Recent Articles

The Midnight Ride of William Dawes

William Dawes is the usually forgotten shoe maker who rode with Paul Revere on the night of April 18, 1775 to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming to arrest them. Dawes took the longer land route to Lexington arriving to destination half an hour later.

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Buckman’s Tavern

Buckman’s Tavern , a National Historic Landmark, is located on the Battle Green in Lexington Massachusetts. It served as a gathering place for the local “training band” or militia men when they trained on the Lexington Green. The tavern was used as the headquarters of the militia. The owner, John Buckman was also a member of the Lexington Training Band.

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Myths and Facts of Revere’s Midnight Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most popular poets in American history. He wrote Paul Revere’s Ride in 1860, 95 years after the actual ride. Current events at the time influenced Longfellow’s approach to his famous poem. To appeal his audience he combined narrative fiction with the music of verse. Longfellow romanticized his character to inspire and lift spirits. Even though the poet took many liberties in describing the event he also got many facts right. Starting with the date, April 18th, 1775 and the objective of his ride: to spread the alarm and to warn the country-folk to be up and to arm. He successfully completed his ride to warn Hancock and Adams.

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Old Granary Burying Ground - Revere's Final Resting Place

The Old Granary Burying Ground is one of the most interesting places to visit in Boston. It was was founded in 1660 and it is the third oldest burying ground in Boston. It is located next to Park Street Church and across from Suffolk University Law School. Many famous men and women are buried here. The bodies of Patriots John Hancock, Paul Revere, James Otis and Samuel Adams rest in this cemetery as well as the victims of the Boston Massacre.

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Education

Young Paul Revere was growing up on the streets of Boston’s North End, the neighborhood that was as vibrant back then as it is now. The area where rich elegance mixed with noisy street crowd was aloso home to artisans and craftsmen like Paul Revere’s father.

The schools in Boston were divided into Latin (or grammar) schools that provided higher quality education and into Writing schools, mostly for those students whose aspiration were to become tradesmen. Among those sent to the North Writing school was the young Paul whose father probably planned him to continue tradition of silversmith trade.

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Paul Revere’s Family

To best understand Paul Revere’s character it will be useful to start with an insight of his family. Revere’s father, whose original name was Apollo Rivoire, was a French Huguenot. Huguenots were French Protestants whose religion was persecuted in predominantly Roman Catholic France.

Among those who left were Apollo Rivoire’s parents, Isaac and Serenne. Apollo himself was also born in France in 1702. He later moved to Guernsey, the immigrant port on the island in the English Channel to live with his uncle who later sponsored his trip to Boston in 1723 to earn goldsmith or perhaps silversmith trade.

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2008 Paul Revere’s Ride Reenactment Video

The 2008 reenactment of the ride was held in Boston on April 21. It occurs annually on the Patriot’s Day, which is a holiday in Massachusetts on the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The popular event recreates the ride of two patriot messengers, Paul Revere and William Dawes. Both journeys take approximately 2.5 hours, but follow different paths.

Unlike the actual midnight ride, the reenactment usually starts at 10:30 am at Hanover Street in Boston’s North End. As you can see in the video, the reenactor rides directly from Revere’s house in Boston’s North End. This is another deviation from the fact - during the actual event Revere made the first leg of his journey from Boston to Charlestown on feet. Of course for reenactment purposes this wouldn’t have been as much fun.

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