Paul Revere's Ride (70 page)

Biographies of Thomas Gage

By comparison with the vast outpouring of scholarship on Paul Revere, remarkably little has been published on General Gage. The standard biography is John R. Alden,
General Gage in America
(Baton Rouge, 1948), now much in need of revision. A short study by a leading historian of the British army in the Revolution is John Shy, “Thomas Gage: Weak Link of Empire,” in George A. Billias (ed.),
George Washington’s Opponents: British
Generals and Admirals in the American Revolution
(New York, 1969), 3—38. An important study of Gage’s career is Frederick Bernays Wiener,
Civilians Under Military Justice; The British Practice since 1689, Especially in British North America
(Chicago, 1967). The author was a Washington lawyer with much practical experience in related fields.

Biographies (Alphabetical by Subject)

Some of these works belong more to the realm of memory than history. They are filiopietistic in tone and substance, and enter exaggerated claims for the acts of ancestors. But they also contain many memoirs, family stories, and personal documents. When used with care and caution they greatly enrich our knowledge of the event.

On Samuel Adams: Ralph Volney Harlow,
Samuel Adams, Promoter of the American Revolution: A Study of Psychology and Politics
(New York, 1923), is occasionally useful, despite its Freudian bias; John C. Miller,
Sam Adams, Pioneer in Propaganda
(Boston, 1936), is still the standard work, stressing his Puritan roots. Clifford Shipton, “Samuel Adams,”
Sibley’s Harvard Graduates,
is a serious work of scholarship, but colored by a strong Tory bias.

Other biographical material on April 19 appears in: Robert L. Volz,
Governor Bowdoin and His Family
(Brunswick, Me., 1969); George Tolman,
John Jack, the Slave, and Daniel Bliss, the Tory
(Concord, Mass., 1902); G. W. Brown, “Sketch of the Life of Solomon Brown,” Proceedings, LHS II (1890): 124; Charles F. Carter, “The Rev. Jonas Clarke, Minister and Patriot,”
Lexington Historical Society Proceedings
IV (1905—10): 82—90. Jules David Prown,
John Singleton Copley.
2 vols. (Cambridge, 1966); Henry W. Holland,
William Dawes and His Ride with Paul Revere
(Boston, 1878); Cyrus Hamlin,
My Grandfather, Colonel Francis Faulkner
(Boston, 1887); George Billias,
Elbridge Gerry
(New York, 1976); idem,
General John Glover and His Marblehead Mariners
(New York, 1960); Hall Gleason, “Captain Isaac Hall,”
Medford Historical Register
8 (1905): 100—103.

On John Hancock: A large but thin literature includes: James Truslow Adams, “Portrait of an Empty Barrel,”
Harper’s Magazine
161 (1930): 425—34; Oliver M. Dickinson, “John Hancock, Notorious Smuggler or Near Victim of British Revenue Racketeers?”
MVHR
32 (1945-46): 517-40; Herbert Allen,
John Hancock: Patriot in Purple
(New York, 1948).

Also, Josephine Hosmer, “Memoir of Joseph Hosmer,”
The Centennial of the Concord Social Circle
(Cambridge, Mass., 1882), 116-17; and the larger ms., “Memoir of Joseph Hosmer,” Concord Antiquarian Society Papers, CFPL; Bernard Bailyn,
The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson
(Cambridge, Mass., 1974); Joseph Grafton Minot,
A Genealogical Record of the Minot Family in America and England
(Boston, 1897); Robert Newman Sheets,
Robert Newman; His Life and Letters in Celebration of the Bicentennial of His Showing of Two Lanterns in Christ Church, Boston, April 18,
1775 (Denver: Newman Family Society, 1975); Andrew Oliver, comp.,
Faces of a Family
(Boston: privately printed, 1960).

Much has been written on James Otis: William Tudor,
Life of James Otis
(Boston, 1823), is still the best biography, despite its age; Alice Vering, “James Otis,” is a dissertation at the University of Nebraska, 1954; Ellen Brennan, “James Otis, Recreant and Patriot,”
NEQ
XII (1939): 691-725, centers on his early writings; John J. Waters, Jr.,
The Otis Family In Provincial and Revolutionary Massachusetts
(1968; New York, 1975), is an excellent social history of the family.

Other biographical materials include Elizabeth S. Parker, “Captain John Parker,” LHS
Proceedings
1 (1866-89): 43; Theodore Parker, letter of Feb. 16, 1858, published in Lexington
Townsman,
April 21, 1932, copy in LHS; Denison Rogers Slade, “Henry Pelham, the Half-Brother of John Singleton Copley,”
Transactions of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts
5 (1897-98): 193-211; Usher Parson,
The Life of Sir William Pepperrell, Bart.
(Boston, 1855); Henry Winchester Cunningham,
Christian Remick: An Early Boston Artist
(Boston, 1904).

On Joseph Warren: There are many studies, and still a need for a comprehensive modern biography; still useful are: Alexander Everett,
Joseph Warren,
in Jared Sparks (ed.),
Library of American Biography (Boston, 1838), 1st series, X, 91—183; A Bostonian [Samuel Adams Wells],
Biographical Sketch of General Joseph Warren
(Boston 1857); Richard Frothingham, Jr.,
The Life and Times of Joseph Warren
(Boston, 1866); John Cary,
Joseph Warren, Physician, Politician, Patriot
(Urbana, 1961).

Local Histories: Boston

General works include: Justin Winsor (ed.),
The Memorial History of Boston.
4 vols. (Boston, 1880—81); Gerald B. Warden,
Boston, 1689—1776
(Boston, 1970); Annie Haven Thwing,
The Crooked and Narrow Streets of the Town of Boston, 1630-1822
(Boston, 1920); Samuel Adams Drake,
Old Landmarks and Historical Personages of Boston
(1872; rev. ed., Boston, 1906; rpt. 1971, 1986).

On topography and terrain: Samuel Barber,
Boston Common: A Diary of Notable Events, Incidents and Neighboring Occurrences
(Boston, 1916); Walter M. Whitehill,
Boston: A Topographical History
(Cambridge, 1959; 2nd ed., 1968, 1975);
idem,
“Paul Revere’s Boston, 1775—1818,”
Harvard Magazine
77 (1975): 28—36; Wendy A. Cooper, “Paul Revere’s Boston,”
Antiques
108 (July 1975): 80-93.

On demographic history: John B. Blake,
Public Health in the Town of Boston, 1630—1822
(Cambridge, 1959).

On social and economic structure: Boston Board of Assessors. “Assessors ‘Taking Books’ of the Town of Boston, 1780.”
The Bostonian Society Publications
9 (1912): 9—59; James Henretta, “Economic Development and Social Structure in Colonial Boston,”
William and Mary Quarterly
22 (1965): 75-92.

On politics and the Boston town meeting:
A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, Containing the Boston Town Records,1770—1777
(Boston, 1887).

On the military occupation: Oliver M. Dickerson,
Boston Under Military Rule, IJ68— 1769
(1936; rpt. Westport, Conn., 1971), is a compendium of materials culled mostly from newspapers.

On neighborhoods: William Sumner,
The History of East Boston
(Boston, 1858), has primary material on April 19, 1775; Carol Ely, “North Square: A Boston Neighborhood in the Revolutionary Era,” unpublished paper, Brandeis University, 1983, PRMA, applies the methods of New England town histories to the study of Paul Revere’s urban neighborhood.

On patterns of association: Allan Forbes,
Taverns and Stagecoaches of New England.
2 vols. (Boston, 1954), 18-27; Walter K. Watkins,
Old Boston Taverns and Tavern Clubs
(Boston, 1917); and Samuel Adams Drake,
Historic Fields and Mansions of Middlesex
(Boston, 1873), with a quantitative appendix drawn from 18th-century tax lists.

Massachusetts Town Histories and Town Records

Secondary works of this genre must be approached with caution; the same local pride that inspired them often colored the substantive result. But they include much primary material that is no longer available. Specially valuable for primary materials on the events of April 19 are the works listed below by Josiah Adams on Acton; Ripley, Shattuck, and Wheeler on Concord; Charles Hudson and Elias Phinney on Lexington, Alfred Hudson on Sudbury, Wayland, and Marlborough, and Smith and Cutler for Arlington.

Many town histories published in the late 19th century also included genealogical appendices which are useful for the identification of participants. The genealogical data are also useful checks for the accuracy of historical materials. Some of the more helpful works used in this inquiry are:

Acton: Josiah Adams,
Acton Centennial Address
(Boston, 1835);
idem, Letter to Lemuel Shattuck, Esq.
(Boston, 1850); Harold R. Phalen,
History of Acton
(1954).

Andover: Sarah L. Bailey,
Historical Sketches of Andover, Massachusetts
(Boston, 1880).

Arlington, formerly called West Cambridge and Menotomy: Benjamin & William Cutler,
The History of the Town of Arlington
(Boston, 1880); Samuel A. Smith,
West Cambridge on the Nineteenth of April, 1775
(Boston, 1864).

Attleborough: John Daggett,
A Sketch of the History of Attleborough
(Boston, 1894).

Bedford: Abram English Brown,
The History of the Town of Bedford
(Bedford, 1891).

Beverly: Charles F. Smith,
Proceedings of the Beverly Historical Society of Massachusetts on the Occasion of the Presentation of a Tablet Commemorating the Minute-Men of Beverly,
1st Ser., no. 1 (New York, 1896); E. M. Stone,
The History of Beverly
(Boston, 1843); Thomas A. and Jean M. Askew,
Beverly, Massachusetts, and the American Revolution
(Beverly, 1525).

Billerica: John Farmer,
Historical Memoir of Billerica
(n.p., n.d.); Henry A. Hagen,
History of Billerica
(Boston, 1883).

Braintree: Samuel A. Bates (ed.),
Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640-1793
(Randolph, Mass., 1886). Charles F. Adams,
History of Braintree, the North Precinct of Braintree, and the Town of Quincy
(1891).