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 Revere,
PAUL, patriot; was born in Boston,
Massachusetts on
January 1, 1735. He was descended from the
Huguenots, and was
educated in his father's profession of goldsmith. In the
French and Indian War he was at Fort Edward, on the upper
Hudson, and served as a lieutenant of artillery. When he returned
from this military duty, he again took up the trade of a goldsmith.
He also taught himself to be a copper-plate engraver. He was one of
four engravers in America when the Revolutionary War broke out. He
had engraved, in 1766, a print emblematic of the repeal of the
Stamp
Act, and in 1767 another called "The Seventeen Rescinders." He
published a print of the Boston massacre, in 1770, and from that
time became one of the most active opponents of the acts of
Parliament. Revere engraved the plates, made the press, and printed
the bills of credit, or paper money, of Massachusetts, issued in
1775; he also engraved the plates for the "Continental money." He
was sent by the Sons of Liberty, of Boston, to confer with their
brethren in New York and Philadelphia. Early in 1775 the Provincial
Congress sent him to Philadelphia to learn the art of making powder,
and on his return he set up a mill. The president of the Congress
(Joseph Warren) chose Revere as one of his trusted messengers to
warn the people of
Lexington and Concord of the expedition sent their by
Gage
(April 18, 1775), and to tell Adams
and Hancock of their danger. He was made a prisoner while on his way
from Lexington towards Concord, but was soon released. Longfellow
made Revere's midnight ride the subject of his well-known poem. He
served in the military corps for the defense of his State, and after
the war he cast church bells and cannon; and he founded the
copper-works at Canton, Mass., afterwards carried on by the Revere
Copper Company. He was the first in the United States to smelt
copper ore and roll it into sheets. In 1795 Revere, as grand master
of the masonic order, laid the corner-stone of the State-house in
Boston. He died in Boston, Mass., May 10, 1818. |
