Paul Revere: Presented by John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company

16 pp. Paul Revere, (born about January 1, 1735, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.] - died May 10, 1818, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.), folk hero of the American Revolution whose dramatic horseback ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Boston-area residents that the British were coming, was immortalized in a ballad by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His father, Apollos Rivoire (later changed to Revere), was a Huguenot refugee who had come to Boston as a child and had been apprenticed to a silversmith. This craft he taught his son Paul Revere, who became one of America's greatest artists in silver. As a boy Revere received sufficient education to enable him later to read the difficult metallurgical books of his period. Although it was in metal that Revere did most of his work, his energy and skill (and the necessity of supporting an ever-growing family) turned him in many directions. He not only made silver articles but also crafted surgical instruments, sold spectacles, replaced missing teeth, and engraved copper plates, the most famous of which portrayed his version of the Boston Massacre.--Britannica