USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 18
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In September, 1775, the third Congress convened. The events of the four previous months had turned the popular mind toward independence, still there was no declaring on the part of Congress.
But in April, 1776, the tidal wave in favor of independ- ence swept the country. The Colonists, everywhere, had been signing the "Association Tests" and sending them to their delegates assembled in Congress. The radicals there grew bolder and stronger. Virginia stood shoulder to shoulder with Massachusetts. On the 5th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, offered his famous Resolu- tion, declaring the Colonies "free and independent States." We give the text of this Resolution: "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connection, between them and Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis- solved." This Resolution he enforced by one of the most brilliant and powerful displays of refined and forcible elo- quence ever exhibited in this country.
At this time the committee was appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. Lee was unfortunately in Vir- ginia, being called thither by the sudden illness of some member of his family, and thus he was deprived of the honor of being placed at the head of that Committee, but he re- turned in time to sign that glorious State Paper. In all his labors for Independence he was ably seconded by his elo- quent and gifted fellow delegate, Patrick Henry. For three weeks the Resolution of Lee was debated and by July the fight was ended and the great victory won. As one has said: "the signing of the Declaration of Independence was, to Adams, the crowning triumph of his entire career. All that had gone before was but preparatory to it. the years that followed while he served in Congress, and at the close of the War when he returned to Massachusetts and to his own place in town and State could add nothing to it." In 1788 Adams and Hancock were delegates to the State Con- vention for the ratification of the Federal Constitution. Adams considered that document as centralizing too much power in the Federal Government, holding the same view as did Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. Adams was always "the man of the people," the great apostle of democracy. He did not believe power should be separated from the people.
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Knowing his strong views on this point many feared his hostility to the proposed Constitution. Without his influence it could not be ratified. The endorsement of Hancock was easily obtained. Adams would not ac- quiesce until he knew the will of the people. If they de- manded the Constitution their will was law to him. At the "Green Dragon Tavern" on Union Street, a meeting of Boston mechanics was held. Here Resolutions were passed favoring the adoption of the Constitution, and a Committee appointed to carry them to Adams. The in- cident is thus described by Daniel Webster. "Samuel Adams received the Resolutions from the hands of Paul Revere. "How many mechanics," said Mr. Adams "were at the Green Dragon Tavern when the Resolutions were passed?" "More, sir, than the Green Dragon could hold." "And where were the rest, Mr. Revere?" "In the streets, sir." "And how many were in the streets?" "More, sir, than there are stars in the sky." This satisfied the old patriot and he cast his vote for ratification. In 1789, Adams was elected Lieut. Governor of Massachusetts, John Hancock, being elected Governor. They were the first in their respective positions under the Federal Con- stitution. These two old veterans served in this capacity until 1793. when Hancock died and Adams was then elected governor. The old companions of Adams of pre- revolutionary days, Otis, Cushing, Molineux, Quincy and Warren had all passed away and the death of Hancock seemed to have left him alone. He was 72 years of age when he assumed the Governor's chair. The Federals opposed him, but he was successfully re-elected and finally retired in 1797 and lived quietly with his family on Winter Street, where he was often seen walking about his garden or seated on his roomy piazza. The end came peacefully on the 2d of October, 1803, at the age of 81. A memorial tablet marks the site of Samuel Adams' home on Winter Street.
In 1898 a rugged boulder of Roxbury Pudding Stone was placed over his grave in the Granary Burying Ground. A bronze tablet on it bears this inscription :
"Here lies buried Samuel Adams, a signer
of the Declaration of Independence, Governor
of the Commonwealth, a leader of men and an ardent patriot."
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"Samuel Adams was not an eloquent orator, although a forceful and convincing speaker, but he, above all his con- temporaries, glorified with his incorruptible poverty, the Revolution which he was the first to excite and the last to abandon. He devoted his life to the diffusion and strengthening of opinions in favor of a pure democracy as the only means of securing permanency to the institution which he loved. He was the grand embodiment of the spirit of the New England Town Meeting."
Paul Revere The Mercury of the American Revolution
This earnest and energetic patriot was born in Boston, January 8, 1735, and came of a very honorable Huguenot family. His father, Apollos Rivoire came to Boston from the
Paul Revere.
Island of Guernsey at the early age of thirteen and was ap- prenticed to John Coney to learn the goldsmith's trade. "After he had established himself as a gold and silversmith he married Deborah Hichborn, and the third child of this union was Paul Revere, craftsman, artist and patriot." He received a common school education, attending the famous "Old North Grammar School," which stood on North Ben-
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nett Street, and upon leaving school he entered his father's shop as an apprentice. When only 27 years old he had the reputation of being one of the most skilful gold and silver- smiths in the town of Boston, and as we shall see in the course of his business life, he branched out into other lines of work. "He possessed a natural taste for drawing and be- came very skilful in the use of the graver. Many are the cups, spoons, pitchers, tankards and other articles of beau- tiful patterns made by him, and still owned by New England families. Some are in everyday use, all are treasured relics." He taught himself the art of engraving on copper plates, and many specimens of his handiwork in this line are still in ex- istence. He had quite a sense of humor and many of his pic- tures were political caricatures, appropriate to the time in which he lived. He had an active, ardent temperament, and was not wholly satisfied with the quiet life of an engraver, and we find him when quite a young man entering military life and taking part in the Second Expedition against Crown Point, serving through the campaign as a lieutenant of ar- tillery. In 1755, in conjunction with Josiah Flagg, he pub- lished a collection of Psalm tunes, which were advertised in the Boston Gazette. Five years afterwards a similar book was issued called, "The New England Psalm Singer." The 90 pages of music were engraved by Paul Revere, as was also the curious frontispiece representing some men in full dress and powdered wigs, who were seated about a table singing. The advertisement addressed to the subscribers for this book is both quaint and interesting.
In 1765 he joined the "Sons of Liberty," being one of the first members of that famous order, and this may be said to be the beginning of his long patriotic career. This organization intimidated the Stamp Act distributors and successfully op- posed that act. Revere was also an active member of the "Long Room Club," which met in the building on the corner of Court Street and Franklin Avenue, where the elegant bank- ing building of the Old Colony Trust Company now stands. He was also a member of the "North End Caucus," which held its meetings in the Green Dragon Tavern, near the cor- ner of Hanover and Union Streets. When the Stamp Act was vexing the spirits of the good people of Boston, Revere represented it in an allegorical print, which immediately be- came very popular. He described it as follows: "The odious
Paul Revere
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Stamp Act represented by the Dragon, confronted by Boston with drawn sword. The Colonies, New York and Rhode Is- land, support Hampden, New Hampshire and Virginia with the other United Colonies are also represented, while from the 'Liberty Tree' hangs the Officer of the Crown." " Ac- companying the picture are eleven lines of heroic measure of those days, which were written by Revere, showing him a poet as well as an artist.
The most famous of all his engravings was the one repre-
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Y! Revere House, North St .. BOSTON, MASS.
Exterior Paul Revere's Home, North Street.
senting "The Bloody Massacre, perpetrated in King (State) Street, on March 5, 1770 by a party of the 29th Regiment." This picture was reproduced in London several times, and it became a very popular picture in this country. When the first anniversary of the Boston Massacre was observed, he was living in a house on North Square, then one of the best locations in the town.
From the upper windows of his house he displayed a unique series of transparencies. One represented the death of Christopher Snyder, a second showed the Massacre, and the third was an allegorical painting of America triumphant. In addition to his goldsmith's trade, which was flour- ishing, he took up the practice of dentistry. The Ga- zette for September 19, 1768, contained the announcement that persons so unfortunate as to lose their teeth, may have
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them replaced with artificial ones by Paul Revere, who learned the method of fixing them from Mr. Baker." Two years later he again advertises that "he still continues the business of a dentist and flatters himself that from the experience he has had these two ycars, that he can fix them as well as any surgcon dentist whocver came from London." After the battle of Bunker Hill, when General Warren's body was ex- humed from its unmarked grave, Paul Reverc was able to identify it by the wire which he had used to fasten an artificial tooth.
Kitchen Paul Revere's Home, North Street.
Revere, who was a good horseman, hardy and fearless, be- came the confidential mesenger of the patriots, and traveled thousands of miles on horseback, during those troublous times, when railroads and steamboats were unknown. "Although he had a large family to support, he was so constituted as to find sufficient leisure to interest himself in all the matters pertaining to the public good, watching closely the course of political events in the pre-revolutionary days. With well con- sidered settled opinions, his will was strong ; while his general gifts rendered him competent in great emergencies and equal to great events. The result was, that in a crisis like that of rousing the people to conflict, on the eve of the first struggle for our independence, he was the wise counsellor at home, and the daring actor in the field."
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"On the 18th of April, 1775, was the most important single exploit in our Nation's Annals." Longfellow's account of it is known throughout the length and breadth of the land. We quote Revere's own account of the affair.
"In the fall of 1774, and winter of 1775, I was one, of up- wards of 30, mostly mechanics, who formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of watching the movements of British soldiers, and gaining every intelligence of the move- ments of the tories.
"In the winter toward the spring we frequently took turns, two by two, to watch the soldiers by patrolling the streets at night. The Saturday night preceding the 19th of April. about twelve o'clock at night, the boats belonging to the transports were all launched and towed under the sterns of the men-of-war. We likewise found that the grenadiers and light infantry were all taken off duty. From these move- ments we expected something serious was to be transacted.
"I agreed with Colonel Conant, and some other gentlemen, that if the British went out by water, we should show two lan- terns on the North Church steeple, and if land, one as a sig- nal, for we were apprehensive it would be difficult to cross Charles River, or get over Boston Neck. 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 the 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 was rising. They landed me on the Charlestown side. * * I set off upon a very good horse. It was about eleven o'clock, and very pleasant. After I had passed Charlestown Neck, and got exactly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on horse- back under a tree. When I got near them I discovered that they were British officers. One tried to get ahead of me and the other to take me. I turned my horse very quick and galloped towards Charlestown Neck, and then pushed for the Medford road.
"The one who chased me endeavoring to cut me off got into a clay pond near where the new tavern is now built. I got clear of him and went through Medford over the bridge and up to Menotomy (Arlington). In Medford I waked up the Captain of the Minute Men, and after that I alarmed al- most every house till I got to Lexington. At Lexington I
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gave the alarm to John Hancock and Samuel Adams at the Clark House and then pushed on towards Concord. On the way I met some British officers and in an instant was sur- rounded by four. They had placed themselves in a straight road, that inclined each way; they had taken down a pair of bars on the north side of the road, and two of them were under a tree in the pasture. I descried a wood at a small dis- tance and made for that. When I got there, out started six officers on horseback and ordered me to dismount, and thus the Midnight Ride came to an end."
After a prolonged questioning, he was put with four other prisoners and marched back towards Lexington. "When within sight of the Town Meeting House, the noise of mus- ketry was heard, and the Sergeants in charge of Revere, cut- ting the saddle and bridle from the horse, let him go. Revere made his way to the Clark House, notified the occupants of what had happened and accompanied Hancock and Adams for a way in their retreat across the fields. Returning then for a trunk of papers, he witnessed the conflict on the Village Green. While he failed to reach Concord as he intended, yet the warning he gave them the Sunday previous enabled the patriots there to remove some of their valuable stores, so that the British march was rendered useless."
The next day Revere was engaged by Dr. Warren, Presi- dent of the Committee of Safety, as a messenger to do the out door business for that Committee, and so began a new series of services for the American Cause. A bill is still preserved of the charges "for riding from April 21, 1775 to May 7-17 days. He had made his earlier journeys, even the long ride to Philadelphia, without hope of reward, but Revere had a family to support, whom patriotism alone could not feel. The promptness with which his bills were audited and paid is. proof of the value placed upon his services by the Commit- tee."
An amusing tradition connected with the famous ride to Lexington is preserved by the Revere family. "While the party was on the way to the boat, that was to take them across the river to Charlestown, it was remembered that nothing had been provided to muffle the sound of the oars against the thole pins. A halt was made before a house near by, and a cautiouc signal brought an answer from a darkened window above. Their need was made known and the next moment a woolen petticoat exchanged its natural office for a place in history."
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After his famous ride to Lexington, he did not return to Boston, but made his home for awhile in Charlestown until the Evacuation of Boston a few months later. He brought his wife and family over, leaving his goldsmith's shop in charge of a friend. In May, 1775, a Convention of the Pro- vincial Congress made a contract with Revere to print notes (paper money) amounting to £100,000. "So great was the demand that June 5th he was urged "to attend to the business of stamping the notes for the soldiers all the ensuing night, if he can, and to finish them with the greatest care and dis- patch." Other contracts were likewise awarded him by the Provincial Government and the Continental Congress. Powder was a scarce article in the early days of the war. In November. 1775, the only mill in operation was in Philadel- phia, the property of Oswell Eve.
This month Revere was to start for Philadelphia with mes- sages for the Continental Congress and "he was urged to make an investigation and report on the best and most expe- ditious methods of erecting powder works and manufacturing powder in this country. He had a letter of introduction to Mr. Eve, requesting him to give Mr. Revere such information as would enable him to construct the business on his return home." But monopolists were as greedy in 1775 as in 1916, and Mr. Eve did not believe in giving information to one who might prove to be a powerful competitor. "He allowed Mr. Revere to walk through the establishment, and that, to Revere, with his acute observation, knowledge of chemistry and mechanics, was quite enough. He had a full idea of the process when he left, and Mr. Eve's monopoly was ended." In two months the old powder mill at Canton was rebuilt and was soon in active operation.
When the British were compelled to evacuate Boston, they endeavored in various ways to render the cannon which they left behind useless. This they did by breaking off tranions and in other ways disabling them. "At the personal request of General Washington, Revere repaired the damage done, and invented a new type of gun carriage for them." Mean- while Revere was serving in the army. In March, 1776, he was made a Major in the Masachusetts Infantry, and was transferred to the Artillery, and made Lieutenant Colonel, and stationed at Castle Island, and September 1, 1778, he had a regular command there. He had a busy life in the army,
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was president of a number of Court Martials, had command of the troops that escorted Stark's prisoners. He took an active part in the unfortunate Penobscot Expedition, and an attempt was made to hold him responsible for its failure. He demanded a regular court martial, which was ordered. He received a full acquittal.
The war was now over and his services were no longer needed and he engaged in many enterprises. He established a foundry for the manufacture of cannon, iron ware and church bells. This was in 1792. The first church bells cast by him were for the Second Church in Boston and these are still in existence. One of his bells at St. Paul's Church, New- buryport, has been in continuous service until within a few years and is now preserved as a relic.
At the death of General Washington he was made one of a committee of three Past Grand Masters of Masonry to write a letter of condolence to Mrs. Washington and to solicit from her a lock of the hero's hair. This request was granted and Revere executed a golden urn about four inches in height for the reception of the relic. He was one of the pall bearers at the observance of Washington's funeral by the Masons of Boston and prepared the insignia, a large white marble urn on a pedestal covered with a pall and having suitable em- blems.
At his works in Canton were made the plates five feet long, three feet wide and one quarter of an inch thick for the boilers of Robert Fulton's Steam Engine. He perfected a process for preparing copper for use in bolts and spikes, etc., for naval purposes. He furnished the sheathings and fittings for the U. S. Frigate "Constitution" (Old Ironsides) and for many other gallant vessels. His business was remunera- tive. His foundry was the only one in the country which could turn out sheet copper.
"The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association was founded largely through his instrumentality in 1795 and he was its first President, and remained in that position four years. In 1794-1800 he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Massachusetts and in 1795 assisted in laying the corner stone of the State House in Boston. It has justly been said of him "that during the Revolution he held
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the sword in one hand and the implement of mechanical trade in the other, and both of them subservient to the great Cause of American liberty." That little group of patriots who led the people of Boston, and, to a large extent, of all the Colonies in the struggle for independence, were wonderful men. Their
Henry W. Longfellow.
energy, wisdom and fertility of resource were most remark- able and Paul Revere, by his courage, his patriotism, and his versatility stands out most prominent.
Revere died May 10, 1818, at the age of 83 years. He was buried in the Granary Burial Ground and near the grave of
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Peter Faneuil, a fellow Huguenot. His last years were pros- perous and he enjoyed in large measure the love and esteem of his fellow countrymen.
"So through the night rode Paul Revere And so through the night went his cry of alarm, To every Middlesex village and farm. A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! 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 that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere!"
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was one of the most illustrious men of America : a philosopher, a scientist, a diplomat, a vigor- ous writer, and a patriot who loved his country supremely. The historian, Bancroft, says of him: "Not half of his mer- its have been told. He was the true father of the American Union. It was he who went forth to lay the foundation of that great design at Albany, and in New York he lifted up his voice. It was Franklin who suggested the Congress of 1774, and but for his wisdom, and the confidence that wis- dom inspired, it is a matter of doubt, whether the Congress would have taken effect. It was Franklin who suggested the bond of the Union, which binds the States from Florida to Maine. He was the greatest diplomat of the Eighteenth century. He never spoke a word too soon, he never spoke a word too much, he never failed to speak the right word at the right season."
He was born in Boston, January 6, 1706, Old Style on Milk Street, opposite the Old South Church, where he was baptized, and worshipped while a resident of Boston. His father, who emigrated from England in 1685, was a tallow chandler, and Benjamin was the fifteenth of seventeen chil- dren and named for his uncle who came to this country in 1705.
"The main house resembled in form many of the tene- ments of the olden time. Its front upon the street was rude- ly clapboarded, and the sides and rear were protected from the inclemencies of a New England climate by large rough shingles. On the street it measured about twenty feet ; and on the sides, (the westerly of which was bounded by the passageway and contained the door way, approached by two steps,) the extreme length of the building, including a wooden leanto used as a kitchen, was about thirty feet. In height the house was three stories, the upper being an attic. which presented a pointed gable toward the street. In front, the second story and attic projected somewhat into the street over the principal story on the ground floor.
On the lower floor of the main house, there was one room
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only. This, which probably served the Franklins as a par- lor and sitting room, and also for the family eating room, was about twenty feet square, and had two windows upon
Birthplace of Franklin. No. 17 Franklin Street
the street ; and it had, also, one upon the passage way, so near the corner as to give the inmates a good view of Wash- ington Street. In the centre of the southerly side of the room was one of those noted large fireplaces, situated in a most capacious chimney, which are so well remem-
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bered as among the comforts of old houses; on the left side of this was a spacious closet, and on the right, was the door, communicating with a small entry, in which were the stairs to the rooms above and to the cellar, the latter of which was accessible to the street through one of the old fashioned cellar doors, situated partly in the sidewalk.
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