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28-521: The Society manages three nationally historic house museums: the Hancock-Clarke House , Paul Revere's Lexington destination; Buckman Tavern , the gathering place of the Lexington militia on April 19, 1775; and Munroe Tavern , temporary British field headquarters during the retreat from Concord to Boston. Guided tours of these houses are available April through October, with tours by appointment during

56-550: A connector whereas Dawes was an "ordinary man." Dawes's ride is commemorated on a traffic island in Cambridge, Massachusetts , heavily travelled by pedestrians, at the intersection of Garden Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square , and known as Dawes Island . Dawes's passage through the area is represented by bronze horseshoes embedded in the sidewalk, as hoofprints, accompanied by an inscription giving his name and

84-420: A businessman, Beman Gates Dawes , a businessman and congressman, and Henry M. Dawes , a businessman and banker. A brother of Congressman Rufus Dawes was Major Ephraim C. Dawes . Television personality Bill Schulz (William Dawes Schulz) is another descendant of Dawes, as the grandson of Henry M. Dawes' daughter Mary. William Dawes was also a first cousin of Thomas Dawes , who was a Revolutionary War colonel,

112-547: A child. It is the only residence associated with him that is open to the public. It played a prominent role in the Battle of Lexington and Concord as both Hancock and Samuel Adams , leaders of the colonials, were staying in the house before the battle. The House is operated as a museum by the Lexington Historical Society . It is open weekends starting in mid-April and daily from May 30–October 31. An admission fee

140-415: A composite of the many alarm riders that night. Dawes and Revere arrived at the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington about the same time, shortly after midnight. Revere arrived slightly earlier, despite having stopped to speak to militia officers in towns along the way, as his route was shorter and his horse faster. After warning Adams and Hancock to leave, Revere and Dawes proceeded to Concord in case that

168-403: A short center hall, two rooms on each of the two floors, and an attic. The small rear ell, 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 stories high with gambrel roof, contains a kitchen and tiny study downstairs and two low-studded chambers upstairs. As confirmed by tree-ring dating ( dendrochronology ), both portions of the house were built from trees felled in the same year, refuting a commonly held belief that the ell

196-619: A suit entirely made in North America. At the time, Whigs were trying to organize a boycott of British-made products in order to pressure the Parliament of Great Britain into repealing the Townshend Acts . On April 8, 1768, Dawes was elected as a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts . He was appointed as the company's second sergeant in 1770. When the company

224-459: Is charged. The Reverend John Hancock , grandfather of the American revolutionary leader of the same name, purchased this site in 1699. In 1738 he built this two-story timber-frame house. Rev. Hancock's son, Thomas , a wealthy Boston merchant, is said to have financed the construction. The front or main portion of the house consists of the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story structure with central chimney,

252-498: The Lexington Historical Society . The building was threatened with demolition in 1896, at which time the society purchased it and moved it across the street. In 1974, after purchasing the original site, the society moved it back to its original location. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places . This house contains furnishings and portraits owned by

280-574: The British, Dr. Joseph Warren of Boston dispatched William Dawes and Paul Revere to Lexington with news of the advancing British troops. Arriving separately, they stopped to warn Hancock and Adams around midnight, then set off for Concord. Hancock and Adams made their way to Burlington to avoid capture. The house remained in the Clarke family until 1844, maintained by Rev. Clarke's daughters. It thereafter changed hands several times before being acquired by

308-706: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts . It became his boyhood home in 1744 when, upon the death of his father at Quincy, the seven-year-old boy came to live at this house with his grandfather. In 1750 John joined his childless uncle, Thomas Hancock , a wealthy Boston merchant who adopted him. On the evening of April 18, 1775, John Hancock and Samuel Adams , having attended the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in Concord and wary of returning to Boston, were guests of Rev. Clarke. Fearing that they might be captured by

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336-665: The Hancock and Clarke families and an exhibit area that includes relics of April 19, 1775. William Dawes William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was an American soldier, and was one of several men who, in April 1775, alerted minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British regulars prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord at the outset of the American Revolution . For some years, Paul Revere had

364-683: The Society's Archives, a rich repository of documents, maps, photographs, and books. This article about an organization in the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hancock-Clarke House The Hancock–Clarke House is a historic house in Lexington, Massachusetts , which is now a National Historic Landmark . Built in 1738, the house is notable as one of two surviving houses associated with statesman and Founding Father John Hancock , who lived here for several years as

392-498: The date (inaccurately stated as April 19, 1775), and by historical displays. In the film Knowing , the early events take place in Lexington, Massachusetts , at William Dawes Elementary School. William Dawes' great-grandson, Rufus Dawes , was a Civil War military officer and congressman; Rufus Dawes' children included Charles G. Dawes , who served as Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge , Rufus C. Dawes ,

420-770: The land route out of Boston through the Boston Neck , leaving just before the British sealed off the town. Also acting under Dr. Warren, Paul Revere arranged for another rider waiting across the Charles River in Charlestown to be told of the army's route with lanterns hung in Old North Church . To be certain the message would get through, Revere rowed across the river and started riding westward himself. Later, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 's historically inaccurate poem " Paul Revere's Ride " would focus entirely on Revere, making him

448-889: The march were prone to do. Dawes refused to join a punitive expedition against Indians ordered by Governor Phillip in December 1790. Mehitable died on May 19, 1794 but he remarried (to Lydia) two years later. Dawes died in Marlborough, Massachusetts , on February 25, 1799. He was believed to have been buried in the King's Chapel Burying Ground , but modern research points to his resting place now being in his first wife's family plot in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain . The poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , " Paul Revere's Ride ", has been criticized by modern historians for overstating

476-525: The morning, he returned to the same yard and found the watch that had fallen from his pocket. Otherwise, Dawes's activity during the Battle of Lexington and Concord remains unknown. Dawes and his companions' warnings allowed the town militias to muster a sufficient force for the first open battle of the American Revolutionary War and the first colonial victory. The British column did not find most of

504-535: The most renown for his ride of warning of this event. Dawes was born in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay , on April 6, 1745, to William and Lydia Dawes ( née Boone), and baptized at Boston's Old South Church . He became a tanner and was active in Boston's militia. On May 3, 1768, Dawes married Mehitable May, the daughter of Samuel and Catherine May (née Mears). The Boston Gazette noted that for his wedding, he wore

532-524: The off-season. An important part of the Society's mission is educational programs that focus on Colonial life and the American Revolution for elementary, middle and high school students. The Society's offices are located at the restored Lexington Depot , located at 13 Depot Square in Lexington Centre . The Society also maintains an extensive collection of artifacts and archives. Many questions about Lexington history can be answered through research in

560-501: The role of Revere in the night's events. Revere's may have been a better story, but Dawes and Prescott were more successful in achieving their missions. In 1896 Helen F. Moore, dismayed that William Dawes had been forgotten, penned a parody of Longfellow's poem. The difference in Revere's and Dawes's achievement and legacy is examined by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point , where he concludes that Revere would be classified as

588-464: The schoolmaster, who coolly denied any knowledge of the affair, while keeping his feet casually propped up on the woodbox. Dawes hurt his wrist in the escapade, and some days later, went to a fellow member of the Sons of Liberty, Dr. Joseph Warren , for treatment. Warren asked Dawes how he hurt himself. Dawes demurred, and Warren (who probably knew about the cannon incident) wisely responded by saying that it

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616-418: The troops, and they called for Dawes, Revere, and Prescott to halt. The three men rode in different directions, hoping one would escape. Dawes, according to the story he told his children, rode into the yard of a house shouting that he had lured two officers there. Fearing an ambush, the officers stopped chasing him. Dawes's horse bucked him off, however, and he had to walk back to Lexington. He later said that in

644-597: The weapons they had marched to destroy and sustained serious losses during their retreat to Boston while under attack by the minutemen. On September 9, 1776, Dawes was commissioned second major of the Boston militia regiment. During the war, Dawes worked as a quartermaster in central Massachusetts. British prisoners of war from the Battles of Saratoga complained to Parliament that he gave them short supplies; his family countered that Dawes believed that they were stealing from farmers while being marched to Boston – as most armies on

672-414: Was best that he did not know. Dawes, who was known and trusted by Sons of Liberty leader Dr. Joseph Warren , was assigned by Warren to ride from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts , on the night of April 18, 1775, when it became clear that a British column was going to march into the countryside. Dawes' mission was to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that they were in danger of arrest. Dawes took

700-608: Was built in 1698. Succeeding Hancock as minister in 1752, the Reverend Jonas Clarke , who reared 12 children in the parsonage, was an eloquent supporter of the colonial cause. This house is one of two surviving residences associated with John Hancock, famous American patriot, President of the Continental Congress , first signer of the United States Declaration of Independence , and the first Governor of

728-664: Was revived in 1786, after becoming dormant during the American Revolution, he was appointed as the Company clerk. His father, William Dawes Sr., was also a member of the company. It is likely that in September 1774, Dawes was instrumental in helping Boston's militia artillery company secure its four small cannons from being confiscated by the British. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress certainly sent word to him in February 1775 that it

756-475: Was the British column's goal. Revere no doubt knew that the Provincial Congress had stored munitions there, including the cannons which Dawes had helped to secure. Along the way, the two men met Samuel Prescott , a local young physician, who joined them. A squad of mounted British officers awaited on the road between Lexington and Concord. They had already arrested some riders heading west with news of

784-419: Was time to move two of those weapons out of Boston. On another occasion, Dawes and some others stole two cannons which were in a building that was under guard by a British grenadier at the time. They sneaked the cannons out through a window in the back of the building then hid them in a woodbox in a schoolhouse next door for retrieval later. Upon discovery of the loss, the British authorities closely questioned

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