The Man Behind The Misquote: Paul Revere

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome to Founded, an airwave media podcast where we find the stories you missed in history class cuz the tea is hot before they dumped it into the harbor. I'm Tori Phantom and joining me today is someone who probably couldn't name every movie, TV show, and play Nicola Cochland has ever been in, but my sister-in-law can. Gwenna Leeland, I got Bridgetgerton. That's the whole that's as far as I got. So that is an accurate description of Gwenda Linkland, the co-host of Founded, available everywhere you find your favorite podcasts.

[00:00:31]>> Yeah, I know a whole lot about Nicola Coughlin because my sister-in-law is her biggest fan.

[00:00:37]>> Yeah, >> Nicola Coughlin is an amazing human being. Absolutely astounding beauty, talent, kindness. Love her. Not as much as your sister-in-law, though.

[00:00:48]>> No, not as much.

[00:00:58]Do we get a pop quiz or things that are not Bridgetgerton? That's actually not far from the age we're talking about actually.

[00:01:04]>> Yeah, I hear king G3 is in there. But >> King G3 is in that one. Yeah, the the older one. The the post I lost America.

[00:01:12]King G3 is in that one.

[00:01:14]>> Yeah.

[00:01:16]Are you ready for your pop quiz?

[00:01:18]>> Yeah.

[00:01:19]>> Okay. So, this one is kind of a broad question.

[00:01:23]>> How many prominent patriots from the town of Boston can you name?

[00:01:29]>> Samuel Adams.

[00:01:31]>> Mhm.

[00:01:31]>> John Hancock. Abigail Adams husband John Adams.

[00:01:35]>> Yes.

[00:01:36]>> Uh Paul River.

[00:01:39]>> Mhm.

[00:01:39]>> The Angry Scotsman.

[00:01:41]>> Yeah.

[00:01:42]>> Ebenezer Macintosh.

[00:01:45]>> Macintosh.

[00:01:46]Um, there's a few others, but I'm I'm not going to dead air while I try to guess so I can get the question right.

[00:01:55]>> No, you did great. I didn't have like a certain requirement. The other two that we've talked about that you didn't mention was Lightning Boy James Otis Jr.

[00:02:02]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:02:03]>> and our newest friend, Joseph Warren, that we discussed >> cuz we're basically >> Yes. Yes.

[00:02:12]>> We're basically just like uh building out the friend group. Okay. No, no. I What's the group chat though? Like, >> are they in a group chat yet?

[00:02:21]>> I feel like they should have had a group chat. Okay, email us [email protected] or drop a comment. Let us know what you think their group chat would be named.

[00:02:29]>> The Boston Revolutionaries founding fathers extravaganza. That would not fit in the character limits. But yeah, let let us know what the what the Bostononian revolutionaries group chat name would be. Yeah. You just know that Samuel Adams would have the most fire memes.

[00:02:47]>> No. Lightning boy. Lightning boy is the funny one and you know it.

[00:02:51]>> Absolutely.

[00:02:52]>> Samuel Samuel's got jokes. Samuel's got RZ. Samuel's got a lot of RZ.

[00:02:58]>> But James is the one with the with the memes.

[00:03:01]>> Yeah. And John Hancock is the one who only like pops into the chat every now and then. John Adams is always checking in. How you guys doing? Everything okay?

[00:03:10]100%.

[00:03:12]>> How you feeling? Are you taking care of your mental health?

[00:03:16]My wife made cookies. Would you like some? I'll bring some to you right now.

[00:03:22]>> Oh man, I'm going to have to think even more about this. But okay, next question.

[00:03:28]No, wait. If you would like more of this where we just derail ourselves entirely and don't talk about anything on one single subject, be sure to check out Childproof. Available everywhere you find your favorite podcast because it's just this. Okay, the next question. I'm ready.

[00:03:42]>> Okay. Who said Paul Rivere on his Midnight Ride?

[00:03:47]>> I thought Paul Rivervier said Paul River on Paul's Midnight Ride.

[00:03:52]>> No, his bestie went Oh, boats and then just horsed it.

[00:03:57]Just horsed it. I like that. Uh, it was his bestie, Joseph Warren. Oh, I feel like we did cover that and my brain was still like, "No, you know history better than the person who's done a lot more historical research than you." Paul Rivere sent himself. No one told him to go because that's what he thought before this podcast.

[00:04:16]>> He just was like sitting in his house just like watching out the window for a while and he was like, >> "Listen, it was the 18th century. They didn't have anything better to do, >> I'm sure."

[00:04:29]>> And uh what else was Paul Rivier? are notable for >> Oh, not saying the British are coming.

[00:04:35]He said the regulars are coming.

[00:04:37]>> I know that now because >> coming out.

[00:04:41]>> Well, that's uh that's actually what we're going to do today is we're finding out way more about Paul River because it turns out he didn't exist in a vacuum where like he just kind of >> did one ride and then just blinked out of existence.

[00:04:54]>> Yeah. Like it was just like a character drop. Like someone created the Sims, sent him on his midnight ride, and then deleted the character. He he had a whole life.

[00:05:03]>> Can I tell you, I'm actually very excited for this one because this is one of the characters that for whatever reason, children's book authors love an extraordinary amount for what seemed to me what seemed to me as a child. A fairly small and almost inconsequential thing that happened. It was important right at that moment. Lots of people needed to know that. But then so many more things happened after that. I I have always been fascinated how every children's book and middle-grade writer just like loves Paul Rivere and his Midnight Ride when it felt so unimportant to the grand scheme of the story.

[00:05:44]>> Yeah. Well, and I mean he wasn't even the only one sent out on the Midnight Ride, >> right? Like and I knew that.

[00:05:50]>> Yeah.

[00:05:50]>> But one guy was not going to be able to tell everybody in the 18th century. Now we just text.

[00:05:58]>> Yeah. Well, and he wasn't even meant to tell everybody. He was just going to tell Hancock and Samuel Adams. But we're not even gonna get to his midnight guy today. We're not there.

[00:06:07]>> We're stuck in 1766. At least we left 1765. We're stuck back there. We're years from not yelling the British are coming.

[00:06:17]>> Exactly. But as you know, last week we discussed Paul, who never said the British are coming, River's best friend, Joseph Warren. So today we are discussing Joseph Warren's best friend, Paul.

[00:06:29]Now, the story of Paul River's Midnight Ride that is so frequently told incorrectly minimizes his role in the revolution. Because while he was one of the messengers on the midnight ride, he was also a messenger for many other important moments like bringing the news of the Boston Tea Party to other colonies like New York and Pennsylvania.

[00:06:48]And he also delivered the suffic resolves written by Joseph Warren to the Continental Congress.

[00:06:52]>> Lots of messengers. Did he just really love the horse? He was a sculptor. Was he a silver smith?

[00:06:58]>> Silver smith. That's where I was aiming.

[00:07:00]I was close. He was a silver smith and just like so much horse time.

[00:07:05]>> A lot of horse time. Yeah. And uh he was also a part of Joseph Warren's spy ring in Boston that was so effective that many patriots would know what the red coats had planned before the regular soldiers.

[00:07:18]>> Like the command would make a choice, the spies would know about it before they'd even managed to inform the troops. Is that what she just said?

[00:07:26]100%. Hey, we're going to cross the river. No, we're not. They already know.

[00:07:31]>> Yeah. Basically, General Thomas Gage literally ended up writing at one point that he would make an order in the morning and everyone in Boston would know it by the afternoon.

[00:07:45]Listen, I love the the stock from which this country was born. We're just petty and nosy. Like it makes so much make sense about we're just petty and nosy.

[00:08:00]>> Yeah. To this day, I think.

[00:08:05]But beyond all of that, one of Paul River's most famous pieces of work is one that most Americans have probably seen, the image of the Boston Massacre, which was engraved by Paul Rivera. like it was kind of plagiarized and it was definitely propaganda, but the image associated with the Boston Massacre is Paul River's work.

[00:08:29]And he was also an instrumental part of the Boston Tea Party. In fact, shortly after they dumped the tea into the harbor, a tavern song was written in ode to Joseph Warren and Paul Rivere. Quote, "Stand by. I have a question before before you tell us the lyrics.

[00:08:49]>> When is the Boston Tea Party? Like what year does that happen?

[00:08:53]>> 1773.

[00:08:55]>> We're so far away.

[00:08:59]>> But things move a little quicker after.

[00:09:01]>> You lie. I know you.

[00:09:02]>> Well, so tell me about the lyrics. So the the lyrics to this tavern song went quote, "Our warren there and bold revered with hands to do and words to cheer. For liberty and laws, our country's braves and firm defenders shall never be left by true northenders. Fight freedom's cause, then rally boys and hasten on to meet our chiefs at the green dragon."

[00:09:32]But I think it's supposed to be green drag on because then it rhymes, but it feels like a stretch. Okay. It's not like the best rhyming scheme, but >> it's a near rhyme. It's fine.

[00:09:41]>> It's a near rhyme. It's close enough.

[00:09:43]>> Okay. The Green Dragon. Was that Samuel's Club?

[00:09:46]>> Every club was Samuel's Club.

[00:09:48]>> Yes, I'm aware of that. But was that what his primary was at the Green Dragon?

[00:09:51]>> He spent a lot of time there. And we're actually going to talk a little bit about the Green Dragon today.

[00:09:56]>> Listen, look at me remembering useless ephemeral details. Did I remember who Joseph Warren was? No. Did I remember the dang bar? Yep.

[00:10:05]There's a lot of bars in Boston to be fair. There there still is. But to this day, there was a lot >> that remains true.

[00:10:14]>> But interesting thing is that Paul River is different than our other founding fathers because he was from a different rung on the social ladder. But to fully understand his story, we have to go back in time. I know it's your favorite, but we have to go all the way.

[00:10:30]>> What year was he born?

[00:10:32]>> Oh, we're we're going back further than that. Uh, we actually have to go back to Paul's father.

[00:10:36]>> Lori, randomly assigned middle name, Phantom.

[00:10:44]>> Any guesses on Paul's father's name?

[00:10:47]>> Paul.

[00:10:49]Apollos.

[00:10:51]>> Okay, first of all, that's a name. And I'm not mad. I'm not mad at that.

[00:10:59]Apollos. So Apollos was born in France before being sent to America alone at 13 years old. Now >> that was a wild that was a wild series of things to like.

[00:11:12]>> So the Brits didn't like the French. So how'd he end up in the British colonies?

[00:11:17]He was 13. And granted, we view adulthood, puberty, and childhood very differently here in the 21st century.

[00:11:24]So, yes. Is that a horrifying age to be popped on a boat and sent to apparently enemy territory? Yes. But was it as big a deal as we think it is here in modern lens? No. Not as bad.

[00:11:38]>> Yeah. Well, and the thing is is that yeah, France and England were always at war, but the reason he was sent makes it make more sense, right? Because he was sent to America for a chance of living free. Because much like the laws against Catholicism in England, Catholic France had laws against the Hugenats or Protestants. To the point that Apollo's parents had him secretly baptized because they were afraid of persecution.

[00:12:04]>> That was very common in Europe through much of the history.

[00:12:09]>> Yeah. Now, hey, Tori, Tori, Tori, Tori.

[00:12:13]So that that type of man would obviously probably raise his children with with deeply valuing the ability to worship uh whatever god and in whatever manner uh you felt most closely called to. And so like that kind of thing would probably lend itself to one of those we haven't done the is this in the bill of rights game in a long time but I found one.

[00:12:37]>> Yeah, that's right.

[00:12:40]First Amendment. But waiting for Apollos in America wasn't family or opportunity, but a contract for his indentured servitude.

[00:12:50]>> See, I knew you were going there. I like I You said France and 13. I was like, "Oh, that boy's tiptoeing slavery."

[00:12:58]>> Yes. We're going to have to do a founded find out about indentured servitude because it was rough. It was a very bad situation. But over the next 15 years, 15 years in indentured servitude, he learned the craft. He learned goldsmithing and also English. At nearly 20 years, >> near English.

[00:13:23]>> Yeah. And at nearly 20 years into his time as an indentured servant, the man who owned his indentured died, which meant that his wife could sell that contract, and she very well might. And if she did, that would mean an unknown additional number of years in servitude.

[00:13:43]So Apollos scraped the money together to buy his own contract, which gave him freedom.

[00:13:51]This is a horrendous and horrifying practice. Just please understand.

[00:13:55]>> Yeah.

[00:13:57]And around the same time that Apollos earned his freedom, he became Paul Rivere. And not like plot twist, he was the real Paul River all along, right?

[00:14:08]But >> he just he anglified his name.

[00:14:10]>> Yes. Exactly. Apollo's full name was Apollo Rivoir and he changed it to Paul Rivere because quote the bumpkins pronounce it easier.

[00:14:25]I love him. He's my favorite founding father's father so far.

[00:14:29]Right.

[00:14:32]But then new Paul got married to his old neighbor's daughter and his goldsmithing skills were so great that he was moving up in the world. So far up that Paul and his wife Deborah moved in next door to Colonel Hutchinson. Colonel Hutchinson being the father of Tommy Boy Hutchinson, of course. So Tommy Boy and Paul Rivere were next door neighbors growing up.

[00:15:00]Well, they were nextdoor neighbors, but generationally Tommy Boy Hutchinson was closer in age to Apollos.

[00:15:08]>> Oh, okay.

[00:15:09]>> Yeah. I don't know.

[00:15:10]>> That's why I tend to think I tend to think that that Tommy Boy Hutcherson is younger because as we speak about the founding fathers right now, a lot of them are in their early parts of their life. When we think of Abigail Adams husband, John Adams, we think of him as president, but this was a long time before president. So, like most of these men are in the younger parts of their lives. They're in their 20s, maybe 30s.

[00:15:35]I tend to forget that Tommy Boy was already in his 50s, 60s at the time that this is going down. He's older than they are.

[00:15:44]>> I just lump him in with, "Oh, no, they're all they're all doing dumb stuff. They must be in their 20s. People in their 20s are very intelligent, but I just did most of my dumb stuff in my 20s."

[00:15:55]>> Yeah. No. Uh that's uh I think an interesting thing to consider as well is the age differences. Yeah. Because Tommy Boy Hutchinson was closer in age to Samuel Adams, but he was still a senior, right? And Samuel Adams was like 40 in his 40s >> during the Stamp Act and stuff, whereas Samuel Adams was 12 years older than his cousin John Adams. So like you have this huge span of people from different experiences, different times, but both Colonel Hutchinson and Thomas Hutchinson ended up Paul's customers. Apollo's customers. I'm just going to call us that Apollos because yeah, he changed his name, but it's going to get confusing. So >> that's that's better. I like that better. We can just keep calling him Apollos.

[00:16:39]>> Yeah. But Apollos may have started as an immigrant indentured servant and still have been in the middle class, but he'd come a long way and he was doing pretty well for himself. That is until the Molasses Act of 1733, economic hardship hit the town and people couldn't afford the luxuries. So Apollos was now struggling. And the next year, 1734, our Paul Rivere was born.

[00:17:08]And then the econ >> well the economy was still in a downfall and everyone was short on cash. Not just like a recession but there was a shortage of actual legal tender circulating in the colonies >> because they hadn't taken it away yet.

[00:17:22]>> Yeah. And towards the end of the 1730s there was this idea that came about that started to change things for the better.

[00:17:30]The idea was a land bank wherein currency would be distributed that was secured by the mortgages of real estate owned by the issuer. The thing with the land bank though is they didn't have crown approval. But after appealing for support on numerous occasions, they decided to just do it anyway because no one could get their needs met. Right. It was wildly popular and successful with the middling sort.

[00:17:54]>> Tommy boy Hutcherson messed it all up.

[00:17:58]>> Yeah. Apollo's neighbor there uh messed it all up. I Tori, I cannot tell you. I recognize that you warned me. This is this is your moment of vindication. You warned me within the first couple episodes that we were going to have to talk about this thing about the land bank and it didn't make any sense to me and it still really doesn't. I don't care. But you warned me that this thing was going to be a problem. And can I tell you a year later nearly this thing is still being a problem.

[00:18:28]Yeah, I'm officially calling it.

[00:18:31]Revisionist history says if they hadn't messed up the land bank, we might still be Britain.

[00:18:37]>> I mean, it's possible. There's there's so many factors in it, but this was a big one.

[00:18:42]>> So many old guys were like, I'm bitter and angry. I have a chance to anger him.

[00:18:48]>> Yeah. Doing it.

[00:18:50]>> Yeah. No, the landbank is a big reason uh a big part of why there was a target on Thomas Hutchinson's back. uh like he was instrumental in the downfall of the land bank. He had actually just gotten his seat in the assembly a few years beforehand. So the downfall of the land bank led to further economic disparity in the river.

[00:19:12]>> We know the rest of the story. We've heard that part four times.

[00:19:15]>> Yeah. Well, the river family took such a hit from this economic downfall that they had to move. They were no longer Hutchinson's neighbor. They were closer to the water which was helpful for business but anyway >> and later writing but whatever that's years down the road >> because he was just looking out the window obby >> totally but then uh Paul Rivere went to school because of course he did it was required by Massachusetts law dating back to 1647 with the old Delooter Satan act that required schools in relation to town population and there is this other law on the books in Massachusetts that stated stated that no one should quote suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to endeavor to teach by themselves or others their children and apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue and knowledge of the capital laws. So basically this law said it would be barbaric to not educate your children and apprentices. Like this was so >> Yeah. And here's the thing. Those who were found suffering themselves barbaric enough to not educate their children, they faced a fine for every violation.

[00:20:27]So if you didn't teach them, you'd pay a fine. And if you were caught still not teaching them or finding a way to educate them, you'd face another fine.

[00:20:36]>> Okay.

[00:20:38]We we love we love an educated population. We do. We do. This actually this this helps a bunch. And again, it's just amusing. It's a wondering I wonder if that is part of the reason Boston became so active. Yes, it was full of angry men and land bank issues, but because so many of them had access to language, higher level critical thinking that comes with education, because so many of these men and in some cases women, though Pennsylvania was pretty educated, too. Um, I wonder if that is why Boston sort of became one of the primary and earliest seats of contention because of that level of education. You know, it's funny because I was reading a book right before we logged on to record this and it mentioned how Thomas Gage, General Thomas Gage, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in America at the time, had wrote a letter to the crown where he said, speaking of the people in New England, that everyone there studies the law and uses that knowledge to satisfy their own means. He was like, "Everyone here is a lawyer and they're only learning this to fight me." So, I'd say yeah, it's probably part of it. But Paul River school story is different than the other founders. At least the other founders we've discussed so far because those public schools in Massachusetts were not created equally. The other founders we've discussed all went to Latin schools. Latin schools were meant to be the launching pad to higher education for those that came from highclass families. Those from the lower classes in middling sort were taught just enough math and reading to begin their apprenticeships usually at young ages.

[00:22:18]So Paul River didn't go to Latin school.

[00:22:20]He went to a writing school. He went to Northriting School and then he began his apprenticeship with his dad around 12 or 13. About the same time Apollos was moving to the Americas.

[00:22:35]>> Yeah.

[00:22:36]And then at 15, Paul began ringing bells at North Church as a side job for extra cash. Sidebar, if it seems weird that he would get paid to ring a bell, I need you to know that these things rung all the time for all the reasons they're heavy. And this was hard physical labor.

[00:22:56]Bell ringers died a lot.

[00:22:59]>> I didn't know that part of it, but I'm not surprised. I mean, we're not talking insane amounts, but it's just for being something called a bell ringer, your risk of death was much higher than the name implied.

[00:23:11]>> Yeah. And so, here's the interesting thing is that Paul and his bell ringing buddies started a bell ringing guild and they signed a pact promising democracy basically to each other and their little organization. Like they they made it so that if anyone wanted to join, a majority vote would have to be taken before anyone was allowed in. So like from a very young age, Paul Rivere held the values that would lead him to revolutionary change.

[00:23:36]>> Probably because Apollos had to flee his own country as a literal child so he could worship God how he wanted to.

[00:23:44]>> Well, speaking of that, uh, as many of us do, Paul River went through a rebellious phase as a teenager. Uh, I'm I'm fascinated to know what Paul River rebelled with. The bell ringing club kid. Go ahead. I find the rebellious teen thing relatable, but like that's as far as it goes because we rebelled in wildly different ways. Okay?

[00:24:04]Because what Paul Rivere did was he started sneaking away from their family church to go listen to this radical, controversial preacher, Reverend Jonathan Mayhew.

[00:24:18]That's the one who gave the sermon that may or may not have instigated the Hutchson House hallelu.

[00:24:23]>> I was going to say the one of the riots.

[00:24:25]That guy started a riot one time.

[00:24:28]>> He sure did. He sure did. But more on him later.

[00:24:32]>> And that's Yeah. And so that is who Paul is rebelling by going to see the radical riot starting.

[00:24:42]>> Yeah. I mean, he hadn't started the riot yet at this point.

[00:24:44]>> Yes, I know that. But >> he was coming from nowhere. His ability to fire up an entire riot. The although that being said, they were in Boston and riots were a language between the people and the governors. Um they were used to it and it really didn't take much to get the Bostononians to riot. Again, historical precedent. We're talking about riots here leading up to the American Revolution. Boston had a pre-existing reputation the world over for lighting itself on fire when it was even mildly dissatisfied.

[00:25:16]>> Yeah. And that's just Boston. That's like one of the earliest one of the earliest tax revolts was in Ipsswitch, Massachusetts. Like >> it goes back and that was in like the 1640s. But >> yeah, >> burned the entire town down in like the 1730s over bread.

[00:25:33]>> Oh yeah. And uh Apollos, he was not a gentle parent. He was actually he was incredibly upset about Paul going to other services.

[00:25:44]But I mean like you know it culturally at the time like his son's soul was at risk in his father's opinion right like >> so anyway one thing led to another and Apollos did put hands on Paul Rivere >> that there was there was like a little fisty cuff situation which convinced Paul River to go back >> almost makes it feel better to call it fisty cuffs.

[00:26:06]>> Yeah almost >> still abuse but yeah go ahead.

[00:26:10]>> Absolutely.

[00:26:11]But this convinced Paul River to go back to his family church.

[00:26:16]>> Oh, did it? Did it now?

[00:26:18]>> Shockingly.

[00:26:21]But interestingly, Paul ended up befriending Reverend Mayhew and he continued to admire him.

[00:26:29]>> I am so shookth. A parent violently told a child not to do something and they went K and did it anyway.

[00:26:37]>> It's such a surprise. Some things never change.

[00:26:42]Universal truth, y'all.

[00:26:44]>> We're back to the parenting podcast.

[00:26:46]Okay, >> but the conflict didn't persist for too long between Apollos and Paul because Apollo's died in 1754.

[00:26:59]Great segue, Tori.

[00:27:01]Thank you.

[00:27:04]But from what I gather, it wasn't a hamster death, but it was still pretty sudden.

[00:27:08]>> No, but the way you said it was wrong. I don't know.

[00:27:15]I was just trying to get a I'm so lucky you said that while I was reaching for my drink and not taking a drink or that would have been we would have had to pause to get Monster Energy drink off my microphone.

[00:27:29]So, not just great segue, but also great timing. Uh Jeez, he died. Okay. After Apollo's died, what happened? After Apollo's died, that meant that Paul Rivere was now the patriarch of the family as the eldest living son. He had one older sister and five younger siblings.

[00:27:51]>> What was that?

[00:27:52]>> How old was he at this point?

[00:27:55]>> He was about 18.

[00:27:58]>> 18. 19. Okay.

[00:27:59]>> Yeah. And uh so he had one older sister, five younger siblings, plus a newly widowed mother to take care of and rent was still due.

[00:28:11]>> Right.

[00:28:12]>> Yeah. Right.

[00:28:13]>> Now, the silver lining was that Paul inherited a fully functioning >> silver lining silver smith.

[00:28:19]>> Oh, good one. Yeah.

[00:28:22]>> He he inherited a fully functioning silver smith shop along with everything he would need to continue the success of the shop. The bad news was that legally he couldn't own a shop or work as a silver smith yet.

[00:28:35]>> Was he not old enough or was it a matter of like weird British rules?

[00:28:40]>> Well, there was two things going on here. One, he had to finish his apprenticeship and also >> his his m that one died.

[00:28:50]>> Yeah. Kind of a pickle of a situation to be in. And then the other part of it was age. He couldn't legally own a shop until he was 21 years old.

[00:29:01]And at 19, he'd face fines every month for breaking that law.

[00:29:07]However, there were also laws about widows. So Deborah, Paul's mom, could now be the legal shopkeeper and also be legal cover for those underage workers being her sons. And uh there were also possibly like journeymen who had the skills but not their own shops so that they could work there. And there was also this family friend and engraver who very well may have helped Paul Rivere out with finishing that apprenticeship. Some of this stuff is not it's kind of foggy on the details.

[00:29:41]>> But this is kind of historically like historians feel like this is probably what happened.

[00:29:47]>> Yeah. But then the wildest thing happened that same year that his dad died.

[00:29:53]>> Mhm.

[00:29:55]The father of our country, George Washington, accidentally confessed to the murder of a diplomat because he didn't speak French and the seven years war began.

[00:30:07]>> Did Paul River speak French? Did his father teach him that?

[00:30:10]>> I don't think he did.

[00:30:13]Now I'm going to have to like look into that. I'll put an infographic on the screen if you're watching the video.

[00:30:18]>> You're you're welcome for giving you that bunny trail because Tori also speaks French. So, >> save.

[00:30:24]>> I'm actually surprised you didn't already look up if he spoke French because you normally know if they speak French because you >> I do.

[00:30:31]>> Listen, my kid had a stomach bug this week. Okay, my rabbit holes went differently.

[00:30:36]At 21 years old, Paul Rivere became a second lieutenant of the train of artillery. And with three months pay, being in the military fighting in the Seven Years War, French and Indian War to Americans, he could pay a year's worth of rent. I was going to say, wait, how is he supposed to do the thing?

[00:30:56]Like, I know they get paid, but like that's a lot of people that he's got to support and he's barely able to do so because of limitations of the law.

[00:31:05]>> Yeah. But so in 1756, Paul Rivere and his company were on the move and they marched to Albany, New York. And after traversing some rivers, they marched to Stillwater, which is really only relevant to me specifically.

[00:31:18]That's why I brought it up because that's where my family's from. But Still Water is the same area where the battles of Saratoga took place, the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Anyway, his time in the military was pretty uneventful, but it did give him some important knowledge that he wouldn't know he'd end up needing in the future, >> like riding really well on a horse.

[00:31:38]>> Yeah, he also fought in the Revolutionary War and he got in some pretty big trouble for his actions there, but we'll get to that way later.

[00:31:46]Uh, we're catching Paul up to our point in the story right now. So, >> just outright foreshadowing.

[00:31:52]>> Yes.

[00:31:55]Anyway, Paul returned home from war in 1756 and married Sarah in 1757 and they had their first child the next year and named her Deborah. His mother and older sister who were also living in the same home were also named >> Also named Deborah.

[00:32:11]>> Three Deborah under one roof.

[00:32:15]>> Does the Did they spell them all the same?

[00:32:17]>> Probably they normally did.

[00:32:19]>> Absolutely they did. Does Paul have a Paul? Did Apollo's have Paul who had Paul eventually?

[00:32:24]>> Absolutely.

[00:32:25]>> Yeah, that's what I thought.

[00:32:28]>> And actually, fun fun fact. Okay, this was the first of eight children that Paul and Sarah would have together between 1757 and 1773.

[00:32:39]And then Sarah died in 1773. It is not known whether it was related to her last birth.

[00:32:47]>> I can almost guarantee you it freaking was.

[00:32:49]>> Yeah. Uh, and then Paul remarried shortly after Rachel.

[00:32:55]>> Rachel. Okay.

[00:32:56]>> Yeah. Then so he marries Rachel and they also had eight kids. So that means yes, Paul Rivere had 16 children. He called them his little lambs. Out of his 16 children, 11 made it to adulthood. And of those 11, five lived until at least 60 years old.

[00:33:19]Honestly, given the medical conventions at the time, that's not bad.

[00:33:22]>> Yeah. And his son, who was born in 1777, was named Joseph Warren River. He was born just a couple years after Dr. Joseph Warren's death at Bunker Hill.

[00:33:35]>> Like, they really were besties.

[00:33:39]>> But here's the thing that I love.

[00:33:42]>> Joseph Warren Rev kind of made up for the untimely death of Dr. Joseph Ward who died in his early 30s cuz he lived until the age of 91.

[00:33:52]>> Did he do cool things? Like was was he still a part of the building of America or was he like no dad did enough?

[00:34:00]>> He did cool things but we'll we'll talk more about him later.

[00:34:05]>> Okay.

[00:34:06]>> He's got like a whole Wikipedia page and everything.

[00:34:09]>> Okay.

[00:34:10]>> Yeah.

[00:34:10]>> I don't I don't I purposely don't look up things so I don't have spoilers.

[00:34:13]>> I love that. Uh but also like just interesting thing Dr. Joseph Warren and Paul Rivere both of their wives died within like a week of each other like the Paul's first wife and they kind of bonded over this shared grief.

[00:34:31]>> It was such a bromance.

[00:34:33]>> Absolutely.

[00:34:33]>> Such a bromance.

[00:34:35]>> Yeah.

[00:34:35]>> Yeah. Yeah. Tori, I think we're going to get founded fanfic. It's going to start happening.

[00:34:41]>> I support it.

[00:34:42]>> I ship them. I should too.

[00:34:45]>> Literally on my note that sits behind me. It's been up here for a long time.

[00:34:49]>> Heart rever that that is one of the things you said if you're watching us on uh YouTube which we have the video form where you can see our faces and my borderline inappropriate expressions. Um you can watch us on YouTube. Um oh hey Tori.

[00:35:07]>> Tori.

[00:35:08]>> Oh my gosh. We forgot the rule.

[00:35:10]>> You broke your rule. I broke my rule.

[00:35:12]Saved you. I saved you, Tori.

[00:35:16]>> Do Do you know how I forgot my rule? I always write my rule in my note that I am reading off of and I didn't write rules, so I forgot about it. Anyway, we have merch.

[00:35:27]We We have a lot of merch. We have a lot of shirts. We have a Samuel Adams would be mad about this. A the tea was hot before they dumped it into the harbor shirt. We have stickers. Pretty cool stuff. You should check it out. Also, GU wrote a new book and it's out. You can buy it now. anywhere you buy your favorite books, ebooks, and audio books.

[00:35:44]And the audio book is read by Gwenna. I love the most randomplaced rule. So, thank you for helping me not break it entirely.

[00:35:53]>> You're welcome.

[00:35:55]>> But anyway, as the seven years war, French and Indian War to Americans wrapped up, Paul began experimenting with more artistry in his craft, and he really excelled.

[00:36:05]He started experime Oh my gosh.

[00:36:10]I literally have no idea.

[00:36:12]>> I routinely feel inferior to old white men and I'm mad about it. Valid. Same.

[00:36:24]But Paul started experimenting with styles outside of what was already popular in Boston and that made his work more highly soughta. Like it took a whole lot of skill to be a silver smith and Paul was a natural. But outside of adding more children into the family and silver smithing, Paul was also incredibly social, going to all the taverns and joining many clubs, including the Green Dragon, >> the Masons, but that's connected to the Green Dragon. We're getting there.

[00:36:54]>> Okay, so Paul was an artisan, which typically meant that you were a part of the middling class. But >> in the Masons, the class distinction mattered less. And by working with precious metals such as silver, >> Paul was in this weird liinal space between classes because he had to be trusted by the elites to create their goods.

[00:37:15]>> Yep, that makes sense.

[00:37:17]>> Honestly, like any of the jewelers or any of the guys using the expensive stuff, >> yeah, you're still a worker class. Uh but also, we're handing you raw materials that you could run off and make yourself very not worker class.

[00:37:33]>> Right.

[00:37:34]Exactly. Exactly. And they're serving that higher class directly. So it's like more esteem I I guess. But >> despite not being a man of wealth or land, Paul was considered a gentleman, which was a big deal at the time. It wasn't like ladies and gentlemen, like gentleman was a distinction. That was a title.

[00:37:54]>> There were certain clubs that you wouldn't be able to get into if you were below a certain social status. And that's where we get the term gentleman's clubs because there were people that if you will were not considered a gentleman in the social status, you would not be allowed membership or attendance into these clubs. Yes. And of course being part of the Masons connected Paul Rivere with folks like John Hancock, Lightning Boy, James Otis Jr., Samuel Adams, who wasn't a Mason but spent all of his time there, and his bestie, Joseph Warren, that he met in 1761 when Warren moved to Boston for his medical apprenticeship and joined the same Masonic lodge.

[00:38:37]>> The the bromance begins.

[00:38:39]>> It does.

[00:38:41]But being a part of the Masonic lodge also helped Paul to expand his business and social circle. He started crafting items for his ma for his fellow masons both in and out of Masonic capacity.

[00:38:54]Like this this gave him so many more connections for his work.

[00:38:58]>> Yeah.

[00:38:59]>> But also in 1761, Paul Rivere was found guilty of assault of his cousin's husband, but the judge just ordered that he keep the peace and be of good behavior. and he had like a fine, but also the people on the case were related to the guy he beat up. So, I'm I'm thinking that he deserved it if they were just like, "Dude, just be good.

[00:39:23]>> He's sorry. All right, don't do it again. That hurt."

[00:39:28]>> But that same year, Paul was elected to be the junior deacon in the Masonic Lodge. And so, this is just kind of shows he was in the middle of sword, but he was highly respected in his community, >> right? And by 1762, his silver smith business was thriving. He even created a silver chain for a man's pet squirrel.

[00:39:50]>> That's the wildest sentence in this podcast. That is the wildest sentence you have ever said to me in this podcast. He created a silver chain for a man's pet squirrel merch immediately.

[00:40:05]And and we're going to have bling squirrels. Squirrel bling. Squirrel bling is a part of founded cannon now.

[00:40:11]Squir he created a silver chain for a man's pet squirrel. Paul River's bling squirrel. Squirrel bling by Paul Rivere.

[00:40:22]>> It was one of my favorite random things I read about him. I knew you would also love it.

[00:40:25]>> It's my favorite random thing ever at the moment. Paul Rivere made squirrel bling.

[00:40:30]>> He did too. And at the same time, he started experimenting with engraving.

[00:40:36]But he was so successful at these endeavors that other people doing silver smith and smith work, they would go to him to have work for their own clients completed. They knew that he could do these more advanced artistries.

[00:40:50]Yeah, cuz he started with a squirrel bling. Obviously, everything is possible once you've accomplished squirrel bling.

[00:40:55]That's true.

[00:40:58]>> But then this other >> I'm not going to let it go. I'm going to be problematic about it. You g You gave it to me. You know what you did.

[00:41:05]I'm happy about it. So then that seven years war ended in 1763 and the economic >> annoying for Paul's paycheck, but it's cool. He's got the uh the whole silver smith unlock >> with the squirrel.

[00:41:20]>> And but that's the whole thing, right?

[00:41:22]Because people can't really afford things during an economic depression.

[00:41:27]>> An economic depression.

[00:41:28]>> No, we know it just gestures vaguely.

[00:41:32]>> Yeah. Well, so because of this, his services were they were a luxury, right?

[00:41:39]Like people could those were things they could cut. And so in the year following the war ending, his yearly income dropped by more than half.

[00:41:50]Listen, I have never felt more kinship with Paul Rivere because the way the economic track of my life has been not great, but could be much worse to little better to bad to oh my gosh, this might work to bad again. We're back. We're back in the bad. We're broke again, kids. All freaking 16 of you. We don't have any money. Actually, he doesn't have 16 of them at this point. That takes some time.

[00:42:16]>> Yeah.

[00:42:18]Then we get to 1764.

[00:42:22]That's when there was that whole smallox outbreak that we talked about last episode, >> right?

[00:42:28]>> Where Joseph Warren and his colleague inoculated Abigail Adams husband, John Adams, >> right?

[00:42:34]>> And also like just totally random, I don't think I've ever mentioned this to you because I only told you about the outbreak last episode. Uh the Hancocks evacuated the city during the outbreak.

[00:42:44]So Thomas and John Hancock ran away from Boston to Harvard to stay there, which ended up burning down while they were there along with Thomas Hancock's entire library. But that's not what we're focusing on. I just wanted to tell you.

[00:42:58]Anyway, no, that is heartbreaking.

[00:43:03]>> Oh yeah, it was a bad fire. Listen, we did a found and find out about libraries and how devastating Thomas Hancock's library going up really would have been, especially in Boston, because Thomas Hancock was one of the guys that had a library that he let more people use than most other libraries at the time.

[00:43:22]>> Yeah, but it's about to get >> free reading they learned to do. Books were freaking expensive. Check out that founded find out available where you find your favorite podcasts and online at YouTube. Yeah, but things are about to get more devastating than the library being burned. Okay. Because Paul Rafir and his family >> Go ahead. That's my own personal feelings, not facts.

[00:43:46]>> Paul Rafir and his family did not fare so well during this small pox outbreak.

[00:43:51]Uh because unfortunately the first case of smallox showed up in his neighborhood and soon thereafter one of his kids started to show symptoms. Oh, and his wife was seven months pregnant.

[00:44:02]>> Standby. Um, why didn't they evacuate?

[00:44:06]Evacuation was super duper common uh throughout history. Anytime a plague of any variety, the easiest thing to do, the best thing you can do on so many fronts, if you're healthy, leave.

[00:44:19]>> If none of your family is showing symptoms, get out. Because not only are you giving less places for the germs to go, you're staying out of the way of those who can provide aid, relief, or drag corpses out of houses because the whole families died in the overnights.

[00:44:35]So leaving sounds like a chicken move.

[00:44:38]It really wasn't. It was the standard practice and at that point in history was a century, not century, was millennia of practice. We did that through the black plague. We did that through all the plagues.

[00:44:52]>> Yeah.

[00:44:52]>> But could Paul River's family just not evacuate? Was there no place for them to go?

[00:44:56]>> Well, no. I think they wouldn't have been able to because of >> the neighborhood. The neighborhood would have been quarantined as soon as they figured it out.

[00:45:03]>> Well, at this time they were like quarantining the houses specifically, I believe. But I feel like much like today, it's kind of an echo thing here.

[00:45:10]Being able to leave was a privilege.

[00:45:13]>> That's true.

[00:45:14]>> Yeah. And uh but absolutely with evacuating being a regular thing like when we get to Benjamin Rush and yellow fever that goes >> so much everyone.

[00:45:27]>> Yeah.

[00:45:27]>> But uh so when one of his kids started showing symptoms, it was recommended to Paul by the town selectman that he send the smallox ridden kiddo to the hospital. But Paul absolutely refused.

[00:45:40]They needed their mom and their mom wanted the children there. So, the entire family was quarantined with a red flag outside of the house except for Paul Rivere, who with no symptoms wasn't allowed in.

[00:45:53]So, his pregnant wife and his children, one of which he knows has a disease that's really good at killing children specifically locked in his own house.

[00:46:05]>> Yeah. He's locked out of his house and he knows his sick child and his whole family are in the house.

[00:46:11]>> Cool. Cool. Cool. with the sick child, the super contagious sick child. That wouldn't be nerve-wracking at all.

[00:46:16]>> Yeah. And while Paul was coping with the pox, the Masons bought the Green Dragon Tavern to serve as their permanent meeting place. The Green Dragon came back.

[00:46:29]>> Yeah. And the Masons met upstairs in the long room above the Green Dragon Tavern, which is where Abigail Adams husband, John Adams, would meet Paul Rivere when Samuel Adams brought Jon into the fold.

[00:46:41]And when the pox cleared up, Paul rose in the ranks in the Masons to junior warden, which came with more responsibilities. But of course, at the same time in 1764 that goose Grenville debuted his first revolution causing act, the revamp of the molasses act, the sugar act.

[00:47:01]>> Yeah, I remember the sugar act.

[00:47:04]>> It was supposed to stop the smuggling >> and it changed the judge thing. And much like Paul's father, Apollos, this act made his life and business harder. But Paul Rivere was an ambitious little guy.

[00:47:16]And with his friend Josiah Flag, a fellow member of that church bell society who was quite the notorious musician, they decided together to gamble on a printing of hymns. Paul was an engraver. So he created the copper plates for the printing. And I just think this is like a fun little fact because this is when they started talking about like non-importation in homespun. So while the music itself may have come from England, Paul Rivere and his buddy, they made sure to include that the paper that it was printed on was manufactured in their own country in the advertisement that was printed in the Boston paper.

[00:47:55]>> So made in the USA has been going since before the USA.

[00:48:00]>> Yes.

[00:48:01]>> Okay.

[00:48:02]>> Yeah. Well, this hbook didn't sell well, of course, because post-war depression and sugar act, but it's the thought.

[00:48:09]>> Let's continue to pick things that people don't actually need to buy.

[00:48:14]>> Yeah. It's the thought that counts, you know, unless you're trying to take care of a family, of course. But thankfully, the Massachusetts General Court hired him for engraving jobs in 1765. That helped a bit, but he did have to rent out part of his shop to keep the family afloat.

[00:48:30]>> Right. Stand by. I'm gonna rewind you for one second with a question. Did that child survive the pox? Did Did Paul end up losing one of his children through the pox?

[00:48:41]>> You know what's next in my script? Like wait a welltimed question. That child did survive the small pox. But unfortunately in 1765 his youngest daughter Mary who had been born around the time of the small pox ep epidemic passed away.

[00:48:59]>> Dang. I just brought you on a roller coaster.

[00:49:01]>> You did. Like I was so excited. It made the baby. The other one didn't make it.

[00:49:06]Oh >> yeah.

[00:49:09]But then just a short time later, the news that the stamp act made its way into the colonies. Don't say that, Perky. That's worse.

[00:49:18]Uh Paul's relation to the loyal nine and the early Sons of Liberty isn't really known. However, the man kept incredible records of all business dealings, and for some odd reason, his ledger was completely blank from the beginning of August until midepptember 1765. Now, quick reminder, that's when the riots were happening in Boston.

[00:49:45]Yeah, Paul Paul definitely had a part of Tommy Boy Hutcherson's house like just hanging out in his study at some point just like piece of >> he was there. He was ripping me out >> cuz this this was around the same time.

[00:50:03]Okay, the Stampback crisis is when Paul Rivere really got a start as a political cartoonist using his engraving skills to create an image of the colonist resisting a dragon. One of the colonists has a sword in one hand and a copy of the Magna Carter in the other, meant to represent the fight over no taxation without representation.

[00:50:22]Their senses of humor, I swear to God.

[00:50:25]>> Yeah. And then in January of 1766, a print of that cartoon was being advertised. And as said by Joel J.

[00:50:33]Miller and the revolutionary Paul River, quote, the revolution would be advertised.

[00:50:42]It's televised now.

[00:50:44]>> Yeah.

[00:50:45]>> Thank you, Kendrick.

[00:50:46]>> And of course, Paul helped to create the repeal of the Stampback celebration obelisk that accidentally burned down.

[00:50:55]>> But its design was quite complex with portraits at the top, a story written through the middle, and scenes depicting the struggle in this Roman dramatic style. But inside the obelisk that burned down were 280 lit lamps. So big action.

[00:51:12]>> I wonder why it burnt down.

[00:51:17]>> Yeah. When did these mofos have time TO DO ALL THIS?

[00:51:25]>> I still can't figure it out. But thankfully Paul Rivere engraved a plate of the design so we can see what that obelisk would look like. And if you're watching YouTube, there's a picture of it on the screen. And if you're just listening, check the source link. You can find it there. I don't know how they did it all, but >> like you're running out of time.

[00:51:48]>> Yeah. And uh within a month of the repeal of the Stamp Act, Paul's business was back to booming.

[00:51:56]Now, it's weird how once you give them the economic powers back, they can do the thing.

[00:52:02]>> Yeah. Now, the Stampback crisis served as Paul's political awakening and outside of the basins, he joined the long room club, the North End Caucus, the Merchant Club, and more. So, he was of the middling sorts, but he was rubbing elbows with the high class. And there was like a benefit to it because he gave the cause a voice with other tradesmen. So >> the the elite that are running things, the people who are of money, who are sitting in the assembly like Otis and Hancock and Samuel Adams, >> well, they have a direct connection to the middling and the lower sorts as well. So they they can really kind of build community. And because Paul was social social, that became a two-way street, which increased his value even more because the other tradesmen in his area, the paper makers that he's working with, the tool makers and the blacksmiths that he's working with, all of them know, oh, you're buddies with John Hancock, right? Okay. I'm going to need to talk to him about this. Can you pass this message on that our particular part of the industry is struggling with something that he's doing because he was a merchant that all the boats H. Do you see how he became a messenger?

[00:53:18]>> Yeah, I got it.

[00:53:23]I got I got I figured that one out. I connected them dots.

[00:53:26]>> You did.

[00:53:26]>> My big brain.

[00:53:30]>> He knew everybody.

[00:53:31]>> He knew everybody. He was He was He was able to play both sides of the coin without ever having to flip it.

[00:53:37]>> I like that phrase.

[00:53:39]I've never heard that before. I just made it up.

[00:53:43]That's great. It's like you're a writer or something.

[00:53:46]>> It's weird.

[00:53:50]>> By the late 1760s, Paul Rivere began practicing dentistry.

[00:53:56]>> Of course. Yeah, that's perfectly I completely expected that sentence. Yeah.

[00:54:00]>> Well, I mean, think about it. He had access to like silver to help.

[00:54:03]>> I don't want to.

[00:54:05]>> Right.

[00:54:06]But no, the reason I don't want We might have to do a find and find out. But that was none of those sounds came out. But dentistry was gross in the 18th century.

[00:54:16]>> Oh yeah.

[00:54:18]>> So we've already mentioned barbarism in the >> Yeah.

[00:54:22]>> Would you would we like to know why we call them barbers? They used to do.

[00:54:28]>> That's why there's a red stripe on the barberh shop poles.

[00:54:32]>> I don't know if that's true or if that's just a thing, but it makes sense. And Mhm. The dentistry is gross. Paul's just ripping people's headbones out then.

[00:54:42]>> Well, he was also using his skills as a silver smith to build like prosthetic teeth and stuff and to create >> Did he have anything to do with uh George Washington's dentures?

[00:54:55]>> No, he didn't. George Washington was super super secretive about his teeth issues and he would like write letters in code to his dentist because he was so afraid of people knowing.

[00:55:06]>> Okay, spoilers.

[00:55:08]But do you know who one of Paul River's patients customers was?

[00:55:13]>> Is it going to be Samuel? Is it It's almost always Samuel.

[00:55:16]>> It was actually it was his bestie.

[00:55:17]Joseph Warren.

[00:55:18]>> Joseph Warren.

[00:55:20]>> And so this next part is interesting but also kind of sad. Um because after the battle of Bunker Hill, they were able to identify Joseph by >> Oh, stop >> the work Paul had done.

[00:55:34]>> Yeah, I know. I just keep breaking your heart this episode.

[00:55:41]I hate that.

[00:55:42]>> I know.

[00:55:44]>> Oh, they had to identify him by dental work in a time before they could identify people by dental work.

[00:55:51]>> Yeah. Paul knew what it was just put in his mouth.

[00:55:56]>> Yeah.

[00:55:58]>> No, I I will never tell you the details.

[00:56:01]>> No, I'm going to hate having to get to that dang battle.

[00:56:05]>> Oh, no. I will never go into detail on this. I will tell you where you could find the details of how Joseph Warren's end came. Um, I find it disturbing and I will not be sharing that. This is a family-friendly podcast. But when we get to the Battle of Bunker Hill, uh, you will get the details of the battle, but much like a lot of paintings of battle scenes, we're leaving the gore out.

[00:56:28]>> Impressionism. We're going to give you the impression.

[00:56:32]>> Yeah.

[00:56:32]>> Not the realism. Well, I mean, like, look at any old painting of a battle.

[00:56:35]There's no blood, >> right? There's no blood.

[00:56:38]>> So, anyway, outside of dentistry, Paul was ambitious and always found a way to make ends meet. He even did things like making frames for John Singleton CPPley's portraits that he would paint.

[00:56:51]Um, and as payment for one of those frames, John Singleton CPPley painted a portrait of Paul Rivere, who is one of the lowest sorts to ever be painted by him because getting your portrait painted was very expensive. I mean, I I understand that he did cool things and and he was an important part. Is that why he gets so many dang children's stories is because he did do a thing and has a picture and we just don't know of any of the other ones. Again, so many children's books about Paul Rivere and apparently not even covering all of Paul Rivere. Just the one thing where he didn't say the British are coming.

[00:57:29]>> Well, I think that he did.

[00:57:31]>> It's like in the 1800s there was like this resurgence and nostalgia for the revolutionaries and there was the poem Paul River's Midnight Ride and I feel like that kind of kicked it off.

[00:57:41]>> Yeah. All right. Reasonable. All right.

[00:57:44]Continuing.

[00:57:45]>> Yeah. But Okay. So, in late 1766, there was this incident in Boston. You see, some customs guys showed up at Paul River's neighbor's house in search of smuggled wine. One of those customs officials had had his house destroyed the night of the Hutchinson House Haloo as well.

[00:58:04]>> Oops. Now, Paul's neighbor gave them a tour of the house except for one room that he said he rented out, so he couldn't just pop in. So, the customs guys found the renter who said he lost the key. And the customs guys demanded entry, but the neighbor had a sword and a couple of pistols and told the customs guys that if they even tried to get in that he'd blow their brains out. So, they left and got back up, including the sheriff. And uh >> which we've already established the sheriff of Boston at the time was a very, very brave man.

[00:58:40]>> Yeah. He's the one that they threw rocks at the night of the SPAC riots.

[00:58:44]>> Yeah.

[00:58:44]>> Right. He was supposed to go out and read the thing and then he was like, I'm not going to do that. And then he was directly told, "Arest that guy and he was like, I'm not going to do that.

[00:58:54]>> They'll kill me." So very brave man, the sheriff. Go ahead.

[00:58:59]>> Yeah. So the customs guys and the sheriff, some other officials, they go back to the neighbor's house. But at this point, the neighbor had barricaded himself in the house. And a crowd was growing.

[00:59:10]hundreds of people including Paul Rivere but order was maintained and a big part of this was that the officials they didn't want a riot so there was like this game of chicken right because the crowd was calm but there was hundreds of people >> and then there's these officials who want to get the smuggled stuff >> and it so it was a chicken and everyone just stayed there solemnly until after the sun went down >> just and And the customs guys gave up.

[00:59:42]They were like, "We know how this goes, right?"

[00:59:43]>> Yeah. That's our wine now, not yours.

[00:59:46]>> Yeah. But so at this point, Well, also the neighbor did give out wine after this. Probably smuggled, but definitely smuggled. Found that key real quick, huh?

[00:59:59]>> Yeah. Shocking how that happened.

[01:00:02]Probably found it when finding the stuff to barricade his house. But then royal governor Francis Bernard had taken depositions about the whole incident and sent them off to London where another customs guy from Boston had just landed. Right. Uh because this other customs guy went to talk to the crowd about his ideas for better instituting the navigation acts and to curb smuggling. A month later, the Boston Patriots were able to see those depositions that Bernard sent. Samuel Adams said that they were a partial account and he didn't appreciate that the people of Boston were being made to look bad in front of the crown. So Samuel Adams and his buddies like James Otis Jr. and Paul Rivere and all of them, they took their own depositions about what happened, >> including a deposition from Paul Rivere.

[01:00:56]and they sent those depositions along with Bernard's to their London agent in hopes of setting the record straight.

[01:01:05]But the Crown only cared about the opinions they already heard. And once again, they saw Boston as a problem that needed solving and supervision.

[01:01:14]>> Oh, you mean the propaganda goes both ways and affects pretty much everyone?

[01:01:20]>> Yeah. information needs to be parsed and compared even from the other side because what actually happened is probably somewhere in the middle of how the good guys reported it versus the bad guys. Just, you know, Yeah. Just because you see it on the channel that lies to you less doesn't mean they're not currently lying to you.

[01:01:42]>> True.

[01:01:42]>> Echoes loud today. And uh so the crown was like, "No, Boston is a problem.

[01:01:50]Boston is the problem, child." Like, I need you to understand that up until full-blown war, many in Britain, many of the crown officials in Britain thought that the entire rebellious attitude, the problem was New England. And they thought if they could cut New England off from the rest of the colonies that everything would be fine. Like even through the war, they thought that the South was going to be like loyal. It was wild. Okay.

[01:02:17]>> You mean people in Europe don't understand how big and odd our country is?

[01:02:20]>> Okay.

[01:02:21]>> Typically, but so they're like, "Yeah, Boston is the problem and we need to do something about this." Enter Charles Townsend, who we're not talking about today, but we might on the next episode of Founded, an airwave media podcast. But thank you for listening to this episode of Founded. I hope you found something interesting.

[01:02:41]Drop an email [email protected] and let me know what you want to find out next. Don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, review, hit all the buttons, and do all the things so more folks can find Founded. And remember, we don't see history repeat itself, but we continue to hear the echoes. Visit airwavemedia.com to listen and subscribe to their other fun shows that don't feature Gwenna and I, like Benjamin Franklin's World. We'll see you next time. Well, you'll see us.