Patriot; born in
Boston, Mass., Jan. 1, 1735.
Was descended from the Huguenots, and was educated in his father's trade of goldsmith.
In the
French and Indian War he was at
Fort Edward, on the upper
Hudson, as a lieutenant of artillery, and on his return he established himself as a goldsmith, and, without instruction, became 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 thither 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 defence 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 Statehouse in
Boston.
He died in
Boston, Mass., May 10, 1818.
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