REVERE, PAUL (1735-1818), American engraver and patriot, was born in Boston, Mass., on Jan. 1, 1735. He had a meagre schooling, and in his father's shop learned the trade of a gold- and silversmith. In 1756 he was 2nd lieutenant of artillery in the expedition against Crown Point, and for several months was stationed at Ft. Edward, in New York. He became a pro ficient copper engraver, and engraved several anti-British carica tures in the years before the American revolution. He was one of the Boston grand jurors who refused to serve in 1774 because parliament had made the justices independent of the people for their salaries; was a leader in the Boston Tea Party; was one of the 3o north end mechanics who patrolled the streets to watch the movements of the British troops and Tories; and in Dec. was sent to Portsmouth, N.H., to urge the seizure of military stores there, and induced the colonists to attack and capture Ft. William and Mary—one of the first acts of military force in the war. His midnight ride from Charlestown to Lexington on April 18-19, 1775, to give warning of the approach of British troops from Boston, is Reveres most famous exploit; it is commemo rated by Longfellow, who, however, has "paid little attention to exactness of fact" (Justin Winsor). In 1775 Revere was sent by
the Massachusetts provincial congress to Philadelphia to study the working of the only powder mill in the colonies, and although he was allowed only to pass through the building, obtained sufficient information to enable him to set up a powder mill at Canton. He was commissioned a major of infantry in the Massachusetts mili tia in April 1776; was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of artillery in November ; was stationed at Castle William, defend ing Boston harbour, and finally received command of this fort.
He served in an expedition to Rhode Island in 1778, and in the following year participated in the unsuccessful Penobscot expedi tion. After his return he was accused of having disobeyed the orders of the commanding officer, was tried by court martial, and was acquitted. After the war he engaged in the manufacture of gold- and silverware, and became a pioneer in the production in America of copper-plating and copper spikes for ships. In 1795, as grand master of the Masonic fraternity, he laid the cornerstone of the new State House in Boston. He died in Boston on May 1o, 1818.
See Charles F. Gettemy, The True Story of Paul Revere (Boston, 1905).