. This episode was alluded to in a letter which Revere wrote March 28 to his friend John Lamb * in New York : " You have no doubt heard the particu- lars, relating to the last twenty-eight chests of tea ; it was disposed of in the same man- ner, as I informed you of the other, and should five hundred more arrive, it would go in the same way. Yesterday a vessel arrived from Antigua, the captain says your tea vessel was to sail three days after him, so by the next post I shall expect to hear a good account of it." ^ * Isaac Q. Leake, Memoir of the Life and Times of General John Lamb, p. 81. ^ The tea vessel bound for New York referred to in [53] The True Story of Paul Revere The famous Boston port bill, intended to operate as a boycott against the port of Boston, received the royal signature and be- came law March 31, 1774. It was printed in the Boston newspapers of the 10th of May, and went into effect June 1. On the 12th of May, the Conmiittee of Corre- spondence having directed Warren to call the meeting, representatives from Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Newton, Brookline, Cambridge, Charlestown, Lynn, and Lex- ington gathered in Faneuil Hall to delib- erate on " the critical state of affairs." Samuel Adams presided, and it was voted to be the sense of the meeting that "if the other colonies come into a joint resolution this letter was the Nancy, Captain Lockyier. She was not allowed to land her cargo, being required upon her arrival to put back to sea. But another ship, the London^ Captain Chambers, arriving about the same time at New York with eighteen chests of tea on board, was boarded by the patriots, the tea discovered after its presence had been strenuously denied by the cap- tain, and destroyed. Captain Chambers was sent back to England with Captain Lockyier on the Nancy. [54] Messenger of the Eevolution to stop all importation from, and exporta- tion to, Great Britain and every part of the West Indies till the act be repealed, the same will prove the salvation of North America and her liberties; and that the im- policy, injustice, inhumanity, and cruelty of the act exceed all our powers of expres- sion. We, therefore leave it to the just censure of others, and appeal to God and the world." The next day formal action was taken at a town meeting at which Adams again pre- sided as moderator. It was agreed to send this appeal, prepared by Adams, to the sister colonies: " The people receive the edict with indig- nation. It is expected by their enemies, and feared by some of their friends, that this town singly will not be able to support the cause under so severe a trial. As the very being of every colony, considered as a free people, depends upon the event, a thought so dishonorable to our brethren cannot be [55] The True Story of Paul Revere entertained as that this town will be left to struggle alone." " A committee," says Newell/ " was chosen to go to several towns. Mr. P. Re- vere was chosen to go express to York and Philadelphia, &c., &c." " My worthy friend, Revere," writes Dr. Thomas Young, a prominent Boston Son of Liberty, to John Lamb of New York, " again revisits you. No man of his rank and oppor- tunities in life deserves better of the community. Steady, vigorous, sensible and persevering." ^ Revere set out on the 14th, and reached New York a few days later, delivering his message to the Committee of Fifty-One. On the 20th he arrived at Philadelphia ; and that very night the citizens held a mass meeting, at which the " execrable Port Bill " was denounced, and a vote passed not * Diary. Massachusetts Historical Society Proceed- ings, 1876-1877, p. 352. * Quoted by Goss in his Life of Revere, Vol. 1, p. 149. [56] Messenger of the Bevolution merely conveying sympathy to the Boston patriots but making the latter's cause their own.^ The Committee of Correspondence appointed at this meeting prepared a reply to be sent to Boston, and a copy was also transmitted to New York and the southern colonies, accompanied by the important recommendation that steps should be taken at once for the calling of a general congress of the colonies. Revere's return from this trip was duly recorded in the news of the day. In the Essex Gazette of May 30, 1774, appears this item: " On Saturday last, Mr. Paul Revere returned from Philadelphia, having been sent express to the Southern Colonies, with intelligence of the late rash, impolitic and vindictive measures of the British Parlia- ment, who, by the execrable Port Bill, have held out to us a most incontestable argument why we ought to submit to their jurisdiction; ^ Frank M. Etting, Historical Account of Independence Hall, p. 74. [57] The True Story of Paul Revere and what rich blessings we may secure to ourselves and posterity, by an acquiescence in their lenity, wisdom, and justice. Noth- ing can exceed the indignation with which our brethren in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Philadelphia have received this proof of ministerial madness. They universally declare their resolution to stand by us to the last extremity." The New York Sons of Liberty appear to have taken action in sympathy with their Boston brethren without waiting for the appeal which Revere brought, since resolu- tions were passed by them, and a letter dated May 14, the day Revere left Boston, was prepared, exhorting the Boston patriots to stand firm. These were despatched to Bos- ton by John Ludlow. Benson J. Lossing, whose fondness for romance is one of his defects as a historian, wrote a very pretty imaginative account of a meeting between Revere and Ludlow.^ 1 Our Country, Vol. 2, p. 71 6. [58] Messenger of the Bevolution " Ludlow," says Lossing, " rode swiftly with them, [the New York resolutions] on a black horse, toward the New England capital. He told their import as he coursed through Connecticut and Rhode Island. Near Providence, on the edge of a wood that was just receiving its summer foliage, by a cool spring, he met Paul Revere, riding express on a gray horse, bearing to New York and Philadelphia assurances of the faith and firmness of the Bostonians, and to invoke sympathy and co-operation. Revere also carried a large number of printed copies of the act made sombre by heavy black lines, and garnished with the picture of a crown, a skull and cross-bones, un- doubtedly engraved by Revere himself. These he scattered through the villages on his way, where they were carried about the streets with the cry of 'Barbarous, cruel, bloody and inhuman murder! ' Revere and Ludlow took a hasty lunch together at the spring, and then pressed forward on their holy mission." [59] The True Story of Paul Revere The summer passed without special inci- dent, though the pubhc mind was in con- dition of high tension, Revere writing to his friend Lamb, September 4 : ^ " I embrace this opportunity to inform you, that we are in Spirits, tho' in a Garri- son; the Spirit of Liberty was never higher than at present; the Troops have the hor- rors amazingly, by reason of some late movements of our friends in the Country the week past, our new f angled Councellors are resigning their places every Day; our Justices of the Courts, who now hold their Commissions during the pleasure of his Majesty, or the Governor, cannot git a Jury that will act with them, in short the Tories are giving way everywhere in our Province." Revere's next ride after the Port Bill excitement had subsided was on the 11th of September, when Warren chose him to * Lamb papers in possession of New York Historical Society. Goss (Vol. 1, p. 150) gives this letter in full. [60] Messenger of the Revolution carry copies of the famous Suffolk Re- solves/ with a letter of Warren's, to the Massachusetts delegates in attendance on the Continental Congress then in session at Philadelphia. He arrived six days later, on the 17th, and on the same day the re- ^ The resolves had been adopted at a convention of delegates from all the towns in Suffolk County who first met in Dedham, September 6, but adjourned three days later to the home of Daniel Vose in Milton. This old house, located a few steps from the bridge across the Neponset River at Milton Lower Mills, is still standing. On its front is a tablet with this inscription : "IN THIS MANSION On the 9th day of September, 1774, at a meeting of the delegates of every town and district in the county of Suffolk, the memorable Suffolk Resolves were adopted. They were reported by Major-General Warren, who fell in their defence in the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 1 7, 1775. They were approved by the members of the Continental Congress at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on the 17th September, 1774. The Resolves to which the immortal patriot here first gave utterance, and the heroic deeds of that eventful day on which he fell, led the way to American Independence. ' Posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy.' " [61] The True Story of Paul Bevere solves were read in Congress. John Adams wrote to his wife of their reception: " The esteem, the affection, the admira- tion for the people of Boston and Massa- chusetts which they expressed, and the fixed determination that they should be supported were enough to melt a heart of stone. I saw tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave, pacific Quakers of Pennsylvania." ^ But the Congress did something more than gush. It promptly passed resolutions condemning the acts of the British Parlia- ment which had called forth the Suffolk Resolves, thereby placing its official en- dorsement upon the latter, and Revere was able to bring the interesting news of this important action back to Boston. In October Revere was again sent to Philadelphia. The Continental Congress was still in session there. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts was also in ses- ^ The Works of John Adams, edited by his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, Vol. 2, p. 380. [62] Messenger of the Revolution sion and anxious to know what was trans- piring at Philadelphia. Samuel Adams was one of the Massachusetts representa- tives to the Continental Congress, and on this occasion Revere carried letters to him from Joseph Warren and, no doubt, to others in the Quaker city from friends in Boston. In the following December Revere made the last trip on horseback as an official mes- senger of which we have a record, before that fateful ride of which Longfellow sang and which brought him fame. This De- cember ride, while not so long as the trips to Philadelphia, had an element of risk and adventure similar to that of the 18th of April, 1775, and was of hardly less im- portance to the patriot cause. By an act of British authority the colonies had been prohibited the further importation of gun- powder and military stores, and an expe- dition was arranged for the relief of Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth, which was rightly believed to be in danger of [63] The True Story of Paul Revere attack by the provincials. But the ever vigilant Sons of Liberty in Boston learned of the reinforcements intended for the fort, and quickly planned to notify the " Sons " at Portsmouth. Revere, of course, was the one selected to carry the information. On the afternoon of December 13 Revere rode up to the house of General Sullivan in the little town of Durham with his warn- ing news, and, after baiting his nearly ex- hausted horse, rode on to Portsmouth. Eleazer Bennett, the last survivor of the party which raided the fort, has left a cir- cumspect account of the affair: " I was working for Major Sullivan," he says, " when Micah Davis came up and told me Major Sullivan wanted me to go to Portsmouth, and to get all the men I could to go with him. The men who went, as far as I can remember, were Major John Sullivan, Captain Winborn Adams, Eben- ezer Thompson, John Demeritt, Alpheus and Jonathan Chesley, John Spencer, Micah [64] Messenger of the Eevolution Davis, Isaac and Benjamin Small of Dur- ham; Ebenezer Sullivan, Captain Langdon and Thomas Pickering of Portsmouth; John Griffin, James Underwood, and Alex- ander Scannel. We took a gondola belong- ing to Benjamin Mathes, who was too old to go, and went down the river to Ports- mouth. It was a clear, cold moonlight night. We sailed down to the fort at the mouth of Piscataqua Harbor. The water was so shallow that we could not bring the boat to within a rod of shore. We waded through the water in perfect silence, mounted the fort, surprised the garrison, and bound the captain. In the fort we found one hundred casks of powder and one hundred small arms, which we brought down to the boat. In wading through the water it froze upon us." ^ ^ Ballard Smith in Harpers Magazine, July, 1886, p. 239 et seq. Dr. Alonzo H. Quint told the Massa- chusetts Historical Society (Proceedings, 1873-1875, p. 450), at its meeting of March, 1875, that he heard this statement taken from Bennett, who lived until 1851. "A vain tradition," said Dr. Quint, "has obtained 5 [65 1 The True Story of Paul Revere In a letter to Lord Dartmouth, the gov- ernor, Sir John Wentworth gives some further details: " News was brought to me," he wrote, " that a Drum was beating about the town to collect the Populace together in order to take away the gunpowder and dismantle the Fort. I immediately sent the Chief Justice of the Province to warn them from engaging in such an attempt. He went to them, where they were collected in the centre of the town, near the townhouse, ex- plained to them the nature of the offence they proposed to commit, told them it was not short of Rebellion, and intreated them to desist from it and disperse. But all to no purpose. They went to the Island ; and, being joined there by the inhabitants of the towns of Newcastle and Rye, formed in all a body of about four hundred men, and the some circulation, that this attack was a night surprise. It was at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the com- mander of the fort had had three hours' notice of the approach." [66] Messenger of the Bevolution Castle being in too weak a condition for defence (as I have in former letters ex- plained to your Lordship) they forced an entrance in spite of Captain Cochran; who defended it as long as he could ; but, having only the assistance of five men, their num- bers overpowered him. After they entered the fort, they seized upon the Captain, tri- umphantly gave three Huzzas, and hauled down the King's colours. They then put the captain and men under confinement, broke open the Gunpowder magazine, and carried off about 100 Barrels of Gun- powder, but discharged the Captain and men from their confinement before their departure." ^ Captain Cochran, in his report, wrote: " I told them on their peril not to enter. They replied they would. I immediately ordered three four-pounders to be fired on them, and then the small-arms, and before ^ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1869, Vol. 23, p. 276. [67] The True Story of Paul Bevere we could be ready to fire again we were stormed on all quarters, and immediately they secured me and my men, and kept us prisoners for about an hour and a half, during which time they broke open the powder-house and took all the powder away except one barrel." ^ There is hardly any doubt that this affair, which happened four months before the fight at Lexington and more than two months before the episode of the Salem North Bridge, constituted the first act of force of a military nature committed by the colonists against the authority of the mother country; and it is, moreover, clear that on this occasion the colonists were the aggressors. It may be questioned whether the patriots at this early date seriously con- templated war as an inevitable consequence of the drift of events; but if they were already anticipating that dread alternative ^ Quoted by Ballard Smith. Harpers Magaziiie, July, 1886, p. 241. [68] Messenger of the Revolution as impossible of avoidance they could not have acted with greater prescience in send- ing Revere to Portsmouth to stir up the New Hampshire patriots to make the attack on Fort William and Mary. The whole object of that attack was not, primarily, to offer insult to the King, but to secure means of defence against the time when they might be needed. In the light of subsequent events the Portsmouth raid was fully justified. There was a fearful lack of ammunition in the Continental army during the siege of Bos- ton following the outbreak of the war. Bancroft says ^ that on the eve of the battle of Bunker Hill there were only sixty-three barrels of gunpowder on hand after collect- ing all that could be obtained north of the Delaware. When, in the crisis of that en- gagement, Prescott ordered the retreat, his soldiers had but a single round of ammuni- tion. Stark, however, opened up a fierce fire ^ History of the United States, Vol. 4, p. 219 (ed. 1884). [69] The True Story of Paul Revere on the advancing Welsh Fusileers, which pre- vented the retreat being cut off and prob- ably saved both his and Prescott's men from being annihilated or captured. " An ample supply of powder arrived in the nick of time," says Amory in his Military Services of General Sullivan} " It had been brought over from Durham, sixty miles away, in old John Demeritt's ox-cart, and it was a part of the store that had been buried under Par- son Adams's pulpit. Failing it, Prescott might on that day have shared the martyr- dom of Warren, and Molly Stark might indeed have been a widow that night." The gunpowder which saved Bunker Hill from being an utter rout for the Provincial soldiery was thus, upon the evidence before us, the same that was carried away from Fort William and Mary six months previ- ous and hidden beneath the pulpit of Dur- ham meeting-house. To claim for Paul Revere the credit for preventing complete disaster at Bunker Hill would be a some- ^ p. 242. [^0 1 Messenger of the Bevolution what exaggerated view, no doubt; but it was Revere, as the agent of the Boston patriots, who warned the men of New Hampshire that it behooved them to act quickly if they would obtain possession of the store of gunpowder in the fort in Ports- mouth harbor; and we have it on the authority of a contemporary historian ^ that the affair was transacted " in the most for- tunate point of time, — just before the arrival of the Scarborough frigate, and Cansean sloop, with several companies of soldiers, who took possession of the fort, and of the heavy cannon which had not been removed." ^ Jeremy Belknap, History of Neiv Hampshire (Bos- ton, 1791), Vol. 2, pp. 376-377. [71] Ill — THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF APRIL 18, 1775 BOSTON was in a ferment during the ) v/inter of 1774-1775. The long series of grievances endured from the mother country had led to the adoption of the Suffolk Resolves in September. In October the Provincial Congress was organ- ized, with Hancock as president; a protest was sent to the royal governor remonstrat- ing against his hostile attitude, and a com- mittee of public safety was provided for. In February this committee was named, delegates were selected for the next Conti- nental Congress, and provision was made for the establishment of the militia. Ef- forts made by royal governors to seize the military stores of the patriots and to dis- band the militia had proved futile, and the fire of opposition to the indignities heaped [72] The Midnight Bide upon the people by the Crown was kept ahve by secret organizations. " Sons of Liberty " met in clubs and caucuses, the group which gathered at the Green Dragon Tavern being the most famous. They were composed chiefly of young artisans and me- chanics from the ranks of the people, who, in the rapid succession of events, were be- coming more and more restive under the British yoke. None of these patriots chafed more im- patiently or was more active in taking advantage of each opportunity that offered to antagonize the plans of the royal emis- saries than Paul Revere, now aged forty. In the early months of 1775 he was one of a band of thirty who had formed themselves into a committee to watch the movements of the British soldiers and the Tories in Boston. In parties of two and two, taking turns, they patrolled the streets all night. Finally, at midnight of Saturday, the 15th of April, the vigilance of these self- [73] The True Story of Paul Revere appointed patrolmen was rewarded. It became apparent then that something un- usual was suddenly occurring in the British camp. One of the English officers wrote in his diary: " General Orders. ' The Grenadiers and Light Infantry in order to learn Grena- diers. Exercise and new evolutions are to be off all duties 'till further orders.' This I suppose is by way of a blind. I dare say they have some thing for them to do." ' But the movement did not serve to blind the vigilant and suspicious patriots. " The boats belonging to the transports were all launched," says Revere in his narrative, " and carried under the sterns of the men- of-war. (They had been previously hauled up and repaired.) We likewise found that the grenadiers and light infantry were all taken off duty. From these movements we expected something was to be trans- ^ The Diary of a British Officer in Boston in 1775. Atlantic Monthly, April, 1877, p. 398. [74] The Midnight Bide acted." The following day, Sunday, the 16th, Dr. Warren despatched Revere to Lexington with a message to John Hancock and Samuel Adams. This ride of the 16th has never received much attention. It is not famed in song and story, and Revere himself alludes to it only incidentally. He probably made the journey out and back in the daytime, jog- ging along unnoticed, and not anxious to advertise the purpose of his errand. Yet there can be no doubt that, in its relation to the portentous events which followed three days later, it was at least of as great importance as the more spectacular "mid- night ride " of the 18th. The movement of the British on the night of the 15th aroused the suspicion of the patriots, of whom Warren was chief, who had remained in Boston. They meant to him one thing, — an intention to send forth soon an expedi- tion of some sort. The most plausible con- jecture as to its object, even had there been no direct information on the subject, sug- [75] The True Story of Paul Bevere gested the capture of Hancock and Adams at Lexington, or the seizure of the military stores at Concord, or both. The two patriot leaders, upon whose heads a price had been fixed by King George, were in daily attendance upon the sessions of the Provincial Congress at Con- cord; but they lodged nightly in the neigh- boring town of Lexington, at the house of the Rev. Jonas Clarke, whose wife was a niece of Hancock. It was of the utmost importance that they and the Congress be kept fully informed of what was transpir- ing in Boston. But when Revere called upon Hancock and Adams in Lexington on Sunday, he found that Congress had adjourned the day before to the 15th of May, in ignorance, of course, of the imme- diate plans of the British. It had not done so, however, without recognizing " the great uncertainty of the present times, and that important unforseen events may take place, from whence it may be absolutely necessary that this Congress should meet sooner than [76] The Midnight Bide the day aforesaid." ^ The delegates indeed had scarcely dispersed before the news brought by Revere aroused such apprehen- sion that the committee which had been authorized to call the convention together again met, and on Tuesday, the 18th, or- dered the delegates to reassemble on the 22d at Watertown. Meantime, the Com- mittees of Safety and Supplies had con- tinued their sessions at Concord. Friday, the 14th, it had been voted: " That the cannon now in the town of Concord, be immediately disposed of within said town, as the committee of supplies may direct." ^ But on Monday, the 17th, ^vith John Hancock, to whom on Sunday Revere had brought information of the preparations being made in Boston for the expedition of the British, the Committees of Safety and Supplies, sitting jointly, voted: ^ Journal of the Second Provincial Congress, p. 146. ^ Journal of Committees of Safety and Supplies, p. 514. [77] The True Story of Paul Revere " That two four pounders, now at Con- cord, be mounted by the committee of sup- pHes, and that Col. Barrett be desired to raise an artillery company, to join the army when raised, they to have no pay until they join the army; and also that an instructor for the use of the cannon be appointed, to be put directly in pay." It was also voted: " That the four six pounders be trans- ported to Groton, and put under the care of Col. Prescott. " That two seven inch brass mortars be transported to Acton." ^ On the 18th the committees continued their preparations in anticipation of the descent of the British upon the stores. Nu- merous votes were passed, providing for a thorough distribution of the stock of pro- visions and ammunition on hand; a few ^ Journal of Committees of Safety and Supplies, p. 515. The Midnight Bide of these may be cited to tell the graphic story: " Voted, That all the ammunition be de- posited in nine different towns in this prov- ince; that Worcester be one of them; that Lancaster be one, (N.B. Col. Whitcomb is there); that Concord be one; and, that Groton, Stoughtonham, Stow, Mendon, LfCicester and Sudbury, be the others. " Voted, That part of the provisions be removed from Concord, viz: 50 barrels of beef, from thence to Sudbury, with Deacon Plympton; 100 barrels of flour, of which what is in the malt house in Concord be part; 20 casks of rice; 15 hogsheads of molasses; 10 hogsheads of rum; 500 candles. • •••••• " Voted, That the vote of the fourteenth instant, relating to the powder being re- moved from Leicester to Concord, be recon- sidered, and that the clerk be directed to write to Col. Barrett, accordingly, and to [^9] The True Story of Paul Revere desire he would not proceed in making it up in cartridges. " Voted, That the musket balls under the care of Col. Barrett, be buried under the ground, in some safe place, that he be de- sired to do it, and to let the commissary only be informed thereof. " Voted, That the spades, pick-axes, bill-hooks, shovels, axes, hatchets, crows, and wheelbarrows, now at Concord, be divided, and one third remain in Concord, one third in Sudbury, and one third at Stow. • •••••• " Voted, That two medicinal chests still remain at Concord, at two different parts of the town; six do. at Groton, Mendon, and Stow, two in each town, and in different places; two ditto in Worcester, one in each part of the town; and, two in Lancaster, ditto ; that sixteen hundred yards of Russia linen be deposited in seven parts, with the doctor's chests; that the eleven hundred [80] The Midnight Bide tents be deposited in equal parts in Worces- ter, Lancaster, Groton, Mendon, Leicester, and Sudbury. " 1 The transporting of the six pounders to Groton and the brass mortars to Acton car- ried an inference and a message of its own. It helps to account for the presence at the fight at Concord Bridge, on the 19th, of the minute men from these and other towns who could not readily have covered the dis- tance within so short a time, had their in- formation been due solely to Revere's alarm of the night before. But that the blow might be expected at almost any moment, Revere's tidings, brought on Sunday, made quickly apparent to the committees in ses- sion at Concord on Monday, two days before it fell. Many interesting stories have been handed down in tradition, and some of them have been treated by local historians ^ Journal of the Committees of Safety and Supplies, pp. 516-517. [81] The True Story of Paul Bevere with far more seriousness than they de- serve, seeking to explain how it happened that the patriots should know so well the plans of the British on the night of the 18th of April. One of these tales runs to the effect that a groom at the Province House, who happened to drop into a stable near by on Milk Street, was told by the stable-boy that he had overheard a conver- sation between Gage and other officers; " There will be hell to pay to-morrow," the jockey ventured to predict. It is alleged that this significant conversation was speed- ily repeated and carried to Paul Revere, who enjoined silence, and remarked to his informant: " You are the third person who has brought me the same information." ^ Another story has it that the great secret was revealed by an incautious sergeant- major in Gage's army quartered in the family of an Englishman, Jasper by name, who was secretly sympathetic toward the rebel cause, and who kept a gunsmith's ^ Drake's Old Landmarks, p. 243. [82] The Midnight Bide shop in Hatter's Square, where he worked for the British. Jasper is said to have re- peated what he had gathered from the British officer to Colonel Josiah Waters, one of the patriot leaders, w^ho promptly made the facts known to the Committee of Safety.' But the most romantic theory that has been advanced to account for the fore- knowledge possessed by the patriots rela- tive to the British movements on the night of April 18 is based upon a statement of an early historian of the Revolution,^ that " a daughter of liberty, unequally yoked in point of politics, sent word by a trusty hand to Mr. Samuel Adams residing in ^ The storywas published over the signature "C. C." — supposed to be Miss Catherine Curtis — in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for 1853 (Vol. 7, p. 139). The writer says that Colonel Waters "often told this story years after, to his then young friend, Joseph Curtis who is still [1853] living." ^ William Gordon, D. D., The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America, etc.. Vol. 1, p. 309. [83] The True Story of Paul Revere company with Mr. Hancock at Lexington about thirteen miles from Charlestown, that the troops were coming out in a few days." According to De Fonblanque, General Gage " was an amiable, well-meaning man of no military or administrative capacity, and of a weak character. Among other complaints made against him was that of being so com- pletely under the influence of his wife (the daughter of a colonist, Mr. Peter Kemble, president of the council of New Jersey) as habitually to confide to her his loyal pro- jects and correspondence with the ministry, which she, it was alleged, as habitually con- fided to his enemies." ^ Stedman, the Brit- ish historian of the Revolution, who was one of General Gage's commissioners in Boston, says : ^ " Gen. Gage on the evening of the 18th of April told Lord Percy that he intended ^ Political and Military Episodes in the latter half of the 18th Century, Derived from the Life and Correspond- ence of the Rt. Hon. John Burgoyne, p. 11 6. ^ History of the American War, p. 119. [84] The Midnight Bide to send a detachment to seize the stores at Concord, and to give the command to Col. Smith who knew that he was to go but not where. He meant it to be a secret expedi- tion, and begged of Lord Percy to keep it a profound secret. As this nobleman was passing from the general's quarters home to his own, perceiving eight or ten men conversing together on . the Common, he made up to them, when one of the men said : " * The British have marched; but will miss their aim.' What aim? ' said Lord Percy. Wh}^' the man rephed, ' the cannon at Concord.' " Lord Percy immediately returned on his steps, and acquainted Gen. Gage, not without marks of surprise and disapproba- tion of what he had just heard. The gen- eral said that his confidence had been betrayed, for that he had communicated his design to one person only beside his lordship." [85] The True Story of Paul Eevere These statements of Gordon, De Fon- blanque, and Stedman were dovetailed to- gether by Samuel A. Drake, the historian,^ who contended that in all probability it was Mrs. Gage who divulged the information to the patriot leaders of the proposed ex- pedition to Lexington and Concord. He thought it highly improbable to suppose that " Gen. Gage, who had used so much caution that he did not communicate his intentions to those officers whose co-opera- tion was essential, until the moment arrived for their execution, would have foolishly divulged them to some other officer or civilian." Drake continues: " But Gordon says intelligence was sent to Samuel Adams several days before the intended movement took place. That ' one other person ' must have been deep in the general's confidence; some one nearer than his most trusted officers; some one in high station, too, for the secret has been kept for ^ Letter in the Boston Sunday Herald^ July 6, 1879. [86] The Midnight Ride a century. It is certainly brought very near the general's person by his own declaration, made in a moment of extreme surprise and mortification. So far as known the general never divulged the name of the person who betrayed his confidence. He may have had strong reasons for his silence." This notion of Drake's that " the daugh- ter of liberty whose name should be hon- ored by every American at least, might have been no other than the wife of the British general-in-chief," was combated at once' by William W. Wheildon of Concord, whose researches into the local history of the time are exhaustive. He pointed out that the intended movement toward Lex- ington and Concord had been contemplated for weeks, and was a matter of common knowledge and gossip in Boston, being looked for daily, so that the only infor- mation relative to it which remained to be divulged was the precise time set by Gage * Boston Sunday Herald, July 13, 1879. [87 1 The True Story of Paul Bevere for putting the project into execution. The fact that the grenadier and Hght infantry companies had been taken off duty under pretence of learning some new exercises was itself sufficient to warn the Bostonians, and make them suspicious that preparations were at last actually under way for some- thing unusual. Wheildon contends that though Mrs. Gage was an American by birth, there is no reason whatever to sup- pose that she was a " daughter of liberty " in any sense of the term then in use in Boston. She had married in 1758, seven- teen 3^ears before, and long before the " Sons " or " Daughters "of Liberty were heard of; she had resided chiefly in Eng- land and Canada, and was in English so- ciety and politics till March, 1774; all her personal interests were British, and she undoubtedly loyally sympathized with her husband's efforts to sustain the government of the King in the interest of peace. The expression used by Gordon, "unequally yoked in politics," cannot fairly be said [88] The Midnight Bide to apply to her, while it might easily apply to the wives of numerous Tories. We have, moreover, only the authority of Gordon for this insinuation against Mrs. Gage, and it may have had no more foundation in fact than ordinary street rumors such as are al- ways plentiful in turbulent times. Wheil- don believed Stedman's story to be untrue, if for no better reason than that it is in- conceivable that Gage was not urged to undertake the expedition by those about him, and that therefore his officers knew somewhat, at least, of his plans. This writer cites evidence to show that the movement was expected, was provided for, and that the only information of value to be communicated was as to when the troops should start. He continues : >• " This was the secret that Gage kept to himself and Gordon says, * When the corps was nearly ready to proceed upon the expe- dition, Dr. Warren, by a mere accident, had notice of it just in time to send messengers [89] The True Story of Paul Revere over the neck and across the ferry on to Lexington, before the orders for prevent- ing every person's quitting the town were executed.' " From what has been said, it is apparent that any message of the purport of that given by Gordon, if sent to Sam Adams, was wholly unnecessary and superfluous, for, in addition to the above proceedings, indicating what was expected on account of taking the troops to be employed off duty and the launching of the boats, a message of warning was sent to Hancock and Adams at Lexington on Sunday, the 16th. And it was upon the strength of this message, and no other, that the committee of safety acted in the distribution of the stores and ammunition at Concord; this is distinctly shown by the proceedings of the committee on the Monday morning before and after Hancock joined them." ^ ^ Wheildon dismissed De Fonblanque's aspersions upon Mrs. Gage as an unworthy fling of Burgoyne's biographer, " quite in keeping with the quaUty of his herd." [90j The Midnight Bide It is really of no importance whether these stories are true or not. The deduc- tions from them are quite superfluous. If they prove anything they reflect upon the intelligence and common-sense of the citi- zens of Boston by creating an assumption that the patriots must have had some direct and specific information from inside the British camp in order to be forewarned of the expedition, and that without such in- formation the country between Boston and Concord could not have been properly alarmed. But Warren and his lieutenants, the members of the Committee of Safety, and the patrolmen of the Sons of Liberty were not a set of blockheads. Every move of the British military was watched with hawk-eyed vigilance. The Somerset, man- of-war, was moved from the position she had been occupying out into the Charles River, so as to be able to cover with her guns the ferry-ways.^ There could be but one interpretation placed on this, — that it ^ Salem Gazette, April 18, 1775. [91] The True Story of Paul Bevere was intended to guard against the very thing which happened, namely, successful communication between the Boston patriots and their colleagues in the country. It was, in short, impossible for the British to make an unusual stir such as was involved in the preparations for moving eight hun- dred troops out of Boston without that fact becoming instantly noised all over town. It is equally absurd to suppose that any one could have thought under the circumstances that the most likely destination of the troops was not Lexington and Concord. It is not at all necessary to invest this affair with any mystery, and to imagine that a stable-boy, an imprudent British sergeant-major, or the talkative wife of the commander of the King's forces divulged a great secret which could have been no secret to men of aver- age wit and powers of observation, espe- cially when such men were on the qui vive of suspicion and expectancy. No one can familiarize himself with the temper of the Boston populace on that [92] The Old North Church. The Midnight Bide April night, and with the character and personahty of Paul Revere, and not ap- preciate that in the whole town none was in a better position than he to know what the plans of the British were. He was in the thick of everything that was taking place. "On Tuesday evening, the 18th,"' he writes, " it was observed that a number of soldiers were marching toward the bottom of the Common," which meant that they were to be transported across the river to Charlestown or Cambridge, instead of mak- ing the long march around by way of Bos- ton Neck. No need of any lanterns being hung out in a church spire to inform him whether the red-coats were going by land or by sea! He knew all about this long before he got into his row-boat that night. But let him tell his own story: ^ Revere's narrative ; first published as a letter to Jeremy Belknap, Secretary of the Massachusetts His- torical Society, in 1798. See the Society Collections , Vol. 5, pp. 106-112. The narrative was republished in 1878, Proceedings, Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 16, pp. 371-376. [93] The True Story of Paul Bevere " About ten o'clock, Dr. Warren sent in great haste for me, and begged that I would immediately set off for Lexington, where Messrs. Hancock and Adams were, and acquaint them of the movement, and that it was thought they were the objects. When I got to Dr. Warren's house,^ I found he had sent an express by land to Lexington — a Mr. William Dawes. The Sunday before, by desire of Dr. Warren, I had been to Lexington, to Messrs. Han- cock and Adams, who were at the Rev. Mr. Clark's. I returned at night through Charlestown; there I agreed with a Colonel Conant and some other gentlemen, that if the British went out by water, we would show two lanthorns in the North Church steeple and if by land, one as a signal; for we were apprehensive it would be difficult to cross the Charles River, or get over Boston Neck. I left Dr. Warren, called upon a friend, and desired him to make the * On the site of the present American House, on Hanover Street. [94] The Midnight Bide signals. I then went home, took my boots and surtout, went to the north part of the town, where I kept a boat; two friends rowed me across Charles River a little to the eastward where the Somerset man-of- war lay. It was then young flood, the ship was winding, and the moon rising. They landed me on the Charlestown side. When I got into town, I met Colonel Conant and several others; they said they had seen our signals. I told them what was acting, and went to get me a horse; I got a horse of Deacon Larkin." Revere has thus made it quite plain that the signals were agreed upon for the bene- fit, not of himself, who could have no pos- sible need for them, but of the waiting patriots on the Charlestown shore, who, when they should see the light or lights, might be trusted to carry the news to Lex- ington and Concord in the event of no one being able to cross the river or get through the British lines by the land route over [95] TJie True Story of Paul Bevere Boston Neck. From the spot where Re- vere landed on the Charlestown shore the steeple of Christ Church was plainly vis- ible, yet he does not mention seeing the signals, though taking pains to record that others had seen them. Certainly curiosity could have been his only motive for looking for the lights, and the fact that he makes no minute of seeing them may well be taken as evidence that the lanterns had already been displayed and withdrawn ere he reached the Charlestown shore. The ar- rangement, he says, was that " we would show ^' the lanterns, not that they would be hung out and left for an indefinite length of time; moreover, his friends, when he jumped out of his boat, said that they " had seen " the signals. If they were still visible, what more natural than that Re- vere's attention should be called to them as a matter of curiosity, and that in that event he should have mentioned it in his very circumspect narrative? We know that the lights were not displayed for Revere's [96] The Midnight Bide benefit, and, when we take into considera- tion all the circumstances and the language of Revere's narrative, it is scarcely reason- able to suppose that Revere himself ever saw the signals. In view of all these facts, for which Revere himself is our chief authority, we perceive that Longfellow drew liberally from his imagination when he penned the lines : Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride. Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. ^ Now he patted his horse's side. Now gazed at the landscape far and near. Then, impetuous, stamped the earth. And turned and tightened his saddle-girth ; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry-tower of the Old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill. Lonely and spectral and sombre and still, **^And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry's height "^^ A glimmer, and then a gleam of light ! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns. But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns ! T [97] The True Story of Paul Revere ; Revere's story is to the effect that as soon as he could procure a horse he started upon his journey without further delay. " While the horse was preparing," he says, " Richard Devens, Esq., who was one of the Commit- tee of Safety, came to me, and told me that he came down the road from Lexington, after sundown, that evening; that he met ten British officers, all well mounted and armed, going up the road. I set off upon a very good horse; it was then about 11 o'clock, and very pleasant." Devens him- self left a memorandum of his experiences on that evening.^ Says he: " On the 18th of April, 75, Tuesday, the committee of safety, of which I was then a member, and the committee of supplies, sat at NewelFs tavern, [the records of the com- mittee say Wetherby's] at Menotomy. A great number of British officers dined at Cambridge. After we had finished the busi- ^ This was brought to Hght and first published in Richard Frothingham's Siege of Boston. See edition of 1896, p. 57. [98 1 The Midnight Bide ness of the day, we adjourned to meet at Woburn on the morrow, — left to lodge at NewelFs, Gerry, Orne and Lee. Mr. Wat- son and myself came off in my chaise at sunset. On the road we met a great num- ber of B.O. [British officers] and their ser- vants on horseback, who had dined that day at Cambridge. We rode some way after we met them, and then turned back and rode through them, went and informed our friends at NewelFs. We stopped there till they came up and rode by. We then left our friends, and I came home, after leaving Mr. Watson at his house. I soon received intelligence from Boston, that the enemy were all in motion, and were certainly pre- paring to come out into the country. Soon afterward, the signal agreed upon was given; this was a lanthorn hung out in the upper window of the tower of the N. Ch. [North Church] towards Charlestown. I then sent off an express to inform Messrs Gerry &c., and Messrs Hancock and A., [Adams] who I knew were at the Rev. [99] The True Story of Paul Revere Mr. [Clark's] at Lexington, that the enemy were certainly coming out. I kept watch at the ferry to watch for the boats till about eleven o'clock, when Paul Revere came over and informed that the T. [troops] were actually in the boats. I then took a horse from Mr. Larkin's barn, and sent him. I procured a horse and sent off P. Revere ^ to give the intelligence at Menotomy and< Lexington. He was taken by the British/ officers before mentioned, before he got to Lexington." ^ Thus we have seen that Dr. Warren sent two messengers out to Lexington that night, — Revere and Dawes, — and that for fear both of them might be captured, an arrangement had been made to notify other patriots in Charlestown by displaying lanterns from the North Church spire. Had misfortune therefore befell the specially commissioned messengers, there can be no ^ This is a curious error of Devens*. " Concord '* should of course be substituted in this sentence for " Lexington." [100] The Midnight Bide doubt that others would have carried the tidings out through the Middlesex villages, arousing the inhabitants, and warning Han- cock and Adams at Lexington. To say this in the interest of the sober truth of history- is no disparagement of the services rendered the cause of liberty by Revere on that fa- mous night. To him probably belongs the credit for possessing the foresight which suggested and arranged for the display of the signal lights, while Dr. Warren's pre- science is seen in his despatching of Dawes with the important news to Lexington and his subsequent sending of Revere on the same errand by a different route, thus pro- viding against the contingency of Dawes' capture. All of these safeguards together proved in the event to have been unneces- sary; yet all served their purpose, though any one without the others would have suf- ficed. Each of the actors in this little cur- tain-raising performance, preceding the first act in the great drama of the Revolution to be played next day on Lexington Green [ 101 ] The True Story of Paul Revere and at Concord Bridge, executed his part well, with courage, skill, intelligence, and patriotism. To return to the story of Revere's ride. Mounted on Deacon Larkin's horse, he set off to alarm the country, but had not gone far on the road through Charlestown when he discerned just ahead of him two British officers. He turned quickly, and, though pursued, made good his escape, passing through Medford and up to Menotomy (now Arlington). "In Medford," he re- cords, " I awaked the captain of the minute men ; and after that, I alarmed almost every house, till I got to Lexington." This quite agrees with the stirring lines of the poet: A hurry of hoofs m a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark. And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless, and fleet : That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night. The incidents in connection with the alarming of Hancock and Adams at the [ 102 ] The Midnight Bide Rev. Mr. Clark's house, and the other epi- sodes of that night and the early dawn which brought bloodshed with it, have been preserved for posterity by the narratives of three contemporary witnesses and partici- pants, — the Rev. Jonas Clark (at whose house Hancock and Adams were lodging), the reminiscences of Dorothy Quincy, who was also staying at Mr. Clark's, and Re- vere's own account. Besides these there is a collection of depositions of the survivors of the battle of Lexington, taken some years after the event. One of the most interesting of these depositions was that of William Monroe, an orderly sergeant in Captain Parker's company of minute-men.^ He says he learned early in the evening of the 18th that British soldiers had been seen on the road from Boston, and continues: " I supposed they had some design upon Hancock and Adams, who were at the house ^ Phinney's History of the Battle of Lexington, pub- lished in 1825, p. SS. [103] The True Story of Paul Revere of the Rev. Mr. Clark, and immediately as- sembled a guard of eight men, with their arms, to guard the house. About midnight, Col. Paul Revere rode up and requested ad- mittance. I told him the family had just retired, and had requested that they might not be disturbed by any noise about the house. "'Noise!' said he, 'you'll have noise y enough before long. The regulars are coming out.' " We then permitted him to pass." A year after the battle the Rev. Mr. Clark preached a sermon ^ commemorative of the event, and prepared for publication ^ The complete title of the pamphlet edition runs : " A Sermon preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776. To Commemorate the MURDER, BLOODSHED, and Commencement of Hostilities, between Great Britain and America, in that Town, by a Brigade of Troops of George HI, under Command of Lieutenant-Colonel SMITH, on the Nineteenth of April, 1775. To which is added A Brief NARRATIVE of the principal Trans- actions of that Day. By JONAS CLARK, A. M. Pastor of the Church in Lexington." [ 104 ] The Midnight Bide in connection therewith " a brief narrative of the principal transactions of that day." He told the story in this fervid fashion: " On the evening of the eighteenth of April, 1775, we received two messages, the first verbal,^ the other by express in writ- ing from the Committe of safety, who were then sitting in the westerly part of Cam- bridge, directed to the Honorable John HANCOCK, Esq; (who, with the Honor- able SAMUEL AD AIMS, Esq; was then providentially with us) informing, * that eight or nine oncers of the king's troops were seen, just before night, passing the road towards Leamington, in a musing, con- templative posture; and it was suspected they were out upon some evil design.' ^ Paul Revere was without doubt the bearer of the verbal message ; the message in writing was probably the same referred to by Richard Devens as having been sent by him. Revere apparently arrived first, but had he been waylaid we here have evidence that Hancock and Adams would have received due warning of the approach of the British. [105] The True Story of Paul Bevere " As both these gentlemen had been fre- quently and even publicly threatened, by the enemies of this people, both in England and America, with the vengeance of the British administration: — And as Mr. Hancock in particular had been, more than once, per- sonally insulted, by some officers of the troops, in Boston, it was not without some just grounds supposed, that under cover of the darkness, sudden arrest, if not assassi- nation might be attempted by these instru- ments of tyrrany! " To prevent anything of this kind, ten or twelve men were immediately collected, in arms, to guard my house, through the night. " In the meantime, said officers passed through this town, on the road towards Concord: It was therefore thought expe- dient to watch their motions, and if pos- sible make some discovery of their inten- tions. Accordingly about 10 o'clock in the evening, three men, on horses, were dis- patched for this purpose. As they were [106] The Midnight Bide peaceably passing the road towards Con- cord, in the borders of Lincoln, they were suddenly stopped by said officers, who rode up to them, and putting pistols to their breasts and seizing their horses bridles, swore, if they stirred another step, they should he all dead 7nen! — The officers de- tained them several hours, as prisoners, examined, searched, abused and insulted them; and in their hasty return (suppos- ing themselves discovered) they left them in Lexington. — Said officers also took into Custody, abused and threatened with their lives several other persons; some of whom they met peaceably passing on the road, others even at the doors of their dwellings, without the least provocation, on the part of the inhabitants, or so much as a ques- tion asked by them. " Between the hours of twelve and one, on the morning of the NINETEENTH OF APRIL, we received intelligence, by express from the Honorable JOSEPH WARREN Esq; at Boston, that a large [ 107 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere body of the king's troops (supposed to be a brigade of about 12 or 1500) were em- barked in boats from Boston, and gone over to land on Lechmere's-Point (so- called) in Cambridge: And that it was shrewdly suspected, that they were ordered to seize and destroy the stores, belonging to the colony, then deposited at Concord, in consequence of General Gage's unjustifi- able seizure of the provincial magazine of powder at Medford, and other colony stores in several other places. . . ." More than forty-seven years after the battle of Lexington she who was Miss Quincy in 1775 was a guest at a little dinner party in Boston given by Mr. Stephen Codman. Left a widow by John Hancock, she had married again, and her second husband. Captain Scott, was now also deceased. Madame Scott on this oc- casion entertained the party with many reminiscences of her first husband and the revolutionary period, and one of the other [108] The Midnight Bide guests, General William H. Sumner, was so impressed with the importance of pre- serving what she said that he resolved, be- fore going to bed that night, to jot down an account of what fell from her lips. He wrote in part ^ as follows : " Mrs. Scott, at this time [April, 1775] was a young maiden lady of the name of Quincy, to whom Mr. Hancock was paying his suit. Mrs. Hancock, the aunt of the Governor and the widow of his uncle Thomas Hancock (as lady-like a woman as ever Boston bred, she observed) was her particular friend and protectress, (her mother being dead,) was also at Lexing- ton, at the same house. She observed that Dr. Warren sent out a message in the evening that they must take care of them- selves, and give the alarm through the country, for Gen. Gage had ordered a ^ General Sumner's memoranda was not published for many years afterward. It appeared in the Neiv England Historical and Genealogical Register for April, 1854 (Vol. 8, pp. 187-191). [ 109 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere force to march that night to Concord, to destroy the stores. Paul Revere, Esq., brought the message, and arrived there about 12 o'clock." ' ^ General Sumner's narrative^ while it has no more to say of Paul Revere, is interesting enough to quote further here : " Mr. Hancock [he continues] gave the alarm imme- diately, and the Lexington bell was rung all night ; and before light about one hundred and fifty men were collected. Mr. H. was all the night cleaning his gun and sword, and putting his accoutrements in order, and was determined to go out to the plain by the meeting- house, where the battle was, to fight with the men who had collected, but who, she says, were but partially provided with arms, and those they had were in most miserable order ; and it was with very great difficulty that he was dissuaded from it by Mr. Clark and Mr. Adams, the latter clapping him on the shoulder, said to him, ' that is not our business ; we belong to the cabinet.* It was not till break of day that Mr. H. could be persuaded that it was improper for him to expose himself against such a powerful force ; but, over- come by the entreaties of his friends who convinced him that the enemy would indeed triumph, if they could get him and Mr. Adams in their power ; and finding, by the enquiries of a British officer (a fore- runner of the army), who asked where Clark's tavern was, that he was one of their objects, he, with Mr. [110] The Midnight Bide But let us follow Revere's adventures after his rousing of Hancock and Adams at the Clark house in his own language: " After I had been there about half an hour M^ Dawes arrived, who came from Adams, went over to Woburn, to the Rev. Mr. Jones, 1 think she said. The ladies remained and saw the battle commence. Mrs. Scott says the British fired first, she is sure. This was a point much contested at the time, and many depositions were taken to prove the fact that the British were the actual aggressors. One of the first British bullets whizzed by old Mrs. Hancock's head, as she was looking out of the door, and struck the barn ; she cried out. What is that ? they told her it was a bullet, and she must take care of herself. Mrs. Scott was at the chamber window looking at the fight. She says two of the wounded men were brought into the house. One of them, whose head was grazed by a ball, insisted that he was dead ; the other, who was shot in the arm, behaved better. The first was more scared than hurt. " After the British passed on towards Concord, they received a letter from Mr. H. informing them where he and Mr. Adams were, wishing them to get into the carriage and come over and bring the ^7ie salmon that they had had sent to them for dinner. This they carried over in the carriage, and had got it nicely cooked and were [111] / The True Story of Paul Revere Boston, over the neck; we set off for Con- cord, & were overtaken by a young gent"^ just sitting down to it, when in came a man from Lex- ington, whose house was upon the main road, and who cleared out, leaving his wife and family at home, as soon as he saw the British bayonets glistening as they descended the hills on their return from Concord. Half frightened to death, he exclaimed, 'The British are coming ! the British are coming ! my wife 's in etarnity now.' Mr. H. and Mr. Adams supposing the British troops were at hand, went into the swamp and staid till the alarm was over. " Upon their return to the house, Mrs. Scott told Mr. H. that having left her father in Boston, she should return to him to-morrow. ' No, madam,' said he, ' you shall not return as long as there is a British bayonet left in Boston.' She, with the spirit of a woman, said, ' Recollect Mr. Hancock, I am not under your control yet. I shall go in to my father to-morrow ;' for, she said, at that time I should have been very glad to have got rid of him, but her aunt, as she afterwards was, would not let her go. She did not go into Boston for three years afterwards ; for when they left this part of the country, they went to Fairfield, in Connecticut, and staid with Mr. Burr, the uncle of Aaron Burr, who was there. Aaron, she says, was very attentive to her, and her aunt was very jealous of him, lest he should gain her affections, and defeat her purpose of connecting her with her nephew. Mr. Burr, she said, was a hand- [112] The Midnight Bide named Prescot, who belonged to Concord, & was going home; when we had got about half way from Lexington to Concord, the other two, stopped at a House to awake the man, I kept along, when I had got about 200 yards ahead of them; I saw two officers as before, I called to my company to come up, saying here was two of them (for I had told them what M^ Devens told me, and of my being stoped) in an instant, I saw four of them, who rode up to me, with their pistols in their hands, said G d d n you stop if you go an inch further, you are a dead Man,' immeaditly M^ Pres- cot came up we attempted to git thro them, but they kept before us, and swore if we did not turn into that pasture, they would blow our brains out, (they had placed them- selves opposite to a pair of Barrs, and had some young man, of very pretty fortune, but her aunt would not leave them a moment together, and in August she married Mr. H., and went on to Philadelphia, to the Congress, of which Mr. H. was President at the time she married him." 8 [113] The True Story of Paul Bevere taken the Barrs down) they forced us in, when we had got in, M^ Preseot said put on. He took to the left, I to the right towards a wood, at the bottom of the Pas- ture intending, when I gained that, to jump my Horse & run afoot; just as I reached it, out started six officers, seized my bridle, put their Pistols to my Breast, ordered me to dismount, which I did: One of them, who appeared to have the Command there, and much of a Gentleman, asked me where I came from; I told him, he asked what time I left it, I told him, he seemed sur- prised said S^' may I have your name, I answered my name is Revere, what said he, Paul Revere; I answered yes; the others abused much, but he told me not to be afraid, no one should hurt me; I told him they would miss their aim. He said they should not, they were only awaiting for some deserters they expected down the Road; I told him I knew better, I knew what they were after; that I had alarmed the country all the way up, that their Boats [114] The Midnight Ride were catch'd aground, and I should have JO men there soon; one of them said they had 1,500 coming: he seemed surprised and rode off into the road, and informed them who took me, they came down immeaditly on a full gallop, one of them (whom I since learned was Major Mitchell of the 5th Reg.) Clap^^ his Pistol to my head, and said he was going to ask me some ques- tions, if I did not tell him the truth, he would blow my brains out. I told him I esteemed myself a Man of truth, that he had stopped me on the highway, & made me a prisoner, I knew not by what right; I would tell him the truth; I was not afraid; He then asked me, the same ques- tions that the other did, and many more, but was more particular; I gave him much the same answers; he then Ordered me to mount my horse, they first searched me for pistols, when I was mounted the Major took the reins out of my hand, and said by G d S^ you are not to ride with reins I assure you; and gave them to an officer [115] The True Story of Paul Bevere on my right, to lead me, he then Ordered 4 men out of the Bushes, & to mount their horses; they were countrymen whom they had stopped, who were going home; then ordered us to march. He said to me ' We are now going towards your friends, and if you attempt to run, or we are insulted, we will blow your Brains out.' When we had got into the Road they formed a circle, and ordered the prisoners in the centre, & to lead me in the front. We rid towards Lexington, a quick pace; They very often insulted me calling me Rebel &c. &c. after we had got about a mile, I was given to the Serjant, to lead, he was Ordered to take out his pistol, (he rode with a hanger,) and if I ran, to execute the major's sen- tence; When we got within about half a mile of the meeting house, we heard a gun fired; the Major asked me what it was for, I told him to alarm the country; he or- dered the four prisoners to dismount, they did, then one of the officers dismounted and cutt the Bridles, and saddels, off the Horses, [116] The Midnight Bide & drove them away, and told the men they might go about their business; I asked the Major to dismiss me, he said he would carry me, lett the consequence be what it will. He then Ordered us to march, when we got within sight of the meeting House, we heard a Volley of guns fired, as I supposed at the tavern, as an alarm; the Major or- dered us to halt, he asked me how far it was to Cambridge, and many more ques- tions, which I answered; he then asked the Serjant, if his horse was tired, he said yes; he Ordered him to take my horse; I dis- mounted, the Serjant mounted my horse; they cutt the Bridles & Saddle of the Ser- jants horse, & rode off, down the road. I then went to the house where I left Mes^ Adams and Hancock, and told them what had happined, their friends advised them to go out of the way; I went with them, about two miles across road: after resting myself I sett off with another man to go back to the Tavern; to enquire the News; when we got there, we were told the troops [117] The True Story of Paul Revere were, within two miles. We went into the Tavern to git a Trunk of papers, belong- ing to Col. Hancock, before we left the House, I saw the ministeral Troops from the Chamber window, we made haste, & had to pass thro' our Militia, who were on a green behind the meeting house, to the number as I supposed, about 50 or 60. I went thro them; as I passed I heard the commanding officer speake to his men to this purpose, * Lett the troops pass by, & don't molest them, without They begin first.' I had to go a cross Road, but had not got half Gun shot off, when the Ministeral Troops appeared in sight, behinde the Meeting House; they made a short halt, when one gun was fired, I heard the re- port, turned my head, and saw the smoake in front of the Troops, they imeaditly gave a great shout, ran a few paces, and then the whole fired. I could first distinguish Ireg- ular fireing, which I supposed was the ad- vance guard, and then platoons, at this time I could not see our Militia for they [118] The Midnight Bide were covered from me, by a house at the bottom of the Street." ^ This was the " battle " of Lexington, — fifty provincials exchanging a few shots with eight hundred of the King's troops, who then marched on to Concord, only to find, after a bloody encounter, that the most valuable of the stores they had come to seize or destroy had, thanks to the timely warn- ing of Paul Revere three days before, been already removed to places of safety. On the day following these events Revere was permanently engaged by Dr. Warren, president of the Committee of Safety, " as ^ This account is from Revere's manuscript found in the family papers, and is supposed to have been written in 1783, eight years after the events recorded occurred. In 1798 Revere sent a revised account to Jeremy Belk- nap, secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society, as noted on a preceding page. The revised account is the one best known and usually quoted, but it is not so complete in its detailed narration of Revere's adven- tures in the latter part of the night of April 18-19 as the original, while the latter is less complete than the letter to Belknap with respect to the preparations for the ride. [119] The True Story of Paul Bevere a messenger to do the outdoors business for that committee." ^ We have no record up to this time of Revere having rendered other than gratuitous service in the long journeys he took in behalf of the patriot cause, being content with the satisfaction of having per- formed a duty to his country. Whether he had now reached the conclusion, as we are well aware some of the other men whom his- tory has written down as heroes did, that even patriotic service has a commercial value that the state should recognize, it may be unbecoming to pass judgment; but this we know, that henceforth he proposed to charge for his messenger service. He appears to have been prospering in his business at this period, and, no doubt, he felt that he was not called upon to neglect it, with the large family he had to support, for the public service without some financial recompense. From the promptness with which his bill was audited, we may assume that his em- ployers did not quarrel with this point of * Narrative letter to Jeremy Belknap. [120] «1 •(4 1^ ^ ^ -J^^ V ~i -I 'Q. . ^ v^> ^■ "^ I t^ iXl oi The Midnight Bide view. But that they thought he was dis- posed to value his labors too highly is also evident, for they reduced his charge for riding as a messenger from the amount asked, five shillings, to four shillings, a day. This bill, one of many such documents pre- served in the archives at the State House in Boston, is faded by time, but the handwrit- ing of Revere and the endorsement on the back, with the signatures of James Otis, Samuel and John Adams, and the other members of the Council in approval, stands out clear and distinct. This bill, with the Council's comments, is as follows: "1775. The Colony of Massachusetts Bay to Paul Revere, Dr. To riding for the Com- mittee of Safety from April 21 1775 to May 7th, 17 days at 5/. .450 To my expenses for self & horse during that time 2 16 [m] The True Story of Paul Eevere May 6th To keeping two Colony- Horses 10 day at 1 / pr horse 1 00 Aug. 2d, To Printing 1000 im- pressions at 6/ pr Hundd, Soldiers Notes 3 00 11 1 " Errors Excepted " Paul Revere." " N. B. ye Government does not charge ye charges of Impressions for ye Money emitted for other Uses than ye Army. " reduced his Labour to 4j per day." The comments of the Council upon the original bill as made out by Revere show the care with which the expenditures were guarded. Revere evidently did not, when he first submitted this bill, indicate the pur- pose for which the " impressions " printed by him and charged up to the colony was intended, so a memorandum was made at the bottom of the bill calling attention to [122] The Midnight Bide the fact that only the printing of money for the use of the army would be paid for. Doubtless inquiry developed that Revere's charge was in accordance with this under- standing, though he had neglected to so itemize it; and the explanatory words, " Soldiers Notes," were added afterward. The record of the appropriation made to cover the bill, after the total had been reduced to ten pounds, four shillings, is inscribed on the back of the original, and is to this effect: " In the House of Representatives, Aug- ust 22d 1775. Resolved that Mr. Paul Re- vere be allowed & paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony ten pound four shilling in full discharge of the within account." This document was promptly sent up to the Council for concurrence, being signed by James Warren, Speaker, and Samuel Adams, Secretary. The Council concurred and the back of the paper bears the indorse- [123] The True Story of Paul Bevere ment of the councillors: James Otis, W. Sever, B. Greenleaf, W. Spooner, J. Win- throp, T. Gushing, John Adams, Saml Adams, Joseph Gerrish, John Whetcomb, Jedh Foster, Eldad Taylor, M. Farley, J. Palmer, S. Holten. [124] IV— THE CITIZEN AND SOLDIER 1775-1777 IMMEDIATELY after the battle of Lexington Revere decided to take up his residence for a time in Charles- town, conceiving, no doubt, that this would be a more congenial place of abode during the troublous times then upon the country than Boston, where persons known to be in sympathy with the patriots were having life made not particularly comfortable for them by the royalist authorities and the red-coat soldiery. So Revere told his wife to pack up the household goods, and leave his shop in the custody of a friend, who was given leave to conduct the business for himself. He wrote his wife : ^ ^ Letters from the papers of John Revere, a grand- son of Paul. Copied and first published in full in Goss' Life, Vol. 1, p. 261 et seq. [125] The True Story of Paul Severe " My Dear Girl " I receiv^ your favor yesterday. I am glad you have got yourself ready. If you find that you cannot easily get a pass for the Boat, I would have you get a pass for yourself and children and effects. Send the most valuable first. I mean that you should send Beds enough for yourself and Chil- dren, my chest, your trunk, with Books, Cloaths &c to the ferry tell the ferryman they are mine. I will provide a house here where to put them & will be here to receive them, after Beds are come over, come with the Children, except Paul, pray order him by all means to keep at home that he may help bring the things to the ferry, tell him not to come till I send for him. You must hire somebody to help you. You may get brother Thomas, lett Isaac Clemens if he is a mind to take care of the shop and main- tain himself there, he may, or do as he has a mind, put sugar in a Raisin cask or some such thing & such necessarys as we shall want. Tell Betty, My Mother, Mrs. Met- [126] The Citizen and Soldier calf if they think to stay, as we talked at first, tell them I will supply them with all the cash & other things in my power but if they think to come away, I will do all in my power to provide for them, perhaps be- fore this week is out there will be liberty for Boats to go to Notomy, and then we can take them all. If you send the things to the ferry send enough to fill a cart, them that are the most wanted. Give Mrs. Met- calf [the letter is torn at this place] in, their part of the money I dont remember the sums, but perhaps they can. I want some Hnnen and stockings very much. Tell Paul I expect he '1 behave himself well and at- tend to my business, and not be out of the way. My Kind love to our parents & our Children Brothers & Sisters & all friends." To his fifteen-year old son Paul, Revere added this postscript: " My Son. "It is now in your power to be service- able to me, your Mother and yourself. I [127] The True Story of Paul Revere beg you will keep yourself at home or where your Mother sends you. Dont you come away till I send you word. When you bring anything to the ferry tell them it is mine & mark it with my name. " Your loving Father " P. R." It would appear from these admonitions to young Paul that that young man was ad- dicted to running away from home. Prob- ably he stayed out nights with the other boys of the North End. Certainly there were plenty of exciting things to talk about and prowl into in those stirring weeks to tempt the adventurous spirit of any normally con- stituted boy. Without a doubt Paul, Jr., was a chip of the parental block. There was some further correspondence between Revere and his wife relative to the securing of the necessary passes for the ferrying of herself, family, and household goods across the river to Charlestown, and we may assume that the little expedition [128] The Citizen and Soldier reached its destination in safety. Quite likely the family remained in this retreat until after the evacuation of Boston by the British in March, 1776. Revere's exploits in the colony's service had attracted wide attention and were even chronicled in the London newspapers, as appears from this letter, found in the family papers, from his cousin, probably John Rivoire, of the isle of Guernsey: "Guernsey y® 12<^^ Jany, 1775. " Mr PAUL RIVOIRE " Dear Cousin, " Several years are Elapsed since I had the pleasure of receiving any of your favors. I wish heartily in future we may not be so long silent, but renew mutually a fresh cor- respondence. Perusing the London New Papers of y^ 15 Nov^ last, I observed a Paragraf wherein I found your name though spelt Revere; having by me one of your former Letters wherein you men- tioned *your Father made this alteration 9 [ 129 ] The True Story of Paul Revere merely on account the Bumpkins should pronounce it easier.' By this I was fully convinced it must be you. It appears by s^ Paragraf you are Deputy (or Express) from y® Congress of Boston to Philadel- phia, as s^ Paragraf says thus : ' This Day arrived Mr. Paul Bevere express from the Congress of Boston who brought the agree- able News General Gage had desisted from Building the Brick Wall near Boston and had dismissed the workmen.' It seems by this D^ Cousin you are a person in good Circumstances and without doubt you have many friends at Boston and other places on the Continent and perhaps at S^ Crus other- wise S^ Croix, a Danish Island in the West Indies. I should take it very kind you would recommend me to them in Consign- ing to my House a Cargo (or Cargoes) of Bum either from New England or the West India Islands there is not the least fear of Profit as Guernsey is free from all dutys and a vast Trade carried on by the Smug- glers from here to the Coast of England, [130] The Citizen and Soldier we have some Vessells who are always Im- ploy'd from here to St. Croix for Rum. Your friends may depend on my Integrity and Honor & Quick remitances in the House they may Order. Good New Eng- land Rum would sell well here but would not fetch so much as St. Croix or other Island of the West Indies. White Oake Pipe Staves answer well here and might be loaded in lieu of stowing Wood. I dont in the least doubt you doing your utmost to oblige me therefore will treat on another subject. "My only brother Will^ Rivoire who commanded a New Vessell British Built, half our property, was never heard off since his sailing from Quebec 16 Nov^ 1771. by this fatal Accident I 'm the only male Revoire remaining on this Island and Bachelor at 40 years of Age. we had also another Vessell the whole of our property, both these Vessells were Imploy'd in the Wine way from Barcelona to Quebec & from thence with Wheat to s^ Barcelona. [131] The True Story of Paul Eevere Unluckily my s^ Deceased Broth^ Kept me in Ignorance of all his Transactions and always kept Noble Men's company as far as the Vice Roy of Barcelona with whom I have lost money, by this Indiscretion I have considerably lost Money, by others I have been obliged to pay since my Broth^^ Death near £1500 Sterling. You must Immagine this must have reduced me but in Order there should be no Slurr on the Name of Rivoire, has justly paid every one, without being obliged to be put to shame by Bankruptcy. Our Cousin Mathias Rivoire of Martel near St. Foy 14 or 15 Leagues from Bordeaux writes me there is one M^ Rivoire of New England now in France. Undoubtedly it must be one of your Broth^^ or your Son, that the said has wrote him in order to discover and recover what may be y^ Father's Claims in those Parts of which he says he is Ignorant. I should be very glad to see this Rivoire in Guernsey or know how to direct for him in France. We have other relations at a place call^ Riancaut very [132] The Citizen and Soldier rich and the whole of their Estate should by Right be my property as Heir of the Eldest Son. My Grandfather Simon Rivoire who defrayed all expenses and sent your father who they called Apollos to Boston to learn the Goldsmith Trade. You and me cannot expect anything from those Parts, it is so long since our Friends left their Estates in the time of Persecution that it would be needless. [From this point to its conclu- sion the letter is torn.] " This letter was followed four months later by the following: "Guernsey, y® 12*^ April 1775. " M^ PAUL RIVOIRE " Z)^ Cousin " I wrote you y® 12 January last by New York Packet which hope you have received and beg your favorable answer. Wheat having been very dear in Europe this long while and specially in Old England and of course at Guernsey I 'm certain if you or any of your friends should send a cargo to [ 133 ] The True Story of Paul Revere this place to my consignment they might expect a reasonable profit. It sells here at present 4/6: our Bushel 42% weight for your and your friends Government. Re- ferring to what I have before wrote you, I remain " Your sincere and Loving Cousin " John Rivoire. " Excuse haste as this goes by Man of War." What response if any Revere made to these letters we do not know. It may be that the hurrying events of the Revolution occupied his mind and his energies too much to cause him to busy himself very extensively in negotiating for cargoes of rum and wheat for his speculative and thrifty cousin in far-off Guernsey. One of the first acts of the second Con- tinental Congress, which met in Philadelphia May 10, 1775, was to authorize the issue of a sum not exceeding two millions of Spanish milled dollars in bills of credit [134] The Citizen and Soldier " for the defence of America." John Adams and Benjamin Frankhn were mem- bers of the committee appointed to super- intend the printing, and they gave the job to Paul Revere, who engraved the plate and printed the bills on such thick paper that the British called it the " paste-board currency of the rebels." On the 8th of the following December the Massachusetts Pro- vincial Congress entered into a contract on its own account with Revere/ who agreed as follows: "Watertown Dec°^ 8, 1775. " I, the Subscriber agree to Engrave the Plates & make the necessary alterations in the same, and Print the number of Bills the Hon^^® House of Representatives shall order, for the sum of one penny half penny, old Tenor, each Bill, and finde the Paper, and all the materials, the paper to be equal to the last Emmission. As the alteration & engraving will not be quite so ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 138, p. 271. [135] The True Story of Paul Bevere much work as the last, I agree to alow thirty shillings L. Money, out of the whole. " Paul Revere. " Memorandum. " The Paper for the last cost me Six dol- lars a Rheam, when I did not expect to give but four, which made 44 dollars odds, the Committee of the House ordered the paper to be made, & did not agree for the price, & I was obliged to pay the paper maker his demand." May 3, 1775, a committee of the Pro- vincial Congress sitting at Watertown was authorized to procure a copper-plate for printing securities amounting to £100,000, issued at six per cent, for war purposes, payable June 1, 1777.^ A contract was made with Revere to prepare the notes, and he engraved the plate, built a press, and did the printing. The scarcity of ready money in those troublous times is seen in the vote passed on the 3d of June, direct- ^ Journal of the Second Provincial Congress, p. 185. [136] The Citizen and Soldier ing Revere to " attend the business of stamping the notes for the soldiers, all the ensuing night, if he can, and to finish them with the greatest despatch possible." ^ The importance of taking precautions against theft and counterfeiting was duly impressed upon the engraver by a committee appointed June 21 to wait upon Revere and ad- vise " that he does not leave his engraving press exposed, when he is absent from it." The committee was likewise instructed to see that the plates were placed in posses- sion of Congress as soon as the notes were printed. For this work Revere rendered a bill amounting to £24 for engraving and £48 6^. 8^. for the printing of 14,500 impres- sions, — a total of £72 Qs, 8d.^ The com- mittee appointed to audit this account thought it too large, and reported "that there be paid Oute of the Publick Trea^ to M^ Paul Revere in Colony Notes Sixty- ^ Journal of the Third Provincial Congress, p. 296. ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 157, p. 477. [137] The True Story of Paul Revere Eight pound Six Shilling and Eight pence in full." ^ But a reduction of only £4< in the charge made by the thrifty engraver was thought by the Congress to leave the bill exorbitant for the services rendered in view of the condition of the treasury. The report was therefore rejected and a vote passed allowing Revere £50 in full for the engraving and printing.^ Arrangements for the printing of subsequent issues of colony notes were made with him at the rate of six shillings per one hundred sheets, " provided said Revere find ink and house room^ and procure suitable paper, the colony paying only the prime cost of said paper." At this period Revere busied himself also in making designs for coins, medals, etc., and probably in designing the frames, or- ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 157, p. 481. ^ Journal of the Third Provincial Congress, p. 441. ® Twelve shillings had been paid out of the treasury for the rental of John Cook's house at Watertown where Revere had printed the £100^000 issue. [138] The Citizen and Soldier nate but full of character, which surround many of Copley's famous portraits and have been preserved to this day.^ He made the seal with the familiar Indian figure upon it which the colony began using in 1775 and was in use until 1780. One of the first acts of the governor's council after the adoption of the new State constitution was to provide for an official seal, and Revere was of course given the work of engraving it. He esti- mated it as being worth £900 and sent in his bill accordingly; but it met the usual fate of Revere's charges when dealing with the government, for the Council, esteeming it too high, reduced it to £600 " or £8 hard money, equal to £15 New Emission." ^ The rebellious spirit among the colonists was, as is now perhaps more generally ap- preciated than formerly, by no means unani- mous, nor anywhere near so. Many of the leading citizens viewed the extremes to which ^ Augustus T. Perkins, Memoir of J. S. Copley, pp. 17,87. ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 177, p. 332. [139] The True Story of Paul Severe Sam Adams and the " Sons of Liberty " were going with very dubious forebodings. By this class Adams and his fellows were regarded as political agitators and dema- gogues of a dangerous type. It is not strange, therefore, that in their loyalty to the King there should be persons among the Tories who should deem it but true patriot- ism toward the mother country to report to the authorities the deeds and sayings of the plotters against the King's peace. One such. Dr. Benjamin Church, was so bold in his jiublic alliances with the fomenters of rebellion that he for a long time escaped detection. He was a well-known character, being, in 1774, a member of the Provincial Congress from Boston, and also physician- general to the army then forming. Essay- ing an active interest in the plans for re- sisting British aggression, he became a member of the " Sons of Liberty," and was in the habit of attending the caucuses at the Green Dragon Tavern. In his letter to Jeremy Belknap, secretary [140] The Citizen and Soldier of the Massachusetts Historical Society, in 1798/ Revere thus describes the strange con- duct of Dr. Church, which, with other cir- cumstances, served at length to fix suspicion upon him: "We held our meetings at the Green Dragon Tavern. We were so careful that our meetings should be kept secret, that every time we met every person swore upon the Bible that they would not discover any of our transactions but to Messrs Hancock, Adams, Doctors Warren, Church, and one or two more. " About November, when things began to grow serious, a gentleman who had connec- tions with the Tory party but was a Whig at heart, acquainted me, that our meetings were discovered, and mentioned the identi- cal words that were spoken among us the night before. We did not then suspect Dr. Church, but supposed it must be some one among us. We removed to another place, 1 Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 16, p. 371. [ 141 ] The True Story of Paul Revere which we thought was more secure ; but here we found that all our transactions were com- municated to Governor Gage. (This came to me through the then Secretary Flucker; he told it to the gentleman mentioned above.) It was then a common opinion, that there was a traitor in the Provincial Congress, and that Gage was possessed of all their secrets. . . . " As I have mentioned Dr. Church per- haps it might not be disagreeable to men- tion some matters of my own knowledge respecting him. He appeared to be a high Son of Liberty. He frequented all the places where they met, was encouraged by all the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, and it appeared he was respected by them, though I knew that Dr. Warren had not the greatest affection for him. He was esteemed a very capable writer, especially in verse, and as the Whig party needed every strength, they feared as well as courted him. Though it was known that some of the liberty songs which he com- [142] The Citizen and Soldier posed were parodized by him in favor of the British, yet none dared charge him with it. I was a constant and critical observer of him, and I must say that I never thought him a man of principle; and I doubted much in my own mind whether he was a real Whig. I knew that he kept company with a Captain Price, a half-pay officer, and that he frequently dined with him and Rob- inson, one of the Commissioners. I knew that one of his intimate acquaintances asked him why he was so often with Robinson and Price. His answer was that he kept com- pany with them on purpose to find out their plans. The day after the Battle of Lex- ington, I met him in Cambridge, when he shewed me some blood on his stocking, which he said spirted from a man who was killed near him, and he was urging the militia on. I well remember, that I argued to myself, if a man will risk his life in a cause, he must be a friend to that cause ; and I never suspected him after, till he was charged with being a traitor. . . . [143] The True Story of Paul Revere " The Friday evening after, about sunset, I was sitting with some, or near all that committee, [the Committee of Safety] in their room, which was at Dr. Hastings' house in Cambridge. Dr. Church all at once, started up — Dr. Warren, said he, I am determined to go into Boston tomor- row (it set them all a-staring). Dr. War- ren replied. Are you serious. Dr. Church? they will hang you if they catch you in Boston. He replied, I am serious, and am determined to go at all adventures. After a considerable conversation. Dr. Warren said. If you are determined, let us make some business for you. They agreed that he should go to get medicine for their and our wounded officers. He went next morn- ing; and I think he came back on Sunday evening. After he had told the committee how things were, I took him aside and in- quired particularly how they treated him. He said, that as soon as he got to their lines, on Boston Neck, they made him a prisoner, and carried him to General Gage, [144] The Citizen and Soldier where he was examined, and then he was sent to Gould's barracks, and was not suf- fered to go home but once. "After he was taken up, for holding a correspondence with the British, I came across Deacon Caleb Davis; — we entered into conversation about him ; — he told me, that the morning Church went into Boston, he (Davis) received a billet for General Gage — (he then did not know that Church was in town) — when he got to the gen- eral's house, he was told, the General could not be spoke with, that he was in private with a gentleman; that he waited near half an hour, when General Gage and Dr. Church came out of a room, discoursing together, like persons who had been long acquainted. He appeared to be quite sur- prised at seeing Deacon Davis there; that he (Church) went where he pleased, while in Boston, only a Major Caine, one of Gage's aids, went with him. I was told by another person, whom I could depend upon, that he saw Church go into General 10 [ 145 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere Gage's house at the above time; that he got out of the chaise and went up the steps more Hke a man that was acquainted than a prisoner. " Some time after, perhaps a year or two, I fell in company with a gentleman^ who studied with Church; in discoursing about him, I related what I have mentioned above ; he said, he did not doubt that he was in the interest of the British; and that it was he who informed General Gage; that he knew for certain, that a short time before the Battle of Lexington (for he then lived with him, and took care of his business and his books), he had no money by him, and was much drove for money; that all at once, he had several hundred new British guineas; and that he thought at the time where they came from." When Boston was evacuated by the Brit- ish in March, 1776, the province, through ^ " Dr. Savage now of Barnstable " was erased and " gentleman " written in the original manuscript. [ 146 ] o The Citizen and Soldier the General Court, immediately proceeded to raise companies of militia to assist in the defence of the town. The ten companies in the artillery regiment were styled the " Massachusetts State's Train." Revere, after serving for a month as a major of infantry, was transferred April 10 to the artillery, being promoted November 27 to be lieutenant-colonel. His son, Paul, Jr., a lad of scarce sixteen, was given a lieuten- ant's commission in one of the companies. Revere entered this service with some dis- appointment. He would have preferred a commission in the continental army, where he might have found a wider field of activ- ity; and in a letter dated April 5, 1777/ he complained to his friend. Colonel Lamb: " I have never been taken notice off, by those whom I thought my friends, am obliged to be contented in this State's ser- vice." In this letter he also remarks: "Friend Sears is here — a very merchant; in short I find but few of the Sons of ^ Goss (Vol. 1, p. 280) gives the letter in full. [147] The True Story of Paul Severe Liberty in the army," from which it would appear that some of the patriots who were great agitators and plotters before the Revolution were careful to keep away from the firing line when actual hostilities broke out. The artillery " train " was stationed at Fort William, on an island in Boston har- bor.^ Here Revere, notwithstanding his impatience at this circumscribing of his ambitions, faithfully f)erf ormed the services that came to him in the line of duty, being a part of the time in full command. On August 27, 1777, Revere was placed in command of a large body of troops as- signed to proceed to Worcester to take into custody the British prisoners captured at the battle of Bennington by General Stark. The following day, before starting upon the ^ The orderly book of this " train " has been pre- served. It begins with the second year of the service and extends from June, 1777, to December, 1778. It is chiefly a record of the orders of General Heath, Colonel Thomas Crafts and Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Revere. [ 148 ] The Citizen and Soldier journey, the regiment was ordered to march .to the meeting-house, " dressed in their uni- form. Clean & Powder'd," to hsten to a sermon by the Rev. Mr. Thacher. After receiving this spiritual nourishment, the troops started for " the heart of the com- monwealth." They got no further than Watertown when the commander found it necessary to issue this suggestive order : * "Watertown, Aug* 29*^ 1777 " A Strict Discipline, and Good Order is the life & Soul of a Soldier, the Lieu* Colonel expects that there will be the best Order observed on the March, the Com- missioned Officers are to see that the men behave well, that they by no Means hurt or destroy any man's property, that they Abuse no person, but in everything behave like men Belonging to the Massachusetts State Train of Artillery. When there is a halt the Serg*^ are to be Accountable for the behaviour of the Men. Should any of * Goss, Vol. 1, p. 288. [149] The True Story of Paul Revere the Non Commis'd Officers or Soldiers be so hardy as to act Contrary to the above directions they may depend upon being punished with the utmost Severity. "By Order COL« REVERE." It is not difficult to imagine that the sol- diers accustomed to a tedious confinement in the fortifications at Castle William on an island were very willing to be ordered on this junketing trip out into the coun- try, and left Boston determined to enjoy it without a too fine regard for the rights and peace of mind of the farmers along the route. The regiment, after a three- hours' march, reached Watertown at 9 P. m. and encamped for the night. The march was resumed at six the next morning. Revere, in a diary which he kept during the expedition, thus chronicled the episodes of the last day's march: "Left Watertown 6 ^Clock a.m. 29*^ Breakfasted Westown. Waited two hours for waggon to come up the Horses not [150] The Citizen and Soldier being sufBcient hired a horse to Sudbury, dined there, recevd a letter from M^^ Jones West town, complaining her Store was broke open 12 loafs of Sugar stole. She suspects our People. I have all their Packs searched, find nothing. Suspect they stole the Sugar themselves, out of pretence charge our people, the sugar belonging to the United [States] and they Tories. While at Jones' Cap* Todd's Serv* pocket picked, two dollars taken out of pocket Book wile hanging in the kitchen. At 8 °Clock ar- rived at Marlborough & there Lodged, nothing unusual happened. 30*^^ Marched at 6 ^Clock A. M. Break^ Northborough. Dined at Shrewsbury arrived at Worcester 5 °Clock p. M. Quartered the men in the Town house." The British prisoners from Benning- ton, several hundred in number, — High- landers, Germans, Canadians, etc., — were duly taken into custody and marched to Boston. [151] The True Story of Paul Eevere The monotony of life at the fort was varied by other incidents, such as a court- martial, of which Revere was president, on September 6. Thomas Cleverly and Caleb Southard were charged with the heinous offence of playing cards on the Sabbath day, and found guilty, sentence being passed upon them as follows: " The Court are of the Ojipinion that Cleverly ride the Wooden Horse for a Quarter of an hour with a Muskett at each foot & that South- ward Clean the Streets of the Camp. Paul Revere, Presid." Cleverly was also subse- quently found " guilty of a Breach of the 16^^^ article of war [stealing], and do sen- tence him to be Whip'd ten lashes on his naked back with a Cat O Nine tails." John Go win, tried for " Stealing and being Drunk, Deserting a file of Men & Abusing Serg* Griffith " at the same time as South- ard and Cleverly, was acquitted for lack of evidence.^ In September the regiment was ordered 1 Goss, Vol. 1, pp. 290, 291. [ 152 ] The Citizen and Soldier to Rhode Island; but after participating in the short campaign there, returned to Bos- ton, and spent the winter at Castle William. In March the officers sent a " round-robin," written by Revere, to the authorities, the demands set forth therein being promptly complied with/ This was the complaint: " To the Hon^i^ the Council & House of Representatives of the State of Mas- sachusetts Baye. " We the Subscribers Officers in the State Regiment of Artillery commanded by Colo: Thomas Crafts "Beg leave to represent to your Honors That by reason of the excessive high price of every Article of Clothing we are not able to maintain ourselves and appear like Offi- cers in this State service. " We therefore pray — That your Honors would grant us the same Indulgence the Continental Officers have viz: of Drawing a few Necessarys out of the State Stores — paying the same prices as they do. — ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 218, p. 410. [153] The True Story of Paul Bevere " We stand in need of the following Articles. As much Blue Cloth as will make a Coat with trimmings for the same White Woolen or Linnen cloth for Waist- coat & Breeches, Two pair of Stockings, Linnen for Two Shirts, Two pair of Shoes, and as much Ticking or other strong Check as will make a [the paper at this place is torn].^ " And your petitioners as in duty bo [torn] "PAUL REVERE THOMAS MELVILLE Honbie>j ^jLLj^j^ TODD Councel for ^j^^jjj^Qp Q^^y Massachusetts State TURNER PHILLIPS PH [torn] [torn] GILL ''Boston March 30 1778" The Council and House of Representa- tives granted the petition and the Board of ^ The words torn out were " mattress and pillow/' as appears in the order of the council directing that Revere's request be compHed with. [154] The Citizen and Soldier War was directed to deliver the materials accordingly. The Massachusetts Archives contain numerous orders for the delivery of supplies to the Castle, in which Revere's name appears. Colonel Revere and his son accompanied the expedition ordered to Rhode Island in July, 1778, to reinforce General Sullivan. The month of August was passed there in what proved to be an unimportant and in- effective campaign, and the Massachusetts troops were back in their old quarters by the 9th of September. We get a glimpse of the affectionate relationship of Revere and his wife in a letter which has come down to us, written during this absence : ^ "MY DEAR GIRL,— " Your very agreeable letter came safe to hand, since which I have wrote, but received no answer. I believe you are better: what a pleasure to hear ! Pray take care of your- ^ Massachusetts Historcal Society Proceedings, Vol. 13 (1873-1875), pp. 251, 252. [155] The True Story of Paul Bevere self & my little ones. I hoped ere this to have been in Newport; my next I hope will be dated there. We have had the most severe N. East Storm I ever knew, but, thank Heaven, after 48 hours it is over. I am in high health and Spirits, & [so is] our Army. The Enemy dare not show their heads. We have had about 50 who have deserted to us; Hessians & others. They say many more will desert, & only wait for opportunity. I am told by the inhabitants that before we came on, they burned 6 of their Frigates; they have destroyed many houses between them & us. I hope we shall make them pay for all. The French fleet are not returned, but I just heard they were off Point Judith with 3 frigates, prizes; this, I am told, comes from Head Quarters. I do not assert it for fact, but hope it is true. You have heard this Island is the Garden of America, indeed it used to be so ; but those British Savages have so abused & destroyed the Trees (the greatest part of which was Fruit Trees), that it does not [156] The Citizen and Soldier look like the same Island; some of the In- habitants who left it hardly know where to find their homes. Col. Crafts is obliged to act under Col. Crane, which is a severe Mor- tification to him. I have but little to do with him, having a separate command. It is very irksome to be separated from her whom I so tenderly love, and from my little Lambs; but were I at home I should want to be here. It seems as if half Boston was here. I hope the affair will soon be settled; I think it will not be long first. I trust that AUwise being who has protected me will still protect me, and send me safely to the Arms of her whom it is my greatest happiness to call my own. Paul is well; send Duty & love to all. I am surprised Capt. Marett has not rote me. My duty to my Aunts, my love to Brothers & Sisters, my most affectionate love to my children. It would be a pleasure to have a line from Deby. Lawson desires to be remembered to you. My best regards to Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Burt, Capt. Pulling & all enquiring [157] The True Story of Paul Bevere Friends. Col. Mareschall, who is one [of] ] Gen^ Sullivans Adj Camps, tells me this minute that the French have took a Trans- port with British Grenadiers, but could not tell the particulars. ! " Your Own, \ "PAUL REVERE." j September 1 an order was issued by the ' Council directing Lieutenant Colonel Re- vere to be placed in full command at Fort ; WiUiam.' The winter of 1778-1779 was spent at the " castle " without excitement j or incident of note. The regiment under \ Revere formed a defensive force that was \ expected to prove effective in the event of attack by the enemy, and in this capacity , it rendered patriotic and necessary, if mo- ; notonous and unpicturesque, service. But though there were none of the sufferings incident to a campaign of battle and siege, ; there were other hardships. Some of these \ Revere set forth in a letter to the Council : ^ i ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 174, p. 410 J. j 2 Ibid., Vol. 175, p. 188. { [158] The Citizen and Soldier "Castle Island, March 17, 1779. " To the Honorable Council, " Gentlemen, — I mentioned to your Honors a few days since, some difficulties which I laboured under, by reason the men had not their necessarys from the Comm^ General (granted them by the Hon^^^ Court) The commotions which have been in the Reg* with their Real, and imaginary grievances have greatly increased those Dif- ficulties; as your Honors will see by the inclosed, which was sent to my Quarters the last evening. " It is my Duty as their Officer to lay be- fore your Honors a true State of their case. "At the time they Inhsted, they were promised by their Officers they should re- ceive Yearly, a Coat Waist-Coat, one p^ Breeches, one Hatt, two Shirts, two p^ Stockings, two p^ Shoes and one Blanket, the same as the Continental Soldiers. — They have not received but one Shirt, one p^ Stockings, one p^ Shoes, and one Blanket the first Year. — most of their Blanketts [159] The True Story of Paul Revere are worn out; some lost their Blanketts on the retreat from Rhode-Island, many have been without all Winter. — They have re- ceived no pay for the month of August, when on Rhode Island; some of them have five months pay due, and all of them three: many have no shoes, and but one Shirt, & it is three months, since they drew any neces- sarys from the Commissary General. " I shall be exceeding glad if Your Honors will take the above into your wise consideration, and point out some way, by which these Mens minds may be Eased. Many of them have families which are Starving; they have not the advantage of Continental Soldiers ; the Town they belong to will not supply their Familys. I beg leave to projDose to your Honors, that the Supernumerary Non- Commission Officers, Drums, and Fifes, may be dismissed, as there is nearly Forty of them, and their pay and Rations come to near £1000 p^ month, and the Bread they draw will be wanted. And that the three Companys may [160] The Citizen and Soldier be Organized, as I find it extreamly dificult to take care of them as they now are. " I must renew my desire that the Officers who remain, may make out the Pay Rolls; as some of the Officers are gone, and others agoing away; and some have refused to take the trouble of paying them. " Your Hum^^^ Servant " Paul Revere, Lieut Col. " N. B. Mr. Devens the Commisy Gen- eral told me yesterday he could make out to supply one month's necessarys if the Council desired him." The Council appointed a committee to take Revere's requests under consideration and they were subsequently complied with. During all this period of service at Fort Wilham, Colonel Revere continued active in the affairs of the town and the counsels of the Revolutionary leaders. The General Court on the 13th of February, 1776, had authorized the estabhshment of a Committee of Correspondence to be chosen in town 11 [ 161 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere meetings of the several towns, and twelve days after the evacuation of Boston by the British, that is, on March 29, the citizens met in the Old Brick Meeting-House for the purpose of carrying out the resolution. A committee of twenty-six was chosen, Paul Revere being of the number. Among his colleagues were John Hancock, Sam Adams, Nathaniel Appleton, Oliver Wendell. At this meeting of the " Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Boston " it was voted that " Thomas Crafts, Esq., Col. Thomas Marshall, Major Paul Reviere be a Comittee to wait on General Washing- ton, & to acquaint him that it is the De- sire of the Town, that the Four Pieces of Cannon which are in the Continental Train of Artillery, & belonging to the Town of Boston, may not be carried out of this Colony, if his Excellency should apprehend the general Interest of the Colony will per- mit their remaining here." ^ ^ Boston Record Commissioners' Reports, Vol. 18, p. 228. [162] The Citizen and Soldier On May 7 ^ the Committee of Corre- spondence " Voted, that Cap* WilHam Mackey, Cap* John PuUing, M^ WiUiam Powell, Maj'' Paul Revere, M^ Thomas Hitchburne, Caleb Davis Esq., Cap* Isaac Phillips be and hereby are appointed a Sub-Committee to Collect the names of all Persons who have in any manner acted against or opposed the Rights and Liberties of this Country or who have signed or voted any address to General Gage approving his errand to this Colony, or his Administration since the dissolution of the General Court at Salem in 1774 — or to Governor Hutchinson after the ar- rival of General Gage or to General How, or who have signed or promoted any Associ- ation for Joining or assisting the Enemies of this Continent; and of such as have fled from this Colony to or with the British Army Fleet or elsewhere together with ^ Record of the Boston Committee of Correspond- ence, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 30, pp. 382, 383. [163] The True Story of Paul Bevere their respective Crimes and Evidences or Depositions, which may be procured to prove the same agreeable tc a Resolve of the General Court of this ^Colony bearing date April 19, 1776." ' At a session of the Committee of Corre- spondence in the Council chamber July 21 it was " Voted, that Major Reveire, Maj^ Bar- ber, Cap^ Proctor, Cap* Pulling, M^ Boyer & M^ Mourton be a Committee to prepare ^ The committee to ferret out the Tories reported and on May 17 the freeholders of the town voted that " the following List of such Persons belonging to this Town, as have been endeavouring since the 19th of April 1775 to counteract the united struggles of this & the neighboring States, in the Opinion of a Majority of this Meeting is the List which the Town Clerk is to deliver to two or more Justices of the Peace for this County — Quorum Unus — agreeable to a late Act of the General Assembly — Viz* Ebenezer Norwood, Mather Byles, D. D., Benjamin Phillips, Dr. James Lloyd, Daniel Hubbard, Dr. Isaac Rand, junr. John Tufts, Edward Wentworth, William Peny, Dr. Samuel Danforth, George Lush, Edward Hutchinson, Thomas Edwards, Hopestill Capen, Patrick Wall, Benjamin [164] The Citizen and Soldier a List of suitable Persons to be draughted, in ease of any failure in the Inlistment of the same to be reported to this Committee." ^ When one realizes the active and sys- tematic preparations for hostilities which were being made long before the clash of arms at Lexington, the evidence that rebel- lion against the mother country was delib- erately plotted, and was only awaiting open provocation in order to break forth, is well- nigh conclusive. Thus we find a committee of the Provincial Congress, which had been appointed to inquire into the condition of manufactures in Massachusetts, reporting, December 8, 1774, " that gunpowder is also an article of such importance, that every Davis, Benja. Davis junr., David Parker, James Perkins, Nathaniel Gary, Richard Green, William Jackson, Samuel Broadstreet, Thomas Amory, Charles White- worth, Dr. Thomas Kast, John Erving Esq., George Bethune, Dr. Miles Whitworth." — Boston Record Commissioners' Reports, Vol. 18, p. 281. ^ Record of the Boston Committee of Correspond- ence, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 31, p. 32. [165] The True Story of Paul Severe man among us who loves his country, must wish the estabhshment of manufactories for that purpose; and as there are the ruins of several powder mills, and sundry persons among us who are acquainted with that business, we do heartily recommend its en- couragement by repairing one or more of said mills, or erecting others, and renewing said business as soon as possible." ^ But the " sundry persons " acquainted with the gunpowder business do not appear to have responded very generously to this suggestion that their services would be in demand, and the Provincial Congress ac- cordingly was moved to commission a capa- ble man to go to Philadelphia, where the only powder mill known to be in actual operation was located. For this mission Paul Revere was selected, and the com- mittee on powder mills of the Congress in- structed him ^ as follows : ^ Journal, First Provincial Congress, p. 64. 2 Revere family papers. Goss, Vol. 2, p. 400. [166] The Citizen and Soldier "Watertown, Nov'" lO^ii 1775 " M^ PAUL REVERE " As you are bound to Philadelphia, where powder mills are Erected, and the manufac- turing powder Carried on with Considerable dispatch, and advantage, you are desired to make the following Enquiries, and possess yourself as far as you Can of the Knowledge of making powder. Viz: Obtain an Exact plan of the best Constructed powder mill, the Quantity of powder that may be made in One day in said mill, the Expence of the powder mill, & Whether a person Can be Obtained, who is well skilled in manufac- turing powder, and the Expense of said man p^ ann^ "You are also desired to apply to the Hon^ John Hancock Esq^ and the Other members of the Continental Congress be- long's to this Colony who are desired to assist you in these Enquiries. " By Order of the Comm"® appointed to Enquire into & report the best and most [167 1 The True Story of Paul Bevere Expeditious methods of Erecting powder mills, and manuft^ powder in the Colony. "A: ORNE " p^ order." Revere made the journey to Philadelphia in ten days. He, no doubt, called at once on John Hancock, who was in attendance on the Continental Congress, and commu- nicated his mission, obtaining a letter of introduction from Robert Morris to the pro- prietor of the powder mill, a Mr. Oswell Eve:' " Philad^ NoV^ 2ist 1775 " Mr. OSWELL EVE " SIR " I am requested by some honorable Members of the Congress to recommend the bearer hereof Mr. Paul Revere to you. He is just arrived from New England where it is discovered they can Manufacture a good deal of Salt Petre in consequence of which they desire to erect a Powder Mill & Mr. Revere has been pitched upon to gain ^ Revere family papers. Goss, Vol. 2, p. 402. [168] The Citizen and Soldier instruction & knowledge in this branch. A Powder Mill, in New England cannot in the least degree affect your manufacture nor be of any disadvantage to you, there- fore these Gentl"^ and Myself hope you will cheerfully & from Public Spirited motives give Mr. Revere such information as will enable him to construct the business on his return home. I shall be glad of any oppor- tunity to approve Myself "Sir " Your very obed Servt " Robert Morris. " P. S. Mr. Revere will desire to see the Construction of your mill & I hope you will gratify him on that point." The note was endorsed by John Dickin- son, but its appeal, as it proved, was not made to a man of generous heart and in- stincts; for Mr. Oswell Eve was a fair type of the thrifty patriot who is to be found in every great crisis when the coun- try's welfare, or even its life, is at stake, [ 169 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere and who does not scruple to coin her dis- tress into personal gain. In this case neither the character of Revere's mission, upon which he had travelled hundreds of miles at the instance of the Massachusetts Congress, nor the pleas of Morris and Dickinson, could induce Eve to part with the secrets of gunpowder-making. He had, he thought, a monopoly of what in modern commercial terminology would have been regarded as " a good thing," and he proposed to keep it so that the war man- agers would be obliged to pay him his own price. So he flatly refused to give Revere the desired facilities for acquiring infor- mation relative to the manufacture of pow- der. Fortunately, however, he softened to the extent of condescending to permit his visitor to pass through his establishment, not reckoning upon retributive justice de- feating the ends of private greed. For Revere was no ordinary sight-seer. If not allowed to ask questions and receive informing answers he kept his eyes wide [170] The Citizen and Soldier open, and filled a mental note-book with the results of his observations. This he was able to do intelligently, for he had a good practical knowledge of chemistry, gained from reading and experience, as well as a familiarity with mechanics. So, when he reached home, he was ready to put his skill at even the dangerous business of powder-making to the test. The General Court at once ordered the rebuilding of an abandoned powder mill at Canton. Work was begun upon it in February, 1776, and it was completed in May, Revere taking charge and succeeding so well in mastering the details of the manufacture that he was soon able to supply tons of powder for the Continental army. Forty barrels, contain- ing one hundred pounds each, were supplied in October, 1777, to the fort in Boston har- bor, at which Revere was then the command- ing officer.^ ^ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 31, pp. 272-276, article by D. T. V. Huntoon on " The Powder Mill at Canton." [171] The True Story of Paul Severe In December of the following year, while still in command of the fort, we find Revere praying for permission to have eight hun- dredweight of " gunpowder dust " made into powder, apparently for his own per- sonal use, though to what purpose he in- tended it is something of a mystery. The fact that he offered to pay " a reasonable consideration " for this service in case the Council would " grant leave to Thomas Crane, Esq., Keeper of Said mill to make the above dust into Powder " ^ would seem to indicate that it was not intended for the use of the army. In 1777 Revere was temporarily detached from the fort to make a trip to Titicut, where brass and iron cannon were being cast at a " state furnace," there to superin- tend the " proveing " of the cannon and hasten the transportation to Boston of all that were shown to be effective.^ ^ Massachusetts Archives^ Vol. 174, p. 608. ^ The Council's orders to Revere on this occasion, as found in the family papers, are given in full by Goss, Vol. 2, pp. 405-407. [172] V — THE PENOBSCOT SCANDAL AND COURT-MARTIAL OF REVERE 1778-1782 BRITISH commerce suffered greatly I during the Revolution from the depredations of Yankee privateers which, in considerable numbers, were fitted out in Boston, Salem, Newburyport, and Marblehead, and which when pursued, or after having taken a prize, found conven- ient and safe asylums in the rock-bound harbors of the Maine coast; in these shel- ters they could also secure equipments of crews and provisions, and from them they could dart out quickly upon unsuspecting prey. So destructive had these tactics be- come in 1779, that the British decided to take steps to meet them. Accordingly, in June of that year. General Francis McLean, with four hundred and fifty of the rank hundred of the 82d, took possession of the [173] The True Story of Paul Bevere peninsula of Bagaduce (now Castine), on the east side of Penobscot Bay/ Here, upon a bluff two hundred or more feet above the water, about twenty miles from the mouth of the bay and six below the mouth of the river, McLean began the erection of a fort, which he proposed to christen, after the King, Fort George. The news of the occupation of Bagaduce by the British created a great stir through- out the eastern colonies, and the General Court of Massachusetts at once issued or- ders to fit out an expedition to dispossess the enemy .^ The co-operation of the New ^ Letter from McLean in The Gentleman's Magazine^ Vol. 49, p. 513. Winsor, in his Narrative and Critical History (Vol. 6, p. 603), gives McNeill as the name of this British general. Cf. The Siege of the Penobscot hy the Rebels ; containing a Journal of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Forces detached from the 7Ifth and 82d Regi- ments, consisting of about 700 Rank and File, under the Command of Brigadier- General Francis McLean, etc. By J. C. [John Calef], London, 1781. ^ Sketch of General Solomon Lovell ; Gilbert Nash, in publications of Weymouth Historical Society, Vol. 1, p. 55. [174] The Court-Martial of Revere Hampshire authorities was beseeched and the appeal met with a ready response.^ Brigadier-General Solomon Lovell was ordered to take command of twelve hun- dred militia, with Adjutant- General Peleg Wadsworth second in command, and Lieu- tenant-Colonel Paul Revere in command of the artillery train.^ The board of war was directed to secure from the Continental authorities a loan of the frigate Warren, a fine new ship of thirty-two guns, and the sloop Providence, with twelve guns. Ex- traordinary inducements were offered sea- men to enlist, and arrangements were made to hire or impress private armed ships.^ The ordnance, commissary, and quartermaster's departments were ordered to furnish sup- phes for the expedition; but it was one thing to vote supplies and quite a different matter to raise them. Hence we find Gen- 1 Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 57, pp. 298-300 ; also. Vol. 145, pp. 86, 412. 2 Council Records, Vol. 23, p. 444. * Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 391 ; also Revolutionary Rolls, Vol. 44, pp. 359-401. [ n5 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere eral Lovell writing to the Council July 2, complaining of the delay/ But at length the expedition was ready to set sail. The fleet had been placed in charge of Commodore Dudley Salton- stall, then in command of the borrowed Warren, It consisted of nineteen vessels, mounting in all three hundred and twenty- four guns and manned by over two thou- sand sailors, besides twenty transports. It was probably, taken altogether, the strong- est and finest naval force furnished by New England during the Revolution, and entailed a total cost of £1,739,174 11^. ^d? Fifteen hundred troops were expected to join the main contingent, from York, Cum- berland, and Lincoln in Maine; but of this quota only five hundred put in an appear- ance, and a large portion of these were wholly unfit for service, consisting chiefly of small boys, old men, and even invalids. ^ Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls, Vol. 37, pp. 258-260. ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 201. [176] The Court-Martial of Revere Their equipment was of the most indiffer- ent character, their arms being out of re- pair, and they lacked ammunition. On the 24th of July the fleet arrived at the mouth of the Penobscot. Due warning of its approach had been given the British, who, in spite of the fact that they had hastened in the work of constructing their fortifications, were greatly disheartened, realizing that the American force was much stronger, and ought to be able to quickly overcome the feeble resistance which was all, under the circumstances, they believed they could ofl'er. No cannon had yet been placed in the main fort. All but four of the British fleet had returned to Halifax. One account states that "the walls of the fort at that time were not more than five feet high, with two guns mounted, one towards the water and the other towards the woods, with only enough to man three sides of the fort, placing the men a yard apart." ^ Without doubt the British had 1 Nash's Sketch of Lovell, p. 54. 12 [ 177 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere kept fully informed of the movements of the Americans, and, after a show of resist- ance, would have readily surrendered. It is not necessary nor profitable to tell here in detail the story of this disastrous expedition, so discreditable to the Ameri- cans, who largely outnumbered in land forces the British, and who had an over- whelming fleet. Suffice it to say that on the 26th of June the Yankee marines made a successful landing, capturing some can- non and ammunition, mounted a battery, and caused a precipitate retreat of the enemy, while the naval forces under Com- modore Saltonstall exhibited a remarkable indisposition to assume the offensive and supplement the work of the soldiers on land. The commodore, indeed, seemed de- liberately bent on keeping the fleet as far as possible out of danger, — a course which filled both the land forces and Saltonstall's own men with supreme disgust. A council of war was held on board the brig Hazard August 7, at which the question was dis- [178] The Court-Martial of Revere cussed as to whether the siege should be continued. It was voted to continue, Re- vere being one of eight and Commodore Saltonstall another who voted in the nega- tive/ Revere decided to file a record of his reasons for this vote, and he was allowed to do so in connection with the official re- port made of the proceedings.^ He offered this defence of his course: " 1. Gen. Lovell says that he is not able to reduce the Enemy with what Troops and Stores he has got. " 2. That under present circumstances it is best to take post to the westward to hinder the Enemy going any further. " 3. That six Captains of ships give as their opinion that they cannot keep their men but a few days longer." Four days later another council of war was held, at which, as a result of that day's experience, it was unanimously voted that ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 57, p. 326. 2 Ibid. Vol. 145, p. 79. [ 179 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere with the force then on hand it would be impossible to hold a post in the rear of the enemy's fort, and, at the same time, the lines as then drawn up. Three reasons were given for this decision: that "our Force is not sufficient to take Possession of the ground; our Numbers are not able to do Duty after taken for one week; the great want of Discipline, and Subordination." " Many of the Officers," it was said, " being so exceedingly slack and ignorant of their Duty, — the Soldiers averse to service — And the wood in which we are Incamped so very thick, that on an Alarm on any special occasion, nearly one-fourth part of the Army are Skulked out of the way, and concealed." ^ Truly a spectacle of disgrace- ful incompetence and temerity if not down- right cowardice! But fortunately for the reputation of Yankee valor and self-respect the dark picture has its bright spots. Not all of the subordinate officers were dead to shame; ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 127. [180] The Court-Martial of Revere and thirty-one of SaltonstalFs staff drew up a round-robin, in which, after comment- ing on the importance of the expedition and their own desire to render all the ser- vice in their power, they said: "We think Delays in the present case are extremely dangerous: as our Enemies are daily for- tifying and strengthening themselves, & are stimulated so to do being in daily Expec- tation of a Reinforcement. We don't mean to advise, or censure your past conduct. But intend only to express our desire of improv- ing the present opportunity to go Immedi- ately into the Harbour & attack the Enemy's ships." ^ But Saltonstall was not moved. He affected to concede the desirability of an immediate attack, but he found obsta- cles which he had not the courage to con- front and overcome, and so the sea attack was never made. But it was at length de- cided, as the result of another council of war on board the Warren, participated in by land and naval officers. Revere being of ^ Nash's Sketch of Lovell, p. 63. [ 181 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere the number, that a body of troops should be landed on the peninsula and, if possible, the heights scaled, and a permanent foot- hold secured upon the bluffs. In the early morning of the 28th this was done, and the exploit was a brilliant success. No protective works had been erected at this point by the British, but some three hundred troops had been posted on the precipice and opened a sharp fire upon the Americans as soon as the latter's boats struck the beach. Says Nash: ^ " Not- withstanding the extreme difficulty of the ascent and the enemy's fire directly in their faces, the troops pushed on with the great- est intrepidity, although with but little order scaled the heights, swept the foe before them, and captured a position upon the bluff which was of the highest importance, since it gave them a point from which fu- ture operations against the fort could be conducted with the greatest advantage. The hard fighting was upon the right, the ma- ^ Sketch of Lovell, p. 65, [ 182 ] The CourtrMartial of Revere rines suffering severely, while the other division closing in with too much precipi- tation, drove the enemy from the ground and enabled them to escape. The fight lasted but twenty minutes, and considering that the attacking force was composed of undisciplined militia, most of whom were never before in action; the ascent almost too difficult to be undertaken unopposed, made in the face of a strong party of vete- ran troops, it may be fairly set down as one of the most brilliant exploits of the war." General Lovell, in his Diary, says of it: " When I returned to the Shore it struck me with admiration to see what a Precipice we had ascended, not being able to take so scrutinous a view of it in time of Battle, it is at least where we landed three hundred feet high, and almost perpendicular, & the men were obliged to pull themselves by the twigs & trees. I don't think such a land- ing has been made since Wolfe." ^ General ^ Weymouth Historical Society Publications, Vol. 1, p. 99. [183] The True Story of Paul Bevere Lovell reported the American loss at fifty- killed and twenty wounded, and the British at fifteen killed and three wounded, besides the loss of eight prisoners/ Following this exploit there were various engagements of no consequence on the part of the military, while Commodore Salton- stall remained practically idle and deaf to repeated urgings to storm the fort and de- stroy the few ships of the enemy, which he might readily have done at any time. He only offered excuse after excuse for his continued delays and inactivity. General Lovell, exasperated beyond fur- ther endurance at Saltonstall's pusillani- mous conduct, finally determined to resort to independent means of attacking the enemy's vessels. On the 3d of August he sent General Wadsworth to erect a land battery opposite the British anchorage, with which, if possible, to drive away the hostile ships. But the distance of the battery from the target was a mile and a quarter, the fire ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 6l. [184] The CourirMartial of Revere would not carry, and the attempt had to be abandoned. " It is all the army can do," wrote General Lovell in his journal. On the 11th he again addressed a note to the commodore, saying: " I mean not to deter- mine on your mode of attack, but it appears to me so very impracticable, that any fur- ther delay must be infamous; and I have it this moment, by a deserter from one of their ships, that the moment you enter the harbor they will destroy them, which will effectually answer our purpose. ... I feel for the honor of America, in an expedition which a nobler exertion had, long before this, crowned with success; and I have now only to repeat the absolute necessity of un- dertaking the destruction of the ships or quitting the place." ^ These pleadings proved as unavailing as former ones. The commodore was obsti- nate; he was determined not to risk any damage to his vessels, and many of the captains shared in his point of view, since ^ Nash's Sketch of Lovell, p. 72. [ 185 ] The True Story of Paul Severe most of the ships were private property, and there was, moreover, but Httle prospect of prize-money to offset possible losses. But since Commodore Saltonstall had from the outset insisted that the army should at- tack the fort before the fleet should enter the harbor, General Lovell made up his mind to assume the responsibility of mov- ing against the enemy, trusting to Salton- stall's co-operation when the crisis was forced. This was a hazardous undertak- ing, simultaneous action by the fleet being essential to its success. But Lovell had no sooner brought his troops to a point where he might operate with advantage on the fort than the com- modore sent word of the appearance in the harbor of strange vessels which, he had discovered, flew the British flag! Nothing more was necessary to transform his in- ertia and crass temerity into genuine cow- ardly panic. He immediately deserted the cause of the army on shore, left the troops at the mercy of the enemy's guns in the [186] The CourtrMartial of Bevere forts, and, hoisting anchor, beat a speedy retreat in good order and without loss. Saltonstall's disgraceful desertion ren- dered it foolhardy for the army to remain longer on shore, and so, dismantling the batteries which had been erected at such sacrifice and effort, the troops boarded the transports, and, within a dozen hours from the first sounding of the alarm, the whole expedition was on its way up the river. One more effort was made by General Lovell, even then, to induce Commodore Saltonstall to make at least a stand against the enemy, but in vain. Consternation and confusion prevailed thenceforth. A stiff breeze carried the ships of war past the transports, leaving the troops on the latter helplessly exposed to the now rapidly ad- vancing British vessels. It was inevitable that the Americans, un- less they took hot foot, should fall bodily into the enemy's hands. Accordingly " noth- ing was thought of," says Nash,^ " by the ^ Sketch of Lovell, p. 76. [187] The True Story of Paul Bevere crews but as speedy escape as possible to the shore, and hardly an attempt was made to save anything. Some were run on shore, some anchored, some abandoned with all sails set, and most set on fire. Officers were despatched by General Lovell to the shore to collect and take charge of the troops; but so great was the panic, so convenient the woods and the approaching night, that but few could be found; the greater part, thinking that nothing further was expected of them, made the best of their way, singly or in squads, towards the Kennebec, where the most of them arrived after nearly a week's fatigue,^ suffering greatly from exposure and hunger, some of them tasting no food for several days. The ships of war were in no better con- dition than the transports, simply flying into a trap whence they could be taken at leisure. The general, fearing their de- struction, hastened to secure their safety, ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, pp. 230-237 (Todd's report). [188] The Court-Martial of Revere urging that a line be formed across the river, and a defence made at some point where that could easily be done, offering to support them with the troops that re- mained; but upon application to the com- modore to know if any measures had been concerted for their security, he found him wholly undetermined and irresolute — com- pletely unmanned." ^ The British commander. Sir George Col- lier, though he appreciated the fact that the provincial forces occupied the strategical advantage and possessed superior numbers as well, could not also fail to perceive that his enemy was panic-stricken. Made of better stuff than his Yankee opponent, he at once opened fire. The effect of his boldness was at once seen. Such vessels as the Americans did not permit him to cap- ture they blew up or set fire to. Lieuten- ant-Colonel Revere, in command of the artillery and the ammunition stores on ^ Lovell's report. Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 158. [189] The True Story of Paul Revere board the ordnance brig, had already gone ashore at Fort Pownal, but the deserted brig managed to get clear of the rest of the fleet and made her way for several miles up stream before being overtaken; then she was burned with all her stores. " To attempt to give a description of this terrible Day," wrote General Lovell,^ " is out of my Power it would be a fit Sub- ject for some masterly hand to describe it in its true colours, to see four Ships pur- suing seventeen Sail of Armed Vessels, nine of which were stout Ships, Transports on fire. Men of War blowing up. Provi- sions of all kinds, every kind of Stores on Shore (at least in small quantities) throw- ing about, and as much confusion as can possibly be conceived." In what a different strain the British chronicler of the expedition was able to write! Says John Calef in his journal,^ writing under date of August 14, 1779: ^ Lovell's Journal^ p. 105. ^ The Siege of the Penobscot, etc., p. 23. [190] The Court-Martial of Revere " The harmony and good understanding that subsisted amongst the Forces by sea and land, enabled them to affect almost prodigies; for so ardently did they vie with each other in the general service, that it may be truly said, not a single Officer, Sailor or Soldier, was once seen to shrink from his duty, difficult and hazardous as it was. The flying scout of 50 men, commanded by Lieut. Caffrac, of the 82d, in particular, distinguished them- selves to admiration, marching frequently almost round the peninsula, both by day and by night, and with drum and fife playing the tune called Yankee; which greatly dispirited the Enemy, and pre- vented their small parties from galling our men at the works. In one instance, they drove back to their incampment 300 of the Enemy who had been sent to storm an outwork. " The mancEvres of the Three Sloops of War, under the direction of Capt. Mowat, were, moreover, such as enabled the King's [1911 The True Story of Paul Revere forces to hold out a close siege of 21 days, against a fleet and army of more than six times their number, and strength; in- somuch that, on the first appearance of the reinforcement from New York, in the ofiing, the Enemy debarked their troops, and sailed with their whole fleet up Penob- scot river, where they burnt their ship- ping, and from thence marched to their respective homes; and the loyal inhabitants, who were taken in the time of the siege, and cruelly treated on board their ships, had their irons taken off, and were set at liberty. " Thus did this little Garrison, with Three Sloops of War, by the unwearied exertions of Soldiers and Seamen, whose bravery can- not be too much extolled, under the judi- cious conduct of Officers whose zeal is hardly to be parallelled, succeed, in an enterprise of great importance, against difficulties apparently insurmountable, under circum- stances exceedingly critical, and in a man- ner strongly expressive of their faithful [192] The Court-Martial of Bevere and spirited attachment to the interests of their King and Country." ^ General Lovell made his way up the river, quieted the Indians, who were be- coming restless, settled the military affairs of the province of Maine as well as cir- cumstances would permit, and then re- turned to Boston, arriving there about Sep- tember 20.^ So great was the chagrin and excitement caused by the failure of the expedition that the General Court had al- ready ordered an investigation. On Sep- tember 9 a court of inquiry was appointed,^ consisting of Generals Michael Farley and Jonathan Titcomb, Colonel Moses Little, Major Samuel Osgood, and James Pres- cott. Esquire, with General Artemas Ward, ^ Calef 's account gives the total number of Ameri- can ships of war, brigs and transports as 37, of which 26 were burnt and 1 1 captured. The same authority puts the killed, wounded and missing of His Majesty's sea and land forces at 70, and the American losses at 474 (p. 25). ^ Chronicle and Advertiser, September 23, 1799. ' Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. l67. 13 [ 193 1 The True Story of Paul Revere General Timothy Danielson, the Hon. WiUiam Sever, and Francis Dana, Esquire, of the Council. General Ward was presi- dent of the court, and on October 7 a re- port was made very properly attributing the disaster to a " want of proper Spirit and energy on the part of the Commo- dore " and to his " not exerting himself at all at the time of the retreat in opposing the enemy's foremost ships in pursuit." * The report completely exonerated Gen- erals Lovell and Wadsworth, and com- mended them for the exhibition of great courage and spirit. A warrant for a court-martial to try Commodore Saltonstall was issued Sep- tember 7. The court met pursuant to orders on the 14th but adjourned to the 18th,^ the commodore complaining that too great haste might prejudice his case.^ Tra- ^ General Court Records, Vol. 40, pp. 65-67 ; Ar- chives, Vol. 145, p. 350. 2 Archives, Vol. 145, p l69. ^ The records of this court-martial are probably not in existence. They may have been turned over [ 194 ] The Court-Martial of Eevere dition has it that Saltonstall was cashiered; but he appears afterward to have been the master of a vessel, the privateer Minervdy which, in 1781, captured the Hannah, an act that provoked the British descent on New London, the burning of that place by- Arnold, and the massacre of the troops at Fort Griswold. Up to the time of the Penobscot expedition Saltonstall had borne an excellent reputation for competence and patriotism.^ Revere had returned to Boston some weeks earlier than Lovell. He found him- self deeply involved in the scandal, and his reputation almost as much in jeopardy as that of Saltonstall. One of his critics was General Lovell himself, according to a let- to the federal authorities, filed away in the Navy De- partment, and destroyed when the British burned the public buildings at Washington in the War of 1812. ^ Goss, Vol. 2, p. 336. Mr. Goss, basing his judg- ment on the story of the Minerva incident, thinks that Saltonstall subsequently proved himself brave and loyal. [195] The True Story of Paul Eevere ter of Captain Todd, who quoted the gen- eral as saying " that he was surprized at Col Revere's inattention to his duty." ^ No official notice, however, was paid to the gossip, and the Council ordered him, Au- gust 27, to resume command at Fort Wil- liam. But within ten days the Council had a formal complaint concerning Revere's conduct lodged with it. The captain of marines on board the ship of war General Putnam, one of the Penobscot fleet, Thomas Jenness Carnes, wrote as follows: " Gentlemen " Being Requested to Lodge a complaint against L. Col: Paul Revear, for his be- havour at Penobscot — which I do in the following manner, Viz " First For disobedience of orders from General Lovell in two Instances, Viz : When ordered to go on shore with two Eighteen pounders, One twelve. One four & One Hoitzer Excused himself — ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 237. [196] The Court-Martial of Eevere " Second When ordered by Major Todd at the Retreat to go with his Men and take said Cannon from the Island, Refused, and said his orders was to be under the Command of Gen Lovell, during the Ex- pedition to Penobscot; & that the Siege was rais'd, he did not consider himself under his Command — " Thirdly For neglect of Duty in Sev- eral instances — " Fourthly For unsoldierlike behavour, During the whole expedition to Penobscot, which tends to Courdice — "Fifthly For Refusing Gen. Wads- worth, the Castle Barge to fetch some men on shore from a Schooner, which was near the Enemy's ships on the Retreat up the River — " Sixthly For leaving his men and suf- fering them to dispurce and takeing no manner of Care of them — ^ ^ , " T. J. Carnes. "Septa 1779.^ ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. l66. Curi- ously enough in spite of his charges reflecting upon [197] The True Story of Paul Bevere The filing of these charges was followed by instant action. Revere was arrested the same day, September 6, " and ordered to resign the Command of Castle Island and remove himself to his dwelling house in Boston there to continue until the matter Complained of could be duly inquired into or he be discharged by the General As- sembly or Council." ^ But he was compelled to remain a prisoner on honor within his own home for only three days, when the arrest was taken off and he was suffered to go free.^ There can be no doubt that he courted the fullest investigation, believ- ing the charges inspired by the malicious gossip of personal enemies. This seems clear from his letters to the Council at Revere' s conduct Games stood with Revere and Sal- tonstall in voting to discontinue operations when many of the officers beHeved in assuming the aggressive. — Archives, Vol. 57, p. 327. ^ Revere's letter to the Q)uncil. Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 226, p. 254 ; also Vol. 175, p. 545. ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 175, p. 554. [198] The Court-Martial of Bevere this time. Thus, on September 9 he wrote : ^ " Gentlemen, — I feel the highest obliga- tions to Your Honors for Your Candour to me, when the popular clamour, runs so strong against me: Had your Honors have shewn as little regard for my character, as my Enemies have done; Life would have been insupportable. Were I conscious that I had onmiitted doing any one thing to Reduce the Enemy, either thro fear, or by willfull opposition, I would not wish for a single advocate. I beg your Honors, that in a proper time, there may be a strict en- quiry into my conduct where I may meet my accusers face to face. " Gentlemen, I am told by my friends that Cap Thomas Carnes informed your Honors yesterday, that I did not land with my men the day we took possession of Magabagaduce, which is so glaring a false- hood, that I beg your Honors would favor me with an oppertunity, of seeing him face ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 201, p. 272. [ 199 ] The True Story of Paul Revere to face before your Honors; to take off any impression it may have made to my disadvantage. " I am Your Honors Obed* " Hum^ Servant " Paul Revere. " The Honorable Council." In another long letter written to the Committee of Inquiry while it was in ses- sion, Revere frankly expressed his belief that he was being persecuted at the insti- gation chiefly of a Captain Todd.^ Said he : " It lays with you in a great measure, from the evidence for and against me, to determine what is more dearer to me than life, my character. I hope and expect that you will make proper allowance for the prejudices, which have taken place, in con- sequence of stories, propagated by design- ing men to my disadvantage. I beg leave to mention to your Honors a matter; tho at first, it may appear foreign to the pres- ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, pp. 336-340. [200] The Court-Martial of Bevere ent case, yet in the end, it will give some light; why stories have been propagated against me. Your Honors must remember the dificulties which arose in our Regiment the last February when it was reduced to three Companys. Because I accepted the command, (which was by desire of the Council) and did all in my power, to hinder the men from deserting: And because I would not give up my Commission, in the same way the other Officers did, some of them propagated every falsehood. Malice could invent in an underhanded way. " I shall trouble your Honors but with one Fact, which I appeal to the Hon^^® General Ward for the truth of. " Not long after the Regiment was re- duced Captains Todd and Gray, waited on General Ward, to complain against me; after saying many things to my disadvan- tage, (as the General told me the same day), Capt. Todd asked the General to go with him in another room. He then told him. He would prove or he believed he [201] The True Story of Paul Bevere could prove, that I had drawn Rations at the Castle for thirty men, more than I had there. The General said he told them, if they had anything against me, to enter a complaint against me to Council, and I should be called upon. A few days after I received an Order of Council to attend them, and was served with a Coppy of a petition, signed by Capt^ Gray, Todd and others, wherein they desire to be heard per- sonaly on matters set forth in the Petition and other Matters. I appeared at the ap- pointed time and they never produced a single article against me. I well remember that three of your Honors were in the Council at the time. Ever since they have done everything in their power to hurt me, by insinuations: Tho' none of them ever charged me to my face." ^ ^ In this letter Revere recites at length the events of the expedition, giving many petty details which have no interest now. The narration is a striking example of Revere' s methodical habits, being based upon a care- fully kept diary, in which, from the time the party left Boston till its return, he set down each day's happenings. [202] The Court-Martial of Revere This Captain Todd was one of General Lovell's brigade majors in the Penobscot ex- pedition, and Revere had protested against his being accepted for that service, explain- ing to the general that he should never speak to Todd except in the line of duty. The protest not having been heeded, the relations of the two men were strained throughout the trip. Captain Carnes, upon whose complaint Revere was arrested by the Council, charged that, when the landing was made at Baga- duce (called also Magabagaduce), Revere remained on the beach with his men, and did not go up the steep until the marines and militia had got possession of the height; that he had carried all his men on board the transport, and lodged them there in- stead of forcing to the front in the attack- ing column; and that instead of getting the cannon he was to use on shore by em- ploying his own men for the purpose, he allowed the sailors to perform this duty for him. No witnesses were called to substan- [203] The True Story of Paul Revere tiate these charges, and Revere, in his ex- position in self-defence, pointed out that General Lovell and all of Revere's own subordinate officers had proved the first charge false, while the second charge was likewise shown by the testimony of nu- merous witnesses to be without foundation. As for the third allegation. Revere ad- mitted this to be in part true, two 18-pounders having been put ashore by the sailors chiefly; but a 12-pound how- itzer and heavy field piece were landed by Revere's men, and his men assisted in the whole business. Revere was also charged with being guilty of disobedience of orders upon sev- eral occasions, of unsoldierlike behavior in general, and in particular of having re- fused to assist General Wadsworth with a boat in a certain instance. To all of which he pleaded that the evidence showed him, if not innocent of every act charged, inno- cent at all events of guilty intent, saying: "If to obey Orders, and to keep close to [204] The CourtrMartial of Bevere my duty is unsoldierlike, I was Guilty. As to Cowardice during the whole expedition, I never was in any Sharp Action, nor was any of the Artillery; but in what little I was, no one has dared to say that I flinched. My officers all swear that whenever there was an alarm, I was one of the first in the Battery. I think that no mark of Cowardice." ^ It is certain that Revere left the expedi- tion and returned to Boston without spe- cific orders from the commanding general to do so. To what extent this was a serious breach of discipline under the demoralized condition of afi*airs at Bagaduce, and one justifying the bringing of a complaint against him of disobedience to orders, let the reader judge. Concerning it, Revere says : " There was something mentioned about a letter, wrote to the Hon^ Council by the General, which reflected on me. The General tells you it was because he thought ^ Revere's letter to the Council, Massachusetts Ar- chives, Vol. 145, p. 338. [205] The True Story of Paul Revere I did not go up the River on the 15th when he Ordered me, and that I should not have gone home to Boston with my men without his Order. That I did go up the River has been fully proved. That I came home without his Orders is true: where could I have found either the General [Lovell] or the Brigadier [Wadsworth], if it had been necessary to have got Orders : the first went 100 miles up Penobscot River, and the other down, and I crossed the woods to the Ken- nebec River. My instructions from the Hon^^^ Council, to which I referred above, directs, that I shall * obey General Lovel, or other my Superior Officers during the continuance of the Expedition.' Surely no man will say, that the Expedition was not discontinued, when all the ship- ping was either taken, or Burnt, the Artillery and Ordinance Stores, all de- stroyed. I then looked upon it that I was to do, what I thought right. Ac- cordingly, I Ordered them (my men) to Boston by the shortest route, and that [206] The Court-Martial of Bevere Capt. Gushing should march them, and give Certificates for their subsistence on the Road." The report of the Court of Inquiry made October 7 was confined to general findings as to the cause of the disaster. This was by no means satisfactory to Revere, who, after his character had been attacked and his reputation for bravery and patriotism publicly besmirched, demanded that the charges against him should be passed upon. He wrote to the Council October 9, calling attention to the fact that the court had neither acquitted nor condemned him, and asking the Council to either order the court to sit again or to appoint a court-martial to try the charges against him. He desired this to be done at once, since some of his witnesses were about to go to sea. The House and Council complied with the re- quest and ordered the committee to sit again. It met, accordingly, November 11. The whole case of Revere was again ex- amined into, and on November 16 the [207] The True Story of Paul Bevere committee reported to the Council^ as follows : " The Committee of both Houses ap- pointed to make inquiry into the conduct of the officers of the Train, and the Militia officers, employed in the late Expedition to Penobscot, have attended the Service as- signed them; and the Opinion of your Committee on the subject matter will fully appear by the following questions and an- swers thereto Namely: " Ques*° 1. Was Lie* CoP Paul Revere crityzable for any of his conduct during his stay at Bagaduce, or while he was in, or upon the River Penobscot? " Answer. Yes. "2. What part of Lie* CoP Revere's conduct was crityzable? " Answer. In disputing the orders of Brigadier General Wadsworth respecting the Boat; & in saying that the Brigadier had no right to command him or his boat. ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 145, p. 375. [208] The Court-Martial of Revere "3. Was Lie* CoP Paul Revere's con- duct justifyable in leaving River Penob- scot, and repairing to Boston, with his Men, without particular orders from his Superior officer? Answer. No, not wholly justifyable. " 4. Does anything appear in Evidence to the disadvantage of any of the Militia Officers, during the Expedition to Penob- scot, or on the retreat therefrom? "Answer. No. Excepting CoP Jona- than Mitchel, who by his own confession left the River Penobscot without leave from any Superior officer; and returned to North Yarmouth the place of his habitation. " All which is humbly Submitted. '' Artemas Ward pr order" Out of whatever facts this finding came, — whether from a stern and honest con- viction that Revere's conduct had been such as to merit condemnation and that his de- fence had not been altogether candid and sincere, or whether prompted by the influ- 14 [ 209 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere ence of persons animated by malice, a suggestion involving a severe reflection upon the court, — we may fancy these im- portant old worthies composing the Court of Inquiry enjoying the situation at Re- vere's expense. He had not been satisfied to let well enough alone, they doubtless thought, but must needs insist on a special report, acquitting or condemning him, and trusting, of course, that he would be defi- nitely acquitted. Now he had got what he had petitioned for, and if the report was not what he expected, how could he, before the public, complain of the outcome? The report was not, of course, what Revere wanted. But he refused to pocket the chagrin and humiliation it must have caused him. Instead, he now boldly de- manded a regular court-martial, writing January 17, 1780, to the " Honorable Council of the Massachusetts State " as follows : ^ * Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 176, p. 109. [210] The Court-Martial of Revere " Twice I have petitioned your Honors and once the House of Representatives for a Court Martial but have not obtained one. I believe that neither the Annals of Amer- ica, or Old England, can furnish an In- stance (except in despotick Reigns) where an Officer was put under an arrest and he petitioned for a Tryal (altho the Arrest was taken off) that it was not granted. The complaint upon which my arrest was founded, are amongst your Honors papers, and there will remain an everlasting monu- ment of my disgrace if I do not prove they are false; is there any legal way to prove them false, than by a Court-Martial " ; and he continues, advancing strong reasons why a hearing should be granted him. In this same letter he also prays for back ra- tions, not having had any since the previous June, except " what I drew at Penobscot. I have been maintaining a Family of twelve ever since, out of the remains of what I earned by twenty years hard labor." [211] The True Story of Paul Revere This request for a grant of back rations was at once complied with by the Council, but the councillors completely ignored the demand for a court-martial. They were apparently more willing to deal justly by the body than with the character of the petitioner. Re- vere, however, persisted in his efforts to secure a formal vindication, and continued to write letters on the matter. March 9, 1780,^ he submitted that for want of the court-martial he had three times petitioned for, he had been for six months " suffering all that Indignity which his Enemies who, he conceives, make it a personal affair, are pleased to impose upon him." Finally, April 13, the Council voted him a court-martial, which was ordered to sit on the 18th at the county court-house in Boston. Colonel Edward Proctor was des- ignated president and William Tudor judge-advocate, while twelve captains com- posed the court. They were ordered to make a return of their proceedings and ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 226, pp. 254, 255. [212] The Court-Martial of Revere their judgment to the Council/ But for some reason not recorded the court did not convene, and, after waiting a year. Revere made one more effort to get a hearing. On the 22d of January, 1781, he sent this petition to the authorities : ^ "To the Hon^^^ the Senate and House of Representatives of the Massachusetts State in General Court Assembled. " The Petition of Paul Revere who com- manded a Corps of Artillery in the States Service — Sheweth — That Your Peti- tioner while in said service had a complaint preferred against him to the Hon^^^ Coun- cil by one Thomas Jeners Carnes, for mis- conduct on the Expedition to Penobscot; on which complaint Your Petitioner was arrested by the Hon^^® Council; two days after the arrest aforesaid was taken off and Your Petitioner ordered to attend the examination of a Committee for investi- gating the causes of the failure of that ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 226, pp. 256, 257. 2 Ibid., Vol 187, p. 20. [213] The True Story of Paul Revere Expedition; that he as in duty bound at- tended said Committee; and, as Your Peti- tioner understands, the report of said Committee, was never excepted by both Houses. " That in such a situation as must be deemed grievous to any Officer, Your Pe- titioner petitioned the Hon^^^ Council and House of Representatives six different times between the 6th of Septem^ 1779, and the 8th of March 1780, for a Tryal by a Court-Martial, but did not obtain one, till about a fortnight before the time ex- pired for which said Corps was raised. When the Hon^^^ Council Ordered a Court- Martial, and appointed Col Edward Proc- tor President, which Court-Martial was never summoned by the President, and of course never met. The time expiring for which Your Petitioner was engaged; He has remained ever since suffering all the indignity which his Enemies, who he con- ceives have made it a personal affair, are pleased to impose upon him. [214] The Court-Martial of Revere " Your Petitioner therefore most ear- nestly Prays this Hon^^^ Assembly, to take his ease under consideration and Order either a Court-Martial, or a number of Officers, three, five, seven, or any number the Hon^^® Court may see proper. Conti- nentals or Militia, properly qualified, who may enquire into his conduct on said ex- pedition, and report, (all the evidence for and against Your Petitioner is in writing sworn too before Committee and now among the Hon^^^ Councils papers) that the truth may appear and be published to the World, and Your Petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray, &c. " Paul Revere. ''Boston, Jan 22 1781." But again Revere was doomed to disap- pointment, the General Court ordering the petition to lie over to the next session. Then, however, and without waiting for another appeal from Revere, it was taken up. A second court-martial was appointed February 19, 1782, consisting of twelve [215] The True Story of Paul Eevere captains, with Brigadier- General Wareham Parks as president and Joshua Thomas as judge-advocate. Charges were formulated as follows : ^ " For his refusing to deliver a certain Boat to the Order of General Wadsworth when upon the retreat up Penobscot River from Major Bagwaduce; " For his leaving Penobscot River with- out Orders from his Commanding Officer." And this was the judgment of the court after reviewing the evidence: " The Court find the first Charge against Lnt CoP Paul Revere to be supported (to- wit) * his refusing to deliver a certain Boat to the Order of Gen^ Wadsworth when upon the Retreat up Penobscot River from Major Bagwaduce'; but the Court taking into consideration the suddenness of the refusal, and more especially, that the same Boat was in fact employed by Lnt CoP ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 172, pp. 105-112. [216] The CourtrMartial of Eevere Revere to eflPect the Purpose ordered by the General as appears by the General's Deposition, are of the Opinion, that Lnt Cop Paul Revere be acquitted of this Charge. " On the second Charge, the Court con- sidering that the whole Army was in great Confusion, and so scattered and dispersed, that no regular Orders were or could be given, are of Opinion, that Lnt CoP Re- vere, be acquitted with equal Honor as the other Officers in the same Expedition. " A true Copy from the Minutes. "Attest. J. Thomas, Judge- Advocate,'' " I approve of the Opinion of the Court Martial as stated in the foregoing Report. " John Hancock." Thus at last, after three years of persist- ent endeavor. Revere succeeded in obtain- ing from a friendly court a vindication of his conduct in the Penobscot expedition. [217] VI — THE MAN OF BUSINESS AFTER THE WAR 1782-1804 CORRESPONDENCE with rela- tives over-seas which seems to have been interrupted at the outbreak of the war was renewed toward its close, and nothing in documentary form that has come down to us gives a more spirited impression of the Revere character-traits than these letters.^ Here is a portion of one written by Paul to his cousin, Mathias Rivoire, dated October 6, 1781: "With the utmost cheerfulness I com- municate to you what you so kindly inquire after *my situation in life.' My Father was a Goldsmith, he died in the year 1754, he left no estate, but he left a good name and seven children, three sons and four daughters. I was the eldest son. I learned ^ Goss, Vol. 2, pp. 4i99 et seq. [218] Man of Business after the War the trade of him and have carried on the business ever since; until the year 1775 when the American Revolution began; from that time till May 1780, I have been in the Government service as Lieut. Col. of an Artillery regiment — the time for which that was raised then expired and I thought it best to go to my business again, which I now carry on, and under which I trade some to Holland. I did intend to have gone wholly into trade but the prin- cipal part of my interest I lent to Govern- ment, which I have not been able to draw out; so must content myself till I can do better. I am in middling circumstances and very well off for a tradesman. I am forty-seven years old; I have a wife and eight children alive; my eldest daughter is married; my eldest son has learned my trade since we left the army, and is now in business for himself. I have one brother and two sisters alive. " You desire me to send you a seal with the arms of our Family; enclosed is one, [219 1 The True Story of Paul Bevere which I pray you to accept of: it is one of my own engraving (for that is part of my trade) which I hope will be acceptable to you. " Before this reaches you, you will have heard of the victory gained over the British Army by the Allied Armies commanded by the brave General Washington (A small engraving of him, I send enclosed, it is said to be a good likeness and it is my engraving). Which I hope will produce peace." ^ Revere and his Isle of Guernsey cousin, John Rivoire, had an interesting exchange of letters in 1782 relative to the French alliance. John wrote: "Guernsey Jan 28'^ 1782. " Dear Cousin. " I wrote you the 18^^ ultimo acknowl- edging your agreeable favor of 21^* of Jan- * Mathias Rivoire acknowledged the receipt of this letter with the seal and engraving of Washington, "representing a gallant warrior." Mathias in this letter gives at some length the Rivoire genealogy. [ 220 ] Man of Business after the War uary last my said letter was forwarded by my friends at Bordeaux who will forward this same to you by the first opportunity. You will find therein what confidence there is in the French Nation in general. You will also observe the opinion the emperor of Moroco had of them by his letter to Queen Anne of Great Britain of which you have a true copy annexed with my last letter. " You will find said letter also printed in the Town and Country Magazine of Sep- tember last, page 472. I heartily wish the Americans could open their eyes in time before it is too late to repent the dan- gerous alliance they have made with the French. They seem at first like turtle doves, polite and humble till they can get their ends; but after they are masters there is none in the world such for tyrrany and oppression. You may well compare them to Fire (viz) * Good Servants but very bad Masters.' You may depend their views are fixed on the best provinces in America, in [221 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere order to be reimbursed for the exhorbitant charges they will find against America for aiding and assisting the Americans against their lawful Sovereign and Mother Coun- try, against all Divine and human laws. " By what I have learned from a Cap- tain of our neighboring Island of Jersey, who was a prisoner at Boston about nine weeks ago, the French have already begun to show the inhabitants of Boston a speci- men of their arbitrary disposition, by pre- venting a seventy four Gunship to be built there and cutting or sawing her keel in two pieces. The said Captain tells us he was an eye-witness to this fact, and also other disorders committed at Boston by the French which I do not enumerate. I wish Congress knew them as well and in per- fection as I do. Certainly they would not rely on any of their promises or even their signature in anything whatsoever. The French Court is very glad to see us de- stroy one another and with joy give the assistance to our mutual destruction, in- [ 222 ] Man of Business after the War stead of us being hand in hand, united together to destroy this vermin and scum of the earth. I will suppose for one mo- ment there is faults on both sides, I mean between England and America, which is a similar case as between Mother and Daughter, how easy in my opinion the whole could be compromised and adjusted, England having repealed their Acts of Parliament concerning America, and leav- ing it as it was in the year 1763. " Why don't America accept this gener- ous offer from its Mother Country? Some Americans will say for excuse it is too late, we have made a Treaty with France, we cannot be let off. There is no nation in the world but would do it, after opening their eyes to any dangerous Treaty they had made, which is the case with the Americans. Which Treaty tends only to their ruin and destruction. . . ." The latter continues, giving the infor- mation that the writer is " Receiver- Gen- [223] The True Story of Paul Revere eral for all duties on goods and ships " in all the harbors of the island, that he re- ceives " the monies for the Royal Hospital at Greenwich," and for ten years has been captain of a company of militia consisting of sixty-five men, all of whom " are dis- ciplined as Regulars." These facts explain perhaps why John Rivoire, in spite of his French name and lineage, he being scarcely more than an adopted Englishman, char- acterizes the French wdth such amusing viciousness as " vermin and scum of the earth." Rivoire's opinion, nevertheless, as to the disinterestedness of the part played by the French in the cause of American independence is probably very much nearer the truth of history than was his American cousin's heated defence of France against this attack. How thorough-going and con- sistent an imperialist John Rivoire was is seen in the sage suggestion he makes in a postscript to this same letter: "Instead of America's quarreling with its Mother Country it ought hand in hand to join [224] Man of Business after the War with her and attack the Gold & Silver mines in the Spanish Dominions in South America. As it is certain there is a revolt in those parts between the Spaniards and the natives." Revere's fervid reply to his cousin's ob- servations on the relations that England, France, and America ought to sustain toward each other was in keeping with his temperament ; ' "Boston, July 1, 1782. "Dear Cousin " Your favor of Jan^ last came safe to hand. It was forwarded by Mess. Brom- field & Ingraham at Amsterdam. This is the only letter I have received from you since March 1775. I am glad yoii are in health, and it gives me great pleasure to find that you are in so good business in Guernsey; you did not write me word, whether you were married; if you are not, nor do not marry soon, I am afraid they will call you an old Bachelor. 15 [ 225 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere " I have received several letters from our cousin Mathias Rivoire in S^ Foy, he de- sires me to remember his best love to you. — You may remember, that in your letter to me in 1775, you gave me directions how to write to him ; those directions found him ; & we now correspond together. " I am sorry my dear Cousin, that you have such despicable sentiments of the French nation. — I can easily account for your prejudice; before this War, I was as much prejudiced against them as you are; and that prejudice arose from our connec- tion with Brittan; now we have broke that connection; we can see with more impartial eyes, and find the French Nation to be quite the reverse of what you suppose them, and of what we used to think them — they are a brave, humane, generous, and polite Na- tion. You tell me that the alliance we have entered into with that Nation is a danger- ous one; we do not conceive that to be the case — So much is a fact, (on the side of that Nation) it is a generous one. You say [ 226 ] Man of Business after the War * when once they get their ends answer'd & are masters, they are the greatest Tyrants in the world ' — this we are sure of, they cannot be worse than the Brittons, and should they attempt to enslave us, we will serve them as we have done the Brittons, drive them from our Country. You say * we have entered into a war with Brittain against all laws human & divine.' You do not use all the candour which I am sure you are master of, else you have not looked into the merits of the quarrel. They cove- nanted with the first settlers of this coun- try, that we should enjoy ' all the Libertys of free natural born subjects of Great Britain.' They were not contented to have all the benefit of our trade, in short to have all our earnings, but they wanted to make us hewers of wood, & drawers of water. Their Parliament have declared ' that they have a right to tax us & Legislate for us, in all cases whatever ' — now certainly if they have a right to take one shilling from us without our consent, they have a right [227] The True Story of Paul Bevere to all we possess; for it is the birthright of an Englishman, not to be taxed without the consent of himself, or Representative. " You say that a Captain belonging to Jersey, informed you, that the French had prevented a 74 gun ship from being built that they cut or sawed her keel in two pieces & that he saw it done. You may depend it is an infamous falsehood; the ship stands just the same now as she did three years ago. The reason why she has never been finished is because we had not riggers sufficient for her. One ship of 74 guns was launched at Piscataway this Spring & is now fitting for sea. " You say * The French are glad to see us destroy one another.' I cannot joyn with you. I believe the French are glad to see Britain weakened; in short I am convinced that their chief motive in taking part with us, was that we might be independent of Brittain, for you must be sensible that Brittain had got to such a pitch of domi- nation, (puffed up with the success of the [ 228 ] Man of Business after the War last war with France & Spain) that they thought the whole world ought to be beasts of Burthen to them. I think that pride has been obliged to stoop, " You say * You will suppose for one moment that there is faults on both sides; that is, England & America are both in fault.' The supposition is entirely ground- less, the fault is wholly on the side of England, America took every method in her power by petitioning &c. to remain subject to Brittain; but Brittain (I mean the British King & Ministers) did not want Colonies of free men they wanted Colonies of Slaves, Like the fable of the Woman & Hen, by grasping at too much they will lose all. " You ask why don't America accept the generous offer from England to put them in the situation they were in 1763. I answer for many reasons. They have en- joyed six years of independence, and no offer England can make will induce them to part with it — besides we can put no [229] The True Story of Paul Bevere confidence either in your King or Minis- ters. Did not Lord North tell the parlia- ment that he would accept of nothing short of unconditional submission, and why did he ever stoop to make us offers but to get us there; we should be the most abject Slaves in the whole world had they used lenient measures in the beginning of the war, matters would soon have been ami- cably settled. What has not England done to subjugate us? They have proved what Voltaire asserted of them, to be true, Viz that they are the Savages of Europe. They have hired foreign Troops to massacre us; they have set the Indians on our helpless women & children to butcher them — they have encouraged the Negro servants to as- sassinate their masters — they have burned our defenceless Towns & Citys — they have Ravished our Wives and daughters, — they have murdered our old men in cool blood & have hanged our young men wantonly; and what is still worse if possible, they have confined the men, whom they have taken [230] Man of Business after the War prisoners in loathsome ships & Goals till they have died by inches. I do assure you the name of an Englishman is as odious to an American, as that of a Turk or a Savage. You may depend that the Ameri- cans will never submit to be under the Brit- tons again. Should England declare them Independent in time they may enter into a Treaty with them similar to that of France, but no other. " England has lately been trying to break our connections with France. But we have Resolved to Die in the last ditch, rather than break our National Faith. " I now follow my business again of a Goldsmith & trade a little. I have 8 chil- dren alive. The eldest daughter is married & has one child. My eldest son has left the Army & is in business for himself. My wife Joyns with me in our best love to you, My dear Cousin I must once more invite you to come to America. Should there be a peace, which I hope is not far distant, you may in joy all the liberty here, [231] The True Story of Paul Revere which the human mind so earnestly craves after. I am not rich, but I am in good circumstances & if you will come here you shall not want; while I have a shilling, you shall have part." The correspondence continued through several years, being devoted largely to family matters. One incident which formed the subject of an interchange of letters is deserving of preservation because of the side-light it casts on Revere's char- acter. It seems that about 1782 a French- man by the name of Paul Ri voire, who had settled on a farm near Philadelphia, died, leaving no known relatives in Amer- ica, whereupon a friend of Revere in Philadelphia acquainted him with the fact, thinking that perhaps a relationship might exist between them. Revere accordingly took pains to verify the information, and ascertained that the French consul had taken charge of the dead man's eifects for the benefit of any relatives that might [232] Man of Business after the War come forward. Revere, however, accord- ing to his own statement, dropped the matter without further interesting himself in it, except to mention it in a letter to his cousin Mathias, in order that the latter might notify the deceased's relatives in France. Being unable to write French, Paul Revere was in the habit of having his letters, written by his own hand in English, transcribed into French before forwarding them to his French cousin. Unfortunately it so happened that in the translation of this particular letter the writer was made to refer to the death of the Philadelphian in terms that caused Mathias to suspect that his cousin's inter- est in the disposition of the dead man's effects was not entirely unselfish. Mathias conveyed his impressions to John Rivoire, who wrote Paul, March 9, 1786, enclosing the letter he had from Mathias, and inti- mating that Revere had endeavored to ob- tain possession of the Philadelphia Rivoire's property. [ 233 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere To these insinuations Revere replied with considerable show of feeling, under date of May 19, 1786: "I have got our Cousin Mathias's letter translated into English (for you must know, that I can neither read nor write French, so as to take the proper mean- ing). I do assure you I was greatly sur- prised that you could have so despicable an opinion of me, as to suppose that I could be guilty of so great a Crime, as to cheat you or any other person, much more a re- lation; or that I could receive to my own use, any man's ' Estate or Effects ' with- out a legal right; I do assure you, that I have as good a claim to the point of ' Honor and Honesty ' you mention as any person who ever signed his name Rivoire (altho my Father and myself signed our names Revere, for which I thought I had given you sufficient reason in my former letters). I do assure you I do not set so much value upon a little more [234] Man of Business after the War Earth, as to destroy that peace of mind and that clear conscience which I know myself possessed of. I never have and I never expect to receive, one single farthing by the death of any relation; on the con- trary it has always been my lot to do for others and I desire to be thankful that it has been in my power to help them. " You say, you desire ' to be acquainted in full of this affair ' in my next ; and then say, ' you can have the truth from your friend Mr. Daniel Vardon of Philadel- phia;' and then subjoin 'it is better to have the truth under my own handwrit- ing;' I do assure you, my good Cousin, it gave me great pain when I read those lines; those cautions were quite unnecessary to me; all I can say is, I am sorry you did not know me better, it would have been quite sufficient with me if you had only desired me to give you a narration of the matter mentioned in Cousin Mathias' letter. But I will now give it you in as concise a manner as possible." [235] The True Story of Paul Revere The writer then tells the story of the Philadelphia Rivoire affair substantially as narrated above, and closes his letter thus: "Since my last letter to you I have lost one of the finest Boys that was ever born, two years and three months old, named John, whom I named for you. " I now begin to think that I shall have no more children.^ I have had fifteen chil- dren and six Grandchildren, born in wed- lock. Mrs. Rivoire and family join with me in our sincere wishes that the best of Heaven's blessings may descend and rest upon you, and believe me to be dear Cousin, " Your sincere and affectionate " Relation and Servant." Revere retired from the army in 1780, the same year that Massachusetts com- pleted her organization as an independent commonwealth by the adoption of her state constitution. Among the first acts ^ He had another son, whom he also named John, bom after this, — March 27, 1787. [236] Man of Business after the War of the governor's council was to make pro- vision for a new official seal, and to Re- vere, who had made the seal in use by the province after 1775, was, of course, in- trusted the work of engraving the insignia of the commonwealth. He fulfilled the contract and sent in his bill for £900, which the Council treated as it was wont to treat most of his bills, — cut it down quite substantially. He was allowed "£600 or £8 hard money, equal to £15 New Emission." ^ The federal constitution was ratified by Massachusetts only after a hard struggle in the convention, which met on the 9th of January, 1788. " In none of the thirteen states," says John Fiske,^ " was there a more intense devotion to state rights than in Massachusetts. Nowhere had local self- government reached a higher degree of efficiency; nowhere had the town meet- ing flourished with such vigour. It was ^ Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 177, p. 332. ^ Critical Period of American History, pp. 317 et seq, [237] The True Story of Paul Bevere especially characteristic of men trained in the town meeting to look with suspicion upon all delegated power, upon all author- ity that was to be exercised from a distance. They believed it to be all important that people should manage their own affairs, instead of having them managed by other people; and so far had this principle been carried that the towns of Massachusetts were like little semi-independent republics, and the state was like a league of such re- publics, whose representatives, sitting in the state legislature, were like delegates strictly bound by instructions rather than untram- melled members of a deliberative body. To men trained in such a school, it would naturally seem that the new Constitution delegated altogether too much power to a governing body which must necessarily be remote from most of its constituents. It was feared that some sort of tyranny might grow out of this, and such fears were en- tertained by men who were not in the slightest degree infected with Shaysism, as [238] Man of Business after the War the political disease of the inland counties was then called. Such fears were enter- tained by one of the greatest citizens that Massachusetts has ever produced, the man who has been well-described as pre-emi- nently ' the man of the town meeting,' — Samuel Adams. ... At this time he was believed by many to be hostile to the new Constitution, and his influence in Massa- chusetts was still greater than that of any other man. Besides this, it was thought that the governor, John Hancock, was half- hearted in his support of the Constitution, and it was in everybody's mouth that El- bridge Gerry had refused to set his name to that document because he felt sure it would create a tyranny. . . . " But there were strong forces at work in the opposite direction. In Boston and all the large coast towns, even those of the Maine district, the dominant feehng was Federalist. All well-to-do people had been alarmed by the Shays insurrection, and merchants, shipwrights, and artisans of [ 239 ] The True Story of Paul Eevere every sort were convinced that there was no prosperity in store for them until the federal government should have control over commerce, and be enabled to make its strength felt on the seas and in Europe. In these views Samuel Adams shared so thoroughly that his attitude toward the Con- stitution at this moment was really that of a waverer rather than an opponent. Amid balancing considerations he found it for some time hard to make up his mind." Indeed, for two weeks Adams scarcely opened his mouth during the debates. He listened to the arguments on both sides more in the attitude of a judge than a mem- ber of the assembly itself, and in fact, though his vote counted only one, so great was the confidence reposed in his opinion that it was recognized by both factions in the almost equally divided convention that the momentous issue would be in reality de- termined by his final views. Weeks passed and the battle was still raging with the re- sult in doubt when the mechanics of Boston [ 240 ] Man of Business after the War under the leadership of Paul Revere, who appears to have been a stout advocate of the federal constitution, decided to bring the pressure of public opinion to bear upon the long-winded convention. They held a mass meeting and passed resolutions. Whatever else Boston can or cannot do in great historical crises she can always be depended upon to "resolve" in ringing language. On this occasion the class of citizens who most aggressively demanded the ratification of the instrument which meant a strong union of the states were the plain people whose voice Sam Adams had never failed to heed in the past, and in whose sound sense and practical judgment he had the profound faith of a genuine democrat. So, when the resolutions were handed to him, Adams was deeply impressed with their significance. " How many mechanics," he asked Re- vere, "were at the Green Dragon when these resolutions were passed?" 16 [ Ml ] The True Story of Paul Revere " More, sir, than the Green Dragon could hold," replied Revere. " And where were the rest, Mr. Revere? '' " In the streets, sir." " And how many were in the streets? " " More, sir 1 than there are stars in the sky." ' No doubt this demonstration had weight with Adams, whose temperament and sym- pathies were such that tangible evidence to the effect that the new constitution was a ^ This dramatic report of the conversation that is alleged to have passed between Adams and Revere is probably based on tradition. It appears to have been first given to the public by Daniel Webster in a speech at Pittsburg, July 8, 1833. Loring, in the Hundred Boston Orators (p. 21 6), quotes a letter written in 1848 by the venerable Harrison Gray Otis, then past eighty, in which Otis wrote : " I well remember the adoption of the constitution by my fellow-citizens of the state, when Hancock, muffled in red baize, was brought into the convention to sign the ratification. The evening preceding, a demonstration in favor of the measure was made in the streets of Boston, by an assemblage favorable to it, whose numbers, Paul Revere assured Samuel Adams, were like the sands of the sea-shore, or like the stars in heaven." [242] Man of Business after the War popular document may have been quite suf- ficient to turn the scales with him. Other events and circumstances may, assuredly, have operated to produce the same result had this episode never occurred/ What we know for a certainty is that when it was proposed to remedy the theoretical objec- tions to the constitution as adopted by the federal convention by the addition of sun- dry amendments embodying the Massa- chusetts " bill of rights " principles, Sam Adams at once gave in his adherence, and a week after he had announced his decision to support the instrument, namely, on the 6th of February, 1788, the constitution was ratified by the Massachusetts convention by a vote of 187 to 168. The majority in favor was so narrow that it cannot be gain- said that Adams' support was the deciding ^ Fiske, while admitting that this episode probably had some influence with Adams, maintains that the situation was already "taking such a turn as would have decided him, even without the aid of this famous mass-meeting." — The Critical Period of American His- tort/, p. 328. [ 243 ] The True Story of Paul Revere factor, and as the constitution could never have been a practical success with the ad- herence of so important a state as Massa- chusetts lacking, the significance of Adams' attitude is not to be exaggerated. No inci- dent, therefore, which may have contributed even in a slight degree toward determining his frame of mind on this subject is to be too lightly dismissed. In 1783 Revere had opened a hardware store in Essex Street, directly opposite the site of the old Liberty Tree. Here he kept a stock of gold necklaces, bracelets, lockets, rings, medals, silver pitchers, tea- pots, spoons, sugar baskets, spectacle bows, knee and shoe buckles, candlesticks, blazers, etc. Many of these were of his own manu- facture, and, purchased by the aristocracy of the town, found their way into numerous old families whose descendants hold them to-day among their most precious posses- sions. But this business did not pay so well but that its proprietor felt the desirability [244] Man of Business after the War of eking out his income by a public position ; or, was Revere only of the common clay of which so many patriots are made, and who, after having helped save their country in time of war, conceive that she owes them a living in time of peace? At all events, as soon as the federal government was settled upon what promised to be a stable basis under the new constitution he tried to get his friend. Congressman Fisher Ames, to exert his influence to obtain for him a gov- ernment position. Ames, writing from New York, April 26, 1789, responded ^ in the cautious lan- guage of true diplomacy characteristic of all clever politicians: " I am no stranger to your services and zeal on the side of liberty, and in my mind that sort of merit will greatly support the claims of the candi- date who can plead it. The number of ex- pectants however will be considerable, and many have merit and powerfull patronage." Whatever this position was which Revere ^ Family papers, Goss, Vol. 2, pp. 460-462. [245] TJie True Story of Paul Bevere wanted he did not get, and two years later we find him again beseeching Ames, this time for a place in connection with the pro- posed establishment of the national mint, or, if that should prove out of the question, then a position in the excise department. Concerning this Ames wrote, January 24, 1791 : " The secretary of state in one of his Reports has advised having the coinage under the immediate direction of Gov* and recommends a man who probably would be employed — However your known in- genuity might qualify you for it. The circumstances will not much encourage the hope of an appointment. " You mention another subject — a place in the Excise. I need not tell you how fully I confide in your integrity industry and public spirit — for that you know al- ready — But how do you stand with Gen- eral Lincoln? his good word would go far. It is probable that a principal inspector [246] Man of Business after the War will be appointed who will appoint Depu- ties — But if you should not think proper to depend on a deputation, and should send a petition to the Pres* asking an office in the Excise and referring for your Charac- ter to me, a regard to truth would oblige me to give my testimony in your favor." But all of these efforts failed, and Revere decided to continue in private business and make as good a living as possible at it. In 1792 he established a foundry at the lower end of Foster Street on the east side, bor- dering on Lynn, now Causeway, Street, and announced his new venture to the public in a card^ as follows: " Paul Revere and Son at their Bell and Cannon Foundry at the North part of Boston Cast Bells and Brass Cannon of all Sizes and all kinds of Composition Work. Manufacture Sheets, Bolts, Spikes, Nails, &c., from Malleable Copper and ^ Rambles in Old Boston, E. G. Porter, p. 256. [ 247 ] The True Story of Paul Revere Cold Rolled. N.B. Cash for Old Brass and Copper." The foundry made a specialty of casting church bells, cannon, and heavy hardware.^ Many of the bells made at this time and later by Revere are still in existence, and he had cast, according to a statement in a letter written in 1803, no less than sixty church bells. The first work turned out by the foundry was the re-casting of an old bell for the New Brick Church, after- ward the Second Church. It bears the inscription : " The first bell cast in Boston, 1792, by P. Revere." ■^ In making his plans for this venture Revere had occasion to correspond with Messrs. Brown and Benson, the proprietors of a foundry at Providence. In one of his letters he remarks that he " should be much obliged to Mr. N. Brown if he would send the Volume of Wat- son's Chemistry by the first opportunity." This was an English treatise he had long been desirous of possessing, and that he read it with interest and intelligence is evident from a letter he wrote the author. This letter is printed by Goss (Vol. 2, p. 534). [248] Man of Business after the War The King's Chapel bell, still in use, was made in 1816 by Revere and Son, and bears an inscription to that effect. It was the successor of a bell used since 1772, and cracked in tolling in 1814. " From that day to this," Mr. Goss appropriately com- ments, " its peculiarly rich tones have vi- brated from out the four arched windows of the massive tower, the walls of which are five feet and six inches in thickness. When this bell was raised to its position, a wit commemorated the event in the fol- lowing effusion: '^'The Chapel church, Left in the lurch. Must surely fall ; For church and people, And bell and steeple. Are crazy all. The church lives, The priest survives, With mind the same. Revere refounds. The bell resounds. And all is well again.' " ^ ^ Goss, Vol. 2, p. 54-1, [249] The True Story of Paul Revere One of the most important contracts which Revere secured for his foundry was for supplying the bolts, spikes, pumps, etc., for the United States frigate Consti- tution, — " Old Ironsides," as she later be- came affectionately known,^ — when she was built, in 1798. These supplies were made of malleable copper by a process perfected by Revere himself and upon which he ex- pended much time and ingenuity. " No man but myself in the four New England States," he wrote to Jacob Sheafe, naval agent at Portsmouth, " can melt the Cop- per & draw it into Spikes." To Harrison Gray Otis, member of Congress, he wrote that all coppersmiths believed that no one in America " could make Copper so mal- leable as to hammer it hot. I further found that it was a Secret, that lay in very few Breasts in England. I deter- mined if possible to find the Secret & have the pleasure to say, that after a great many ^ Now permanently moored at the Charlestown (Boston) Navy Yard. [ 250 ] Man of Business after the War tryals and considerable expense I gained it." ' Encouraged by the success of his experi- ments in working malleable copper, Revere determined to enlarge his business, and in 1801 he purchased the old powder-mill property at Canton, where he had made powder during the Revolution, and began the erection of new buildings preparatory to the removal of his foundry from Boston, though for three years he continued the latter in active operation. In 1802 he made the copper used in re-coppering the dome of the new State House, having equipped his new mill with two rollers from Eng- land. The State House dome required some six thousand feet of copper, and the bill amounted to $4,232. According to a correspondent in the Massachusetts Spy, November 24, 1802, whose bosom had swelled with patriotic pride after contem- plating the newly coppered dome and as- certaining that the job had been done by ^ Goss, Vol. 2, pp. 546, 547. [251] The True Story of Paul Eevere Colonel Revere and Son, " the only manu- factory of Sheet Copper in America is in this State ; — and the manufacturers above- mentioned have now ready for delivery to the government of the United States 30,000 weight of sheet copper for covering the bottoms of the 74 gun ships ordered some years since to be built.'* One of the ships which this writer had in mind was, no doubt, the Constitution, which was re-coppered by Revere in 1803, preparatory to being taken to Tripoli by Commodore Preble. Her log-book for June 26 of that year had this entry: ' " The carpenters gave nine cheers, which were answered by the seamen and calkers, because they had in fourteen days com- pleted coppering the ship with copper made in the States." Correspondence on file in the Navy Department at Washing- ton testifies to this copper having been made by Paul Revere. In one of these letters he suggested that some of the gov- ^ Memorial History of Boston, Vol. 3, p. 337. [252] Man of Business after the War ernment vessels cruising in the Mediter- ranean be ordered to stop at Smyrna and bring home copper in ballast, and in an- other he says: " Our works have cost us a great deal of money; and we believe are the first & only ones in America; and our Copper is pronounced, by the best Judges, equal to the English; we will thank the Administrators of our Government, if they will give us all the encouragement we merit. There being no Copper mines that are worked to advantage in the United States would it not be best that all the old copper which comes from Government Vessels should be reserved to manufacture over again? " ^ In his dealings with Uncle Sam he had the common experience of finding that dis- tinguished customer somewhat slow in pay- ing his bills. He writes the Secretary of the Navy, November 27, 1803: "We beg leave to mention that it is more than two years since we have received one shilling ^ Goss, Vol. 2, p. 567. [ 253 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere from Government tho we have been at work for them the whole time; that there is near $15,000 due us, besides which, should you agree to take our 28 & 26 ounce cop- per which we mentioned in our last, we shall be able soon to finish the whole of our con- tract, when there will be due to us between 24 and $25,000. We are now. Sir, dis- tressed for money; and if you will be so kind as to put the means into M^ Brown's hands to supply us, you will lay us under very great obligations. You must be sen- sible that it requires a Considerable Capi- tal to carry on a Business the stock of which cannot be purchased but with Cash." ^ The famous gale of October 9, 1804, which did much damage in Boston and was a great event in the memory of " the oldest inhabitant " for two generations, blew the roof off Revere's Lynn Street foundry. He had already found it a heavy financial burden to maintain two establishments, and he now carried out what was doubtless his original 1 Goss, Vol. 2, p. 568. [^54] Man of Business after the War intention, of removing the Boston plant to Canton. The business headquarters were, however, retained in Boston, and this ar- rangement was maintained during the remainder of Revere's hfe under the name of Paul Revere and Son, though in his later years the head of the firm relinquished most of its responsibilities to the son, Joseph Warren Revere. The foundry and copper- rolling mill turned out a miscellaneous product, — bells, brass cannon, roofing, sheathing for vessels, and copper utensils of various kinds; in 1809, sixteen thousand pounds of copper in sheets three feet wide by five feet long, some of which weighed over two hundred pounds each, were fur- nished Messrs. Livingston and Fulton, to be used in making two boilers for their new Hudson River steamboats.^ Joseph Warren Revere continued to con- duct the business after his father's death until 1828. In that year the Revere Cop- per Company was chartered. This corpo- * Goss, Vol. 2, p. 571. [255] The True Story of Paul Eevere ration was in existence and maintained copper works at Canton for over seventy years with offices in Boston and New York, John Revere, a son of Joseph Warren Revere, being for a long period at its head. But the evolution of industry, whose inex- orable laws recognize nothing sacredly invio- late in the sentimental aspects of business, found the copper-mill of Paul Revere in the path of progress a few years ago, and it fell a victim to the spirit of combination which dominates a commercial age, being absorbed by a Taunton company. [256] VII — THE DECLINING YEARS OF A USEFUL LIFE 1795 - 1818 REVERE was a man of generous social temperament. Versatile as a me- "" chanic, ingenious and industrious in business, deeply concerned in public affairs, devoted to his family, he yet had inclination and found time for active membership in numerous societies, and took a lively interest in the founding of an association devoted to charity and the encouragement of the mechanic arts, which flourishes to this day. In none of the civic activities of the time was he more prominent than in the affairs of the Masonic fraternity. One of the most eminent and widely known Masons of the Revolutionary era, he, in the language of a Masonic eulogist, "served his country and his beloved Fraternity with a spirit that should inspire every Brother; a spirit com- 17 [ 257 ] The True Story of Paul Eevere posed of the three great essentials, — free- dom, fervency and zeal." ^ "In the Green Dragon Tavern," says E. Bentley Young in his oration at the centennial celebration of Columbian Lodge in 1895,^ " where he first saw Masonic light, he met his patri- otic Brethren in secrecy to devise means for impeding the operations of the British, then in possession of the city. Masonry and pa- triotism were identified in his person and in those of his compatriots who met him in retirement." Entering Masonry through St. Andrew's Lodge September 4, 1760, he maintained a zealous interest in the affairs of the frater- nity for the remainder of his life, filling the high office of Grand Master of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge in 1795, 1796, and 1797. One of the most picturesque ceremonials of his career, and, indeed, of ^ G. Ellis Reed, Worshipful Master of Revere Lodge. Remarks at the centennial celebration of Columbian Lodge, 1895. Report, p. 188. ^ Report, p. 156. [ 258 ] Declining Years the early years of the constitutional history of Massachusetts, occurred during the first term of his grand mastership: the laying of the corner-stone of the new State House — the " Bulfinch front " as it was called in later years — on Beacon Hill. The author- ities having requested the Masonic order to participate in the dedication exercises, the various lodges assembled in the Represent- atives' Hall of the Old State House on State Street, and, with the state officials, marched to the Old South Meeting-House, where an oration appropriate to the occa- sion was delivered by George Blake. These exercises over, the procession re-formed and marched to Beacon Hill.^ Arriving at the ^ This was the Order of March as given in the Columbian Centinel of July 8, 1 795 : Independent Fusiliers, Martial Musick. Two Tollers. The CORNER STONE [On a truck, decorated with ribbons, drawn by 15 white horses, each with a leader.] [259] ( The True Story of Paul Eevere ' site of the new capitol, the stone, being duly squared, levelled, and plumbed. Gov- i Operative Masons. j Grand Marshall. ! Stewards, with Staves. Entered Apprentices, and Fellow-Crafts. ^■ Three Master-Masons, bearing the Square, Level and Plumb-Rule. j Three Stewards, bearing Corn, Wine and Oil. Master Masons, ■ Officers of Lodges, in their respective jewels. J Past-Masters, Royal Arch, &c. \ Grand Toiler. Band of Musick — decorated. Grand Stewards. ; Grand Deacons, with Wands. Grand Treasurer, and Grand Secretary. Past Grand Wardens. j Grand Senior and Junior Wardens. Past Deputy Grand Masters. ] Past Grand Masters. * Rev. Clergy — Brothers — Grand Master, attended by the Deputy-Grand \ Master, and Grand Stewards. I Deputy Grand Marshall. j Sheriff of Suffolk. i The Agents of the Commonwealth. j His Excellency THE GOVERNOR, \ Hon Lt. GOVERNOR, \ [ 260 ] I Declining Years ernor Samuel Adams delivered these brief remarks : " Fellow-Citizens, " The Representatives of the people in General Court assembled, did solemnly Re- solve, that an Edifice be erected upon this spot of ground for the purpose of holding the Public Councils of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. By the request of their Agents and Commissioners I do now lay the Corner- Stone. May the Superstructure be raised even to the top Stone without any untoward accident, and remain permanent as the everlasting mountains. May the principles of our excellent Constitution, founded in nature and in the Rights of Man, be ably defended here: and may the same principles be deeply engraven on the hearts of all citizens, and there be fixed, Adjutant-General. Quarter- Master General Hon. Council Members of Legislature — Clergy, and Strangers of distinction. [261 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere unimpaired in full vigor, till time shall be no more." ^ And Grand Master Revere for the Masons responded: "Worshipfull Brethren. I congratulate you on this auspicious day : — When the Arts and Sciences are establishing them- selves in our happy country, a Country distinguished from the rest of the World, by being a Government of Laws, where Liberty has found a safe and secure abode, and where her sons are determined to sup- port and protect her. " Brethren we are called this day by our honorable & patriotic Governor, his Excel- lency Samuel Adams to assist in laying the cornerstone of a building to be erected for the use of the Legislative and Executive branches of Government of this Common- wealth. May we, my Brethren, so square our actions thro life as to show to the ^ Reported as here given in the Columbian Centinel, July 8, 1795. [262] Declining Years World of Mankind, that we mean to live within the compass of Good Citizens, that we wish to stand upon a level with them, that when we part we may be admitted into the Temple where Reigns Silence and Peace." ' " It is utterly impossible," helplessly commented the unenterprising Columbian Centinel, "to do justice to the scene which presented itself on this brilliant occasion." A silver plate was placed beneath the corner-stone bearing this inscription: This Corner Stone of a Building intended for the use of the Legislative and Executive branches of GOVERNMENT of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was laid by His Excellency SAMUEL ADAMS Esq. Governor of said Commonwealth, Assisted by the Most Worshipful PAUL REVERE, Grand Master, and the Right Worshipful WILLIAM SCOLLAY, Deputy Grand Master, ^ Family papers, Goss, Vol. 2, pp. 483, 484. [263] The True Story of Paul Severe The Grand Wardens and Brethren of the GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS on the FOURTH DAY OF JULY AN. DOM. 1795. A. L. 5795. Being the XXth Anniversary o/" AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.! * When Washington retired to private hfe the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts sent him a fraternal greeting signed by Grand Master Revere, and upon his death the Massachusetts Masons arranged a mock funeral parade, Revere being one of the pall-bearers. A memorial urn carried in the procession was cared for many years by Revere at his home. Revere, with John Warren and Josiah Bartlett, sent a letter on behalf of the Grand Lodge, dated January 11, 1800, to the widow of Wash- ington requesting a lock of the dead statesman's hair, to be kept as an " invaluable relique of the Hero and Patriot." The request was granted, and the memento has remained to this day one of the cherished posses- sions of the Grand Lodge, preserved in a golden urn made by Paul Revere. Those who may be interested in further details of Revere's Masonic activity are referred to Sidney Hayden's Washington and his Masonic Compeers, Alfred T. Chapman's Sketches from the Records of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter of Boston, Goss' Life of Revere, and various occasional publications of Massachusetts Lodges. [ 264 ] Declining Years One of the most important civic enter- prises in the commercial history of Boston was the founding of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association in 1795, — an institution now venerable, but still pursuing a serene and honorable, if not always conspicuous, career in the life of the community. It had its origin in this modest notice, which appeared in the Co- lumbian Centinel of December 31, 1794: The Tradesmen, Mechanics, and Manufacturers of this town and vicinity, who keep apprentices, are desired to meet at the Green Dragon, on Tuesday evening next, at 6 o'clock, for the purpose of con- sulting on measures for petitioning the General Court, to revise and amend the Law respecting apprentices." No signature was appended to this no- tice, and Joseph T. Buckingham, in his Annals of the Massachusetts Charitable Me- chanic Association, says ^ that a tradition [ 9,Q5 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere existed that " Paul Revere, — one of the most influential mechanics of the town, and one whom the others were accustomed to consult on matters that were deemed of general interest to them as a body, — was surprised on seeing the notice, and thought it rather an act of presumption in the anonymous author to publish it without his knowledge." But whatever the foundation for this tradition, it is certain that any pique which Revere may have felt because of a failure on the part of the authors of the project to take him into their confi- dence at its origin was not permitted by him to stand in the way of a hearty co- operation in forwarding the enterprise. His position as the leading mechanic of the town was formally recognized as soon as the plans for the new organization were fairly under way; at a meeting held at the Green Dragon he was chosen chairman, and March 11, 1795, the newspapers contained the following notice : ^ ^ Buckingham's Annals, p. 5. [^66] Declining Tears The Mechanics of the town of Boston are requested to meet at Concert Hall/ THIS EVENING, precisely at 7 o'clock, for the purpose of taking into consideration and deciding on the Report of their Committee, appointed on the 19th of January, for the purpose of drafting regulations for the proposed Association of the Mechanics of this town. As the subject is of prime importance, and as the sentiments of every one on the subject are desired, it is requested that a general and punctual attendance will be given. Those who have received the printed copies of the report are requested to bring them with them at the meeting. " PAUL REVERE, per order." A constitution having been drawn up and approved. Revere gave notice, March 24, that it would be ready for signing " on Sat- ^ Concert Hall was in a building at the corner of Court and Hanover Streets. The Masons used it as a meeting place from 1754 to 1807. [267] The True Story of Paul Revere urday next, at Mr. Ebenezer Larkin's Book- store in Cornhill." ^ The first person to sign the document was Paul Revere, Gold- smith, and the others, eighty-three in all, each signed and designated his trade, Paul Revere, Jr., being of the number. At a meeting in Concert Hall, April 16, the first officers were elected, Revere being chosen unanimously to the presidency of the as- sociation. He served in this capacity until 1799, being re-elected annually. The so- ciety obtained a charter from the legisla- ture in 1806, and at the meeting for formal organization under the articles of incorpo- ration Revere was moderator. The original scope of the organization has been modi- fied by the industrial changes of a hundred years, but its triennial exhibitions in its building on Huntington Avenue, Boston, serve as continual reminders to the public of its long and honorable history. One of the smaller halls of " Mechanics' Building " is named for the first president of the as- ^ Buckingham's Annals ^ p. 5. [ 268 ] Declining Years sociation, and numerous suggestions of Re- vere are to be found there/ Another corporate enterprise but of a more business-Hke character than the Chari- table Mechanic Association, in which Re- vere became interested at about this time, was the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company. This was the first suc- cessful effort made in Boston to insure property against fire, and was undertaken in 1798, the company being incorporated by the General Court March 2 in that year. Paul Revere's was the first name in the list of incorporators, which included most of the prominent Bostonians of the period. In 1806 Revere was foreman of the jury in one of the most famous murder trials in ^ In 1845 the association purchased the Boott estate, on which was erected a hotel, and on April 10, 1846, it was voted " that the house in Bowdoin Square, heretofore known as the Boott house, be called and known here- after as the Revere house, in honor of the late Paul Revere the first president of the association." [ 269 ] The True Story of Paul Revere the annals of Boston/ the persons involved being very prominent in the political life of the day, and of high social connections. On the 4th of July, 1806, the Federahsts and Republicans held rival celebrations, — the former in Faneuil Hall, the latter in a tent erected at Copp's Hill. The Repub- lican festivities, which consisted of speech- making and a dinner, were preceded by a parade headed by the president of their organization, Benjamin Austin. The am- bassador credited from Tunis to the United States happened to be in town and accepted an invitation to attend the Copp's Hill jubi- ^ This was not Revere's first jury service, however. He had served as coroner for five years, from 1796 to 1801, his first inquest being upon the body of one Daniel Keller, a sailor who had committed suicide by drinking laudanum. "A record of this with the names of the jurors, together with that of forty-five other 'Inquisitions' covering the period to Jan. 14, 1801^ was carefully kept in a small memorandum book. The original detailed bill for five of these inquests rendered by Revere against the County of Suffolk, amounting to $119.11 is in the autograph collection of Dr. John S. H. Fogg of South Boston." — Goss, Vol. 2, p. 589. [270] Declining Years lation. With his ornate Oriental costume and long gray beard, and accompanied by a retinue of attendants in gaudy Moorish attire, he was naturally a great curiosity to the populace. But he proved a drawing- card for the Republicans, which indirectly led to disastrous results. So great was the pressure upon the frail enclosure surrounding the scene of the fes- tivities that many persons broke in who had not secured tickets, and the committee in charge of the affair found itself afterward in a peck of trouble with the caterer over that worthy's bill for the entertainment of the multitude. The caterer engaged Thomas O. Selfridge, a lawyer of eminence and good standing, to sue the members of the committee. Selfridge was an ardent Fed- eralist, and Austin, the Republican leader, in an unguarded moment and in the pres- ence of witnesses in a much- frequented in- surance office, indiscreetly remarked that in his opinion the suit had been instituted by a federal lawyer at his own instigation. [271] The True Story of Paul Bevere This insinuating charge that he was prompted by unworthy political motives rather than by wholly professional reasons in behalf of his client reached Self ridge's ears and aroused his anger. He at once demanded a retraction, and Austin, con- fronted with the gravity of the situation, promptly admitted that he had been in error. But the explanation offered was not a sufficiently abject apology to satisfy the irate lawyer's sense of wounded honor. He, therefore, composed a statement and had it published in a newspaper of the 4th of August, denouncing Benjamin Austin as a " coward, liar and scoundrel." Austin put a counter statement into another paper, and instantly the town was in a fever of excitement. A personal encounter on sight or a re- sort to " the code " seemed inevitable. But developments took an unforeseen turn. Charles Austin, son of the Republican leader, a youth of eighteen, and still pursu- ing his college course at Harvard, read the [ 27S ] Declining Years offensive paragraph about his father the same day it appeared in print, and, having equipped himself with a stout hickory cane, was standing at the corner of State and Congress Streets not far from Selfridge's office in the Old State House, when, at about one o'clock, S el fridge appeared. The two met ; young Austin raised his stick and Self- ridge drew a pistol. The testimony was somewhat contradictory as to which was the technical aggressor, but Austin inflicted a smashing blow on Selfridge's head and Selfridge fired a fatal shot at his oppo- nent. Selfridge was arrested, indicted at the November term of the Supreme Court for manslaughter and put on trial De- cember 23. Paul Revere was foreman of the trial jury. Christopher Gore and Samuel Dex- ter defended the prisoner, and James Sul- livan — afterwards governor — and Daniel Davis, attorney-general and solicitor-gen- eral respectively, appeared for the com- monwealth. The trial was one of intense 18 [ 273 ] The True Story of Paul Revere dramatic interest, on account of the promi- nence of the parties concerned and the factional pohtical excitement which divided the town into hostile camps, while the law- yers on both sides were among the ablest and most brilliant advocates of the day. The circumstances of the verdict rendered by Revere and his eleven associates of the jury are thus summed up by Amory:^ "Judge Parker instructed the jury that if the de- fendant had no view but to defend his life and person from attack, did not purposely throw himself in the way of the conflict, but was merely pursuing his lawful vocations, and could not have saved himself otherwise than by the death of his assailant, then the killing was excusable homicide ; provided the circumstances of the attack would justify a reasonable apprehension of the harm he had a right to prevent. He thought the fact, ^ Thomas C. Amory, Life and Writings of James Sullivan, Vol. 2, p. 186. See also the Memoir of Chief Justice Theophilus Parsons, by his son, Theophilus Par- sons, Jr., pp. 248 et seq. [ 274 ] Declining Years that the blow was first inflicted, was of importance to the defense. The jury de- Hberated fifteen minutes, and then agreed upon a verdict of acquittal. Whatever may have been the merits of the original contro- versy, and, it is recorded, this was the sin- cere subject of regret both to Mr. Self ridge and his friends, the verdict has been gen- erally considered correct, according to es- tablished principles of law and the particular evidence." The war of 1812, as everybody knows, was not popular with the ruling classes of eastern Massachusetts. Yet towards the close of the war, when Boston was threat- ened, either in fact or in the frightened imagination of the people, with a British invasion, and it seemed necessary to take defensive measures, there was a hearty re- sponse from the ranks of the plain citizens- It was proposed to erect fortifications on Noddle's Island (East Boston), and one hundred and fifty patriots, chiefly North [275] The True Story of Paul Bevere End mechanics, signed a paper ^ which read : — "Boston, Sept. 8, 1814. The subscribers. Mechanics of the Tov/n of Boston, to evince our readiness to co-operate by manual labor in measures for the Defence of the Town and Naval Arsenal, do hereby tender our services to His Excellency the Commander- in-Chief, to be directed in such manner as he shall consider at this eventful crisis most conducive to the Public Good." Revere was at this time in his eightieth year, but he was willing to perform manual labor for the defence of the town, and his name headed the pledge. He very likely drew it up himself and circulated it, but it is improbable that he was called upon in person to wield the spade and pick in throw- ing up fortifications, though many of the ^ This paper was found among the effects of Isaac HaiTis, a resident of the North End of Boston, who died in 1868 at the age of ninety. — Memorial History of Boston, Vol. S, p. 310; also Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 18 (1880-1881), p. 287. [276] Declining Years signers are believed to have performed service in connection with the building of " Fort Strong," as the defences were called (after Governor Strong). It is recorded that the " boys from the public and private schools, who were able to assist, were al- lowed to be absent during school hours." The aged patriot was now approaching the end of his long and useful career. For some time he had not engaged in the active management of his business but had relin- quished it to his son. His declining days were saddened and made lonely by the death of his second wife, who for forty-two years had been a faithful and affectionate help-meet to him and a good mother to his children — the children by his first wife as well as her own. She died June 19, 1815, and, like her predecessor, had borne him a family of eight: Joshua, born Dec. 7, 1774; (died 1795). John, born June 13, 1776; (died June 27, 1776). [277] The True Story of Paul Revere Joseph Warren, born April 30, 1777; (died Oct. 12, 1868). Lucy, born May 15, 1780; (died July 9, 1780). Harriet, born July 20, 1782; (died June 27, 1860). John, born Dec. 25, 1783; (died March 13, 1786). Maria, born July 14, 1785; (died Aug. 22, 1847). John, born March 17, 1787; (died April 30, 1847)/ Revere survived his wife three years. He passed away May 10, 1818, and among the death notices of the Columbian Centinel of the 13th the event was thus chronicled: " On Sunday departed this hf e PAUL REVERE, Esq., in the 84th year of his age. During his protracted life, his ac- tivity in business and benevolence, the vigor of his mind, and strength of his constitution See note p. 33. [278] Declining Years were unabated. He was one of the earliest and most indefatigable Patriots and Sol- diers of the Revolution, and has filled with fidelity, ability and usefulness, many im- portant situations in the military and civil service of his country, and at the head of valued and beneficent Institutions. Seldom has the tomb closed upon a life so honorable and useful." The Boston Intelligencer of May 16 was moved to comment: " In the death of Col. Revere the com- munity, but especially the extensive circle of his own connections have sustained an irreparable loss. Every person, whose whole life when considered in regard to the public, or to its private transactions has been spent in active exertions, in useful pursuits, in the performance of acts of dis- interested benevolence or general utility, or in the exercise of the best affections of the heart & most practical qualities of the understanding, has an undoubted title [ 279 ] The True Story of Paul Bevere to posthumous panegyric. Such was Col. Revere. Cool in thought, ardent in action, he was well adapted to form plans, and to carry them into successful execution, — both for the benefit of himself & the service of others. In the early scenes of our revo- lutionary drama, which were laid in this metropolis, as well as at a later period of its progress, his country found him one of her most zealous and active sons. His am- ple property, which his industry and per- severance had enabled him to amass, was always at the service of indigent worth, and open to the solicitations of friendship, or the claims of more intimate connections. His opinions upon the events and vicissi- tudes of life, were always sound and formed upon an accurate observation of nature and an extensive experience. His advice was therefore as valuable as it was readily prof erred to misfortune. A long life, free from the frequent afflictions of diseases, was the consequence of constant bodily ex- ercise, & regular habits, — and he has died [280] Declining Years in a good old age & all which generally at- tend it. 'As honors, love, obedience, troops of friends,' have followed him to the tomb." He lived in Boston all his life, and his various homes mark the milestones of his worldly successes. An humble house on what is now Hanover Street, opposite Clark and near the corner of Tileston, is supposed to have been his birthplace. Under date of November 2, 1762, he records in his day- book: "This day I hired a house of Doc. John Clark Esq. Joyning to Mr. Cocran at Sixteen Pound LawfuU Money a year." This was on what is now North Street, on the northerly side of Lewis Wharf. By 1770 he had prospered sufficiently to enable him to take a house in the very heart of the "court end" of the town. North Square. This property he bought, paying £213 6s. 8d., and giving a mortgage for £160, which was eventually paid off. Here he hved through the revolutionary period; here his first wife died, and here he brought his second bride [281] The True Story of Paul Bevere a few months later; and here most of his children were born. Of the several houses that he lived in during his life this is cer- tainly the one most fitting to be preserved and to bear the distinction of being known as "the Revere house." Built about 1676, it was nearly a century old when Revere moved into it; and it is still standing in a fair condition of preservation, one of the now very rare types of seventeenth century domestic architecture in which the second story projects several inches over the wall line of the first. It is a survival both of the architecture of the seventeenth century and the American civilization of the nineteenth, for all about it swarm olive-skinned natives of sunny Italy and the exiled sons and daughters of Poland and Jewish Russia. Perhaps it is the most historic slum tenement in America. Here Revere lived until about 1788. A receipt for a year's rent (£36) , dated Octo- ber 1, 1788, would indicate that he was then living in a house on Charter Street, while [ 282 ] The Paul Revere House, North Square. Declining Years his address is given in a Boston directory for 1789 as 50 Cornhill.' About 1800 he purchased a house on Charter Street, possi- bly the same one he had been occupying as a tenant. It was on the southerly side of the street, near what is now North Street. It was permitted to stand until 1843, and some of the old inhabitants of Boston can doubtless still remember it, — a three-story brick mansion, with a garden enclosure and an iron fence of swinging chains. In the rear of the house was a spacious yard, where the bells were brought from the Revere foundry in the early days of that establish- ment, for testing. The removal of the business to Canton gave Revere an excuse for acquiring a country estate, so that for several years before his death he passed his summers at this rural retreat, after the fashion of the prosperous folk of modern 1 This may have been a place of business only. The site was on what was afterward called Washington Street and near Court Street, probably where the Ames building now stands. [283] The True Story of Paul Revere days. He died in the Charter Street house. His executor, John Revere, figured his estate as worth practically $31,000, which was indeed an " ample property " for the simple society of the time. Revere was probably as pious as most men in public life then or since. He appears, at any rate, to have been a sup- porter of religious institutions, and tradi- tion credits him with having been quite a regular attendant at church. He early showed symptoms of independence, how- ever, and brought upon his young head a father's wrath by wandering away from the family place of worship, the " New Brick Church," in what is now Hanover Street, to the West Church, in Lynde Street, which in after years Cyrus A. Bartol and Charles Lowell made famous. The Rev. Dr. Jon- athan Mayhew was the pastor in Revere's time, and between him and the young man there sprang up a warm friendship. After his first marriage Revere became again a regular attendant at the New Brick Church, [284] Declining Years which was merged with the Second Church in North Square in 1779. In a quiet oasis in the midst of the rushing whirl of business in Boston's com- mercial section, the Old Granary Burying Ground silently, perpetually, challenges the passer-by to a contemplation of the eternal truths to which the immortals that lie buried there gave their lives. And here, keeping company with the dust of Peter Faneuil, the parents of Ben Franklin, and three signers of the Declaration of Independence, — John Hancock, Sam Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, — are the remains of Paul Revere, the Messenger of the Revolution. [285] INDEX Adams, John, his description of the " caucus," 43 ; writes of the Continental Congress, 62 ; indorses bill of Revere for messenger service, 124 ; a member of committee which employs Revere to print con- tinental money, 135. Adams, Samuel, portrait of, en- graved by Revere, 3-2; presides at " Port Bill " meeting, 54 ; representative in Continental Congress, 63 ; in Lexington with Hancock, 75, 83, 86, 94, 99, 105 ; indorses bill of Re- vere for messenger service, 124 ; regarded as a dema- gogue, 140 ; attends Green Dragon Tavern meetings, 141 ; chosen a member of the Committee of Correspond- ence, 162 ; his attitude toward the federal constitution, 239, 240 ; officiates at laying cor- ner-stone of Beacon Hill State House, 261-263 ; burial in " Old Granary," 285. Adams, Winborn, 64. Ames, Fisher, 245. Amory, Thomas, 165. Appleton, Nathaniel, 162. Arnold, Benedict, 195. Ashley, Jonathan, 18. Attucks, Crispus, 26. Austin, Benjamin, 270 et seq. Austin, Charles, 272 et seq. Avery, John, 44. Bagaduce, 174 et seq. Baker, John, 7, Barrett, Colonel, 78, 79, 80. Bartlett, Josiah, 264. Bartol, Cyrus A. , 284. Bass, Henry, 45. Belcher, Nath., 41. Belknap, Jeremy, 140. Bennett, Eleazer, 64. Bennington, prisoners taken at, 148. Bernard, Governor, 17. Bethune, George, 165. Blake, George, 259. Bliss, Jonathan, 18. Boston, Evacuation of, 146. Boston Massacre, 22-27. Boston Port Bill, 54. Boston Tea Party, 46-52. Boyer, Peter, 41. Byles, Mather, 164. Brackett, Joshua, 5, 32. British officer. Diary of, 74. Broadstreet, Samuel, 165. Brown, William, 18. Brown, William (Judge), 39. [287] Index Bullard, William, 41. BunkerHill, 61, 70. Burr, Aaron, 112. Caine, Major, 145. Caldwell, James, 26. Calef, John, 18, 190. Capen, Hopestill, 164. Games, Thomas J., lodges a complaint against Revere, 196 ; Revere 's reply, 199 ; his charges, 203 ; Revere again writes of the charges, 213. Carr, Patrick, 26. Gary, Nathaniel, 165. Gastine, 174. Gastle Island, 198. Ghadwick, John, 19. Ghase, Thomas, 45. Ghesley, Alpheus, 64. Ghesley, Jonathan, 64. Ghrist Ghurch, signals dis- played from, 96. Ghurch, Benjamin, writes a verse for Revere's print " The Rescinders," 20 ; his treason, 140-146. Glark, John, victim of Boston Massacre, 26 ; a landlord of Revere, 281. Glark, Jonas, host of Han- cock and Samuel Adams at Lexington, 76, 94, 100, 103, 104. Claverly, Thomas, 152. Gochran, Gaptain, 67. Godman, Stephen, 108. Goffin, Shubael, 11. GoUier, Sir George, 189. Golumbian Lodge, 258. Gommittee of Gorrespondence, chooses Revere to carry news of " Tea Party," 51 ; Revere chosen a member of, 162 ; appointed on sub-committees, 163, 164. Gommittee of Fifty-One, 56. Gommittee of Public Safety, au- thorized, 72; meeting of April 18, 1775, 98, 105; engages Revere as a messenger, 119. Gommittee of Safety and Sup- plies, 77. Gonant, Golonel, 95. Gongress, Continental, Revere carries Suffolk Resolves to, 61 ; Revere makes another trip to, 62 ; delegates selected to, 72 ; authorizes issue of money, 134. " Constitution," frigate, 250, 252. Constitution ratified, 237. Cook, John, 138. Cook, Nicholas, 41. Court-martial of Dudley Sal- tonstall, 194. Gushing, T., 124. Grafts, Thomas, 148, 162. Crafts, Thomas, junior, 41. Crane, Thomas, 172. Grown Point Expedition, 4. Dana, Richard, 5. Danforth, Samuel, 164. Danielson, Timothy, 194. Dartmouth, Lord, 66. Davis, Benjamin, 165. Davis, Benjamin, junior, 165. Davis, Caleb, 145, 163. [288] Index Davis, Daniel, 273. Davis, Micah, 64, 65. Dawes, Thomas, 43. Dawes, William, 94, 111. Day, Jonathan, 41. Deraeritt, John, 64, 70. Devens, Richard, 98, 113. Dexter, Samuel, 273. Dickinson, John, 169. Edes and Gill, 31. Edson, Josiah, 19. Edwards, Thomas, 164. Erving, John, 165. Evacuation of Boston, 146. Eve, Oswell, 168. Faneuil, Peter, 285. Farley, M., 124, 193. Federal constitution ratified, 237. Fields, Joseph, 45. Ford, Paul Leicester, 22. Fort George, 174. Fort Griswold, 195. Fort Pownall, 190. Fort Strong, 277. Fort William, 148, 158, 196. Fort William and Mary, assault on, 63-68. Fosdick, Thomas, 5. Fosdick, Nathaniel, 5. Foster, Chillings worth, 19. Foster, Jed'h, 124. Fowle, Jacob, 18. Franklin, Benjamin, member of committee contracting with Revere for printing bills of credit, 135 ; burial place, 285. Frye, Peter, 18. 19 [289] Gage, General, on the night of April 18, 1775, 82, 84-86 ; his wife's connection with the patriots' cause, 86-89; desists from building forti- fications, 130; confers with Dr. Benjamin Church, 145; Committee of Correspond- ence passes vote concerning, 163. Gerrish, Joseph, 124. Gerry, Elbridge, 239. Gore, Christopher, 273. Grand jurors, protest of, 36-42. Gray, Samuel, 26. Gray, Winthrop, 154. Green Dragon Tavern, meeting- place of clubs and caucuses, 73, 140 ; mechanics meet at, and pass resolutions in behalf of the federal constitution, 241-242; masonic lodge meets at, 258; Massachusetts Chari- table Mechanic Association formed at, 265, ^QQ. Green, Richard, 165. Greenleaf, B., 124. Griffin, John, 65. Gunpowder, manufacture of, 165-172. Hall, Joseph, 41. Hancock, Eben, 41. Hancock, John, Revere en- graves portrait of, 32 ; at Lex- ington with Samuel Adams, 75-77, 94, 99, 105, 106; anecdote of his courtship of Dorothy Quincy, 109-113; his papers preserved by Re- Index vere at battle of Lexington, 118 ; attends meetings at the "Green Dragon," 141; a member of Committee of Correspondence, 162 ; at Philadelphia, 168 ; approves Revere's acquittal by court- martial, 217 ; his attitude toward the federal constitu- tion, 239; his burial place, 285. Hancock, Thomas, 109, Heath, General, 148. Hichborn, Deborah, 3. Hillsborough, Lord, his letter to Governor Bernard, 17, 18 ; dedication of a print by Re- vere to, 30. Hitchburne, Thomas, 163. Hobart, Samuel, 41. Holton, S., 124. Howe, General, 163. Hubbard, Daniel, 164. Hutchinson, Edward, 164. Hutchinson, Foster, 39. Hutchinson, Governor, 163. IvERs, James, 41. Jackson, William, 165. Jernigan, William, 19. Jones, Joseph, 41. Kast, Thomas, 165. King's Chapel, 249. Kollock, Lemuel, 41. Lamb, John, 53, 56, 14T. Lambert, Serenne, 1. Langdon, Captain, 65. Larkin, Deacon, 95. Lewis Wharf, 281. Lexington, Battle of, 105, 119, 143, 146. Liberty Tree, 244. Little, Moses, 193. Lloyd, James, 164. Lovell, Solomon, takes com- mand of land forces in Penob- scot expedition, 175; unable to reduce the enemy, 179 ; his course at Bagaduce, 183- 188, 190-197; his descrip- tion of the rout, 190 ; Revere's orders to obey, 206. Lowell, Charles, 284. Ludlow, John, 58. Lush, George, 164. Mackey, William, 163. McLean, Francis, 173. Magabagaduce, 199. {See also Bagaduce.) Manufactory House, 27. Marshall, Thomas, 162. Massachusetts Charitable Me- chanic Association, 265. Massachusetts Grand Lodge, 258. Massachusetts Mutual Fire Company, 269. Mather, Samuel, 34. Mathes, Benjamin, 65. Maulmon, Anne, 2. Maverick, Samuel, 26. Mayhew, Jonathan, 284. Mayhew, Mathew, 19. Melville, Thomas, 154. Mitchell, Jonathan, 209. I Mitchell, Major, 115. [ 290 ] Index Monk, Christopher, 26. Monroe, William, his deposi- tion, 103. Morris, Robert, 168, 169. Morton, Perez, 8. New Brick Church, Revere casts bell for, 248; Revere an attendant at, 284. New York, Revere's trip to, 51. Newell, Thomas, 46, 56. Noddle's Island, fortified, 275. North End caucus, 42, 47. Norwood, Ebenezer, 164. Old Granary Burial Ground, 285. " Old Ironsides," 250, 252. Old South Meeting-House, 259. Oliver, Peter, 38. Orne, A., 168. Orne, Sarah, 4, 33. Osgood, Samuel, 193. Otis, Harrison Gray, 250. Otis, James, 124. Paine, Robert Treat, 285. Palmer, J., 124. Parker, David, 165. Parks, Wareham, 216. Pelham, Henry, 22-24. Penobscot Bay, Expedition 173 et seq. Percy, Lord, 84, 85. Perkins, James, 165, Philadelphia, Revere's trips 66, 62. Phillips, Benjamin, 164. Phillips, Isaac, 163. PhiUps, Turner, 154. Pickering, Thomas, 65. Plimpton, Henry, 41. Plympton, Deacon, 79. Pool, Joseph, 41. Port bill, Boston, 54. Portsmouth, Revere's trip to, 63. Powell, William, 163. Pratt, Thomas, 41. Prescott, Colonel, 78. Prescott, James, 193. Price, Captain, 143. Proctor, Captain, 164. Proctor, Edward, 212. Province House, 82. Provincial Congress organized with Hancock as president, 72 ; in session at Concord, 76 ; authorizes issue of securities, 136 ; Dr. Church a member of, 140 ; report to, relative to gunpowder manufacture, 165. Pulling, John, 163, 164. QuiNCY, Dorothy, 103, 108-113. Rand, Isaac, junior, 164. Reed, G. EUis, 258. Remick, C, 23. Rescinders, The, 16-22. Revere, Deborah, 33. to. Revere, EHzabeth, 33. Revere, Frances, 33. Revere, Harriet, 278. Revere, Izanna, 33. to. Revere, John, 256, 278. Revere, Joseph Warren, 278. Revere, Joshua, 277. Revere, Lucy, 278. [291] 256, Index Revere, Maria, 278. Revere, Mary, 33. Revere, Paul, his birth, 1 ; first miUtary experience, 4; mar- riage to Sarah Orne, 4 ; fined for assault, 5 ; practises den- tistry, 6 ; becomes a carica- turist, 9 ; charged by Henry Pelham with dishonorable action, 23; death of first wife, 33 ; marriage to Rachel Walker, 34 ; serves on town committees, 36 ; declines to serve as a grand juror, 36 ; a " Son of Liberty," 42 ; mem- ber of " Boston Tea Party," 46-32 ; makes a trip to New York, 31, to Philadelphia, 56, 60, 62, to Portsmouth, 63 ; ride of April 16, 1775, 73 ; prepares for ride of April 18, 93 ; his narrative of April 18- 19, 93-93, 111-119; engaged as a messenger by the Com- mittee of Safety, 119 ; renders bill for messenger service, 121, letters to his wife, 126, 133 ; letter from John Rivoire, 129- 133 ; engraves continental currency, 133 ; engraves state seal, 139 ; exposes Dr. Ben- jamin Church, 140-146 ; sta- tioned at Fort William, 148 ; expedition to Worcester, 148 ; presides at court-martial, 132 ; expedition to Rhode Island, 133 ; signs a " round- robin," 134 ; in command at Fort William, 138; a member of the Committee of Corre- spondence, 162 ; investigates powder-mill at Philadelphia, 166-171 ; takes charge of Canton mill, 171 ; ordered to the Penobscot, 173 ; arrested, 198 ; charges against, 203- 204; vindicated, 217; corre- spondence with Mathias and John Rivoire, 218-236 ; retires from the army, 236; heads demonstration for the con- stitution, 240-244 ; opens hardware and jewelry shop, 244 ; applies for government office, 243-247 ; opens a bell and cannon foundry, 247 ; re-coppers State House dome, 231 ; re-coppers " Old Iron- sides," 232 ; furnishes copper for Hudson River steamboats, 255 ; enters Masonry, 238 ; founds Massachusetts Char- itable Mechanic Association, 263-268; member of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 269 ; foreman of jury in Selfridge murder case, 273 ; volunteers for defence of Boston in 1814, 276 ; death of second wife, 277 ; children by second wife, 277, 278; death, 278; his homes, 281-284 ; burial place, 283. Revere, Paul, junior, birth, 33 ; letter from father, 127; com- missioned a lieutenant, 147 ; accompanies his father on Rhode Island expedition, 133. [292] Index Revere, Sarah, 33. Revere House, 269. Rhode Island, Expedition to, 152, 155. Richardson, Moses, 41. Rivington, James, 32. Ri voire, ApoUos, 1-3. Rivoire, Isaac, 1. Ri voire, Jean, 1. Rivoire, John, letter to, from Paul Revere, 129 ; letterfrom, to Paul Revere, 220 ; an " im- perialist," 224 ; Mathias Ri- voire writes to, 233. Rivoire, Magdelaine, 1. Rivoire, Mathias, writes to John Rivoire, 132 ; Paul Revere gets letters from, 226 ; writes to John Rivoire, 233. Rivoire, Paul, of Philadelphia, 232. Rivoire, William, 131. Root, Joseph, 18. " Round-robin," 153. Ruggles, Timothy, 19. St. Andrew's Lodge, 258. Salem, North Bridge, 68. Saltonstall, Dudley, placed in command of fleet ordered to the Penobscot, 176 ; is indis- posed to take the offensive, 178, 181 ; his pusillanimous conduct, 184 ; relations with General Lovell, 186, 187 ; warrant for court-martial of, 194. Saltonstall, Richard, 18. Sayward, Jonathan, 18. Scannel, Alexander, 65. Scott, Mrs. (nee Dorothy Quincy), 108-113. Second Church, Revere cast bell for, 248 ; merged into New Brick Church, 285. Selfridge, Thomas O. , 271 et seq. Sever, W., 124, 194. Sheafe, Jacob, 250. Signal lanterns. The, 93-97. Small, Isaac, 65. Small, Benjamin, 65. Smith, John, 45. Snider, Christopher, 28. " Sons of Liberty," influence of, 42 ; notify Portsmouth patriots of reinforcements for Fort William and Mary, 64 ; meetings, 73 ; viewed with apprehension, 140; fail to en- list in the army, 147, 148. Southard, Caleb, 152. Spencer, John, 64. Spooner, W., 124. Stamp Act, 9-11, 12-16. Stark, General, 148, State House, 251, 259-264. Suff'olk Resolves, 61. Sullivan, General, Revere stops at house of, 64 ; Amory's life of, quoted, 70 ; reinforced in Rhode Island by Paul Revere, 155. Sumner, WiUiamH., 8, 109, 110. Taylor, Eldad, 124. " Tea Party," Boston, 46-52. Thomas, Joshua, 216, 217. Thompson, Ebenezer, 64. Thompson, William, 41. Titcomb, Jonathan, 193. [293] Index Todd, Captain, quotes General Lovell in criticism of Revere, 196 ; Revere refuses to obey his orders, 197 ; Revere's complaint of persecution by, 200; his complaint against Revere, 202. Todd, William, 154. Trott, George, 45. Tryon, Governor, 52. Tudor, William, 212. Underwood, James, 65. Union Club, 43. Upham, Abijah, 41. Vardon, Daniel, 235. *' Views " of the town of Bos- ton, 29. Votes of Committees of Safety and Supplies, 78-81. Wadsworth, Peleg, second in command of land forces on Penobscot expedition, 175 ; erects a land battery, 184; exonerated, 194 ; his orders disobeyed by Revere, 197, 204, 216 ; Revere criticised for disputing orders of, 208. Walker, Rachel, 34, 277. Wall, Patrick, 164. Ward, Artemas, president of court of inquiry into Penob- scot expedition, 194 ; Revere appeals to, 201. Warren, John, 264. Warren, Joseph, dental work for, done by Revere, 8 ; calls "Port Bill" meeting, 54; chooses Revere to carry Suf- folk Resolves to Philadel- phia, 60 ; sends letters by Revere to Philadelphia, 63 ; despatches Revere to Lex- ington, April 16, 75 ; and on the night of April 18, 1775, 89, 101, 107, 109; his home, 94 ; engages Revere as per- manent messenger for Com- mittee of Safety, 119 ; meets with Patriots at the " Green Dragon," 141 ; questions Dr. Church, 144. Washington, George, Revere appointed on a committee to wait upon, 162 ; referred to by Revere in his letter to Ma- thias Rivoire, 220 ; fraternal greeting to, from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 264. Waters, Josiah, 83. Welles, Henry, 45. WendeU, OUver, 162. Wentworth, Sir John, 66. West Church, Revere attends, 284. Wheeler, Abraham, 41. Whiteworth, Charles, 165. Whitworth, Miles, 165. Willet, Joseph, 41. Williams, Israel, 18. WiUiams, Robert, 41. Winthrop, J., 124. Worcester, Expedition to, 148- 152. Young, E. Bentley, 258. Young, Thomas, 27, 56. [294] Paul Revere. From the Portrait by Gilbert Stuart. i 1959