Historic Pelham: Paul Revere Galloped Through Pelham and the Bronx Many Times

Introduction

Every American schoolchild knows of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. Many have recited or heard the epic poem "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. That monumental poem, however, has distorted our perceptions of history and has given rise to the erroneous notions that Paul Revere was the sole rider who alerted the colonies that the British were coming and that there was only one such occasion when news such as that was spread by post riders like Revere. In fact, there were many such rides to deliver not only warnings, but also news as riders raced up and down a variety of Post Roads in the northeast including the Old Boston Post Road. The section of that famous roadway that passes through the Town of Pelham is known today as "Colonial Avenue."

Paul Revere, a Painting by John Singleton Copley

in 1767. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Beginnings of the Old Boston Post Road

The brief stretch of the Old Boston Post Road that runs through Pelham was built during the early 1670s. Only months after John Pell's arrival in the Colony of New York in 1670, Colonial Governor Francis Lovelace designated him to work with John Richbell of Mamaroneck on an important roadway project. A new roadway recently had been laid out as a common highway near the settlement of Eastchester adjacent to the Manor of Pelham to facilitate travel from New York to New England. The new road was said to be "much more convenient" than the former roadway that led into New England, but some people objected to the route of the new roadway.

Governor Lovelace sought a study to determine which of the two roads would be the "most convenient to be maintained" so that the Governor could resolve the objections and designate the roadway to New England that would continue to be maintained -- the beginnings of the Old Boston Post Road, a portion of which still passes through the Town of Pelham where it is named Colonial Avenue.

The records of the Town of Eastchester contain an entry reflecting instructions from Governor Lovelace issued on May 17, 1670 appointing "Mr. John Pell of the Manor of Ann Hooks Neck and Mr. John Rickbell of the Moroneck [i.e., John Richbell of Mamaroneck]" either to prepare the study the Governor sought or to hire other "understanding persons" to prepare such a study. I have written of these developments in the past. See Fri., Dec. 05, 2014: John Pell and John Richbell Selected in 1671 to Assess Best Roadway to New England -- The Beginnings of Old Boston Post Road.

John Pell and John Richbell worked together on the roadway and recommended a route that passed through today's Town of Pelham along the route of Colonial Avenue. Although there is some debate over the precise date, it seems clear that in about January, 1673, the Old Boston Post Road was sufficiently complete to permit a post rider to make the first round trip along the entire length of the roadway including the portion through today's Town of Pelham. The post rider made the round trip to and from Boston in a month.

By the time of the Revolutionary War, the Old Boston Post Road was one of the young nation's principal thoroughfares in the northeast. At the time, Pelham was a very different place. Indeed, the Town of Pelham did not yet exist. (It was created by New York State statute in 1788.) The area was known as the Manor of Pelham (or "Pelham Manor" for short). The brief stretch of the Old Boston Post Road that ran through Pelham ran from the border with Eastchester (today's boundary between the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham on Colonial Avenue) across a stretch of Pelham to its boundary with New Rochelle.

The roadway was, of course, unpaved and winding. It followed the course of the countryside. Even today the more northeastern section of Colonial Avenue in the Town of Pelham remains winding as it follows the course of the countryside, one of few such roads in Pelham.

Travelers along the roadway in those days likely paid little attention to Pelham as they passed through. There were only two farmhouses visible from the road at the time. The first was the farmhouse of Col. Philip Pell who became a soldier, a statesman, and one of Pelham's most notable citizens. The Philip Pell farm originally included nearly all of the present Village of Pelham, including the grounds of the Pelham Memorial High School where a monument to Philip Pell stands and includes the 1750 datestone from his farmhouse, since destroyed by fire. The farmhouse (pictured below) stood on today's Colonial Avenue near its intersection with today's Cliff Avenue.

The Philip Pell Homestead with Old Boston Post Road

Passing In Front of It. Drawn from a Painting of the

Homestead Owned by Members of the McClellan Family

who Subsequently Owned the Farm. NOTE: Click on

Image to Enlarge.

The other farmhouse visible from the road as Travelers passed through Pelham was the farmhouse of David Jones Pell. The original farmhouse stood on a hill overlooking the Hutchinson River, the Old Boston Post Road, and a valley below. A portion of the original farmhouse still exists and has been incorporated into the home known today as "Pelhamdale." Pelhamdale, at 45 Iden Avenue, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The home looks nothing like the farmhouse that it once was and, in its modern incarnation, even faces away from the Old Boston Post Road and the Hutchinson River (after its many changes over the last two and a half centuries).

Travelers passing the two Pell homesteads on Boston Post Road in the Manor of Pelham would have passed open farm fields, some bounded by simple stone walls. The two simple farmhouses with their associated outbuildings likely would have drawn little attention at the time as post riders, stage coaches, carriages, and other travelers hurried back and forth along the dirt road.

Paul Revere Galloped Through Pelham and the Bronx Many Times

Given the dearth of roadways in the early Republic as well as the fact that the Old Boston Post Road was one of the most important transportation arteries in the northeast, it should come as no surprise that like other important American Patriots as well as many Founding Fathers, Paul Revere galloped back and forth along the roadway through Pelham and the Bronx on multiple occasions. Indeed, members of the Northeast Bronx History Forum including Tom Casey and Jorge Santiago, as well as other local historians such as Dick Forliano of Eastchester have collected data and references to such rides. With their gracious permission, today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog relies on some of the data they have developed about a number of such Paul Revere rides through Pelham. Today's posting also includes attempts to add further scholarship (and sources) to the growing body of source material regarding such rides through the region by Paul Revere.

The Last Unpaved Section of the Old Boston Post Road

in Westchester County as It Looked in 1952. This Section

Was "Colonial Place" Running from Sandford Boulevard

to South Columbus Avenue in Mount Vernon. It Shows How

Parts of the Roadway Likely Looked When Paul Revere Galloped

Through Pelham and the Bronx in the 18th Century. See

Version of Photo with Article Below. NOTE: Click on Image

to Enlarge.

May 1774: Riding to Seek Support Following Enactment of the Boston Port Bill

Paul Revere rode through Pelham in May 1774 with news of Boston's response to England's "Boston Port Bill" that closed the port of Boston to trade and demanded that the city's residents pay for the nearly $1 million worth (in today's money) of tea dumped into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. Boston and other towns in Massachusetts joined to call on the other American provinces to participate in a boycott of English goods until the Boston Port Bill was rescinded.

On May 14, 1774, Paul Revere set out on Boston Post Road toward New York and then onward to Philadelphia with a formal message from a Massachusetts delegation asking other American provinces to join the proposed boycott. He reached Philadelphia on May 20. Revere's arrival in New York was chronicled as follows: "At the first meeting of the Committee of Fifty One, the messenger from Boston to Philadelphia, Paul Revere, made his appearance, and delivered the official proceedings of the Boston town meeting of the 13th May, urging concurrence on the part of New York." See Goss, Elbridge Henry, The Life of Colonel Paul Revere, Vol. 1, p. 145 (Boston, MA: Joseph George Cupples, 1891) (quoting Lenke, Isaac Q., Life of John Lamb, p. 88). Paul Revere returned from the trip later that month, passing once again along Old Boston Post Road and, thus, through Pelham and the Bronx. He arrived in Boston on Saturday, May 28. See id., pp. 146-47.

The Revere papers include a reference to Revere's pay for this trip. The reference appears immediately below.

Reproduction of Record Referencing Paul Revere's May,

1774 Trip, Original in Revere Papers. Source: Goss,

Elbridge Henry, The Life of Colonel Paul Revere,

Vol. 1, p. 147 (Boston, MA: Joseph George Cupples, 1891).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Bronx Historian John McNamara wrote in 1962 about this ride of Paul Revere and an earlier ride through Pelham and the Bronx bringing news of the Boston Tea Party. In his column, "The Bronx In History," he wrote:

"It was with great deal of surprise that this writer learned Paul Revere galloped over the Bronx countryside no fewer than four times before he became immortalized for his famous ride.

As a travel-stained horseman, the Boston illustrator, engraver, dentist, merchant, goldsmith and 'Constitutional Post-rider' came down the Boston Road in May 1774. This early Post Road is now overlaid by Bussing and Barnes Aves., Gun Hill Rd., and parts of W. 280th St.

At the time, Paul Reverre was 40 years of age, was described as sturdily built with a clean-shaven face, and not particularly arresting in appearance. Certainly none of the farmers he met along the road would have supposed the muddied horseman to be a man of artistic temperament and varied skills.

The Boston Post Road was familiar to Revere, for less than six months before, he had carried the news of the Boston Tea Party to the Sons of Liberty in New York.

Nothing of importance occurred during his four rides across the Bronx and through the villages of Williamsbridge and Kingsbridge, and so Paul Revere passed quietly on his way to coming fame."

Source: McNamara, John, The Bronx In History: Paul Revere Galloped Across Bronx Before Making Immortal 'Ride,' Bronx Press Review, Aug. 30, 1962 (with special thanks to Jorge Santiago of the Northeast Bronx History Forum for providing a copy of the article).

December 1773: Riding with News of the Boston Tea Party

Paul Revere's ride along Boston Post Road through Pelham and the Bronx after the Boston Tea Party, referenced by John McNamara in the article quoted above, occurred in December, 1773. Revere left Boston on December 17, 1773 with news of the Boston Tea Party and made it to New York City where he delivered the news. He stayed at the home of John Lamb in New York City, then returned along the same Boston Post Road route arriving in Boston on December 27, 1773. In New York City, Revere delivered Committee of Correspondence documents sent by Sam Adams after the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.

Ray Raphael recently published an insightful article in the Journal of the American Revolution entitled "Paul Revere's Other Rides." In it he highlighted the importance of this December, 1773 ride of Paul Revere. He wrote:

"The day after patriots brewed tea in the Boston Harbor, Paul Revere rode express to New York and Philadelphia to spread the news. Time was of the essence. The East India Company had sent shipments of tea to those destinations as well, and also to Charleston, South Carolina. For the radical action in Boston to influence events elsewhere, news had to arrive before the tea. If patriots in other cities learned of Boston’s dramatic response, they could brew their own ports of tea. Or perhaps they wouldn’t have to: by threatening to imitate Boston, they could induce the ship owners, consignees, and port officials to send the shipments back to London, unloaded."

Source: Raphael, Ray, Critical Thinking: Paul Revere's Other Rides, Journal of the American Revolution, Apr. 18, 2014 (visited Nov. 13, 2016).

September 1774: Riding with News of the Suffolk Resolves

By September, 1774, the English Parliament considered the colony of Massachusetts to be in radical revolt. It enacted the "Massachusetts Government Act" disenfranchising all residents of the colony. Counties throughout the colony enacted retaliatory "Resolves" closing their courts and rejecting British rule. The Resolves prepared by Boston's Suffolk County were among the strongest to reject British oppression and, thus, were deemed fit to be carried to the Continental Congress then meeting in Philadelphia.

Paul Revere was selected to deliver copies of the Suffolk Resolves. He left Boston on September 11, 1774 and rode furiously along Boston Post Road passing, once again, through Pelham and the Bronx. From New York City he proceeded to Philadelphia where he delivered copies of the Suffolk Resolves. He promptly returned via the same route to Boston and, as is noted below, immediately conducted another round trip between Boston and Philadelphia, beginning before the end of the same month.

Acknowledgement of Receipt of Suffolk Resolves Delivered

by Paul Revere in September 1774 Published in a New

Hampshire Newspaper. Source: BOSTON, Sept. 26, New

Hampshire Gazette, Sep. 30, 1774, p. 2 (via Raphael, Ray,

Critical Thinking: Paul Revere's Other Rides, Journal of the

American Revolution, Apr. 18, 2014 (visited Nov. 13, 2016).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

September / October 1774: Letters to Determine How Far Massachusetts Should Go

According to Raphael Ray, only days after returning from his Post Road trip carrying news of the Suffolk Resolves, on September 29, Paul Revere made another round trip to Philadelphia via the Boston Post Road through New York. According to Ray:

"on September 29 he embarked on another round trip to and from Philadelphia, carrying letters both ways. At issue was how far, and how fast, Massachusetts could proceed without jeopardizing support from other colonies. Massachusetts radicals from the interior wanted to abandon the 1691 Charter, with its Crown appointed governor, while easterners, including the Boston leadership, favored a more moderate approach. When Joseph Warren asked Samuel Adams for advice, Adams wrote back: slow the Massachusetts revolution down, he said, or it will alienate important allies. 'Independency' and 'setting up a new form of government of our own' were ideas that 'startle people' in Congress, John Adams wrote in letters carried by Revere. Due in part to these sorts of communiqués, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress succeeded in tempering country radicals, who wanted to attack British troops in Boston and declare independence."

Source: Raphael, Ray, Critical Thinking: Paul Revere's Other Rides, Journal of the American Revolution, Apr. 18, 2014 (visited Nov. 13, 2016; endnotes omitted).

Ray provides no dates for Revere's return trip although it appears he departed Philadelphia for Boston on October 11, 1774 and likely reached Boston some time between October 18 and October 21, 1774.

November 1775: Revere Visits Oswald Eve's Mill in Pennsylvania

In 1775, Oswald Eve's mill in southeastern Pennsylvania was "celebrated throughout the colonies" as a textbook example of the successful local production of gunpowder. In November of that year, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety sent Paul Revere to Philadelphia to inspect the mill. It is believed that Revere departed Boston on November 10, 1775 and traveled via the Boston Post Road, once again, through Pelham and the Bronx. He reached Philadelphia ten days later on November 20, 1775. According to one source:

"Oswald Eve's mill became celebrated throughout the colonies. Both inquisitive tourist and anxious patriot, eager to learn the mysteries of making powder, visited his works. In November, 1775, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety sent Paul Revere to Philadelphia to inspect Eve's mill. John Dickinson wrote Eve, at the behest of Congress, that New England had a great deal of saltpeter 'in Consequence of which they desire to Erect a Powder Mill & Mr. Revere has been pitched upon to gain instruction & knowledge in this branch. a Powder Mill in New England cannot in the least degree affect your Manufacture nor be of any disadvantage to you.' Eve evidently agreed and opened his works to Revere, and to others as well."

Source: Salay, David L., The Production of Gunpowder in Pennsylvania During the American Revolution, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, No. XCIX, p. 424 (Oct. 1975; footnotes omitted).

Conclusion

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog describes how famed American Patriot Paul Revere galloped through Pelham and the Bronx on ten occasions traveling from, and returning to Boston, during the 1770s. Research makes clear, however, that Paul Revere passed on Old Boston Post Road through Pelham and the Bronx on a number of additional occasions. He knew the roadway and the trip well. At the end of today's posting is a list of such trips.

Given the importance of the Old Boston Post Road as a principal transportation artery in the northeast at the time, it is no surprise Paul Revere galloped through Pelham on important missions during those Revolutionary times. Indeed, as we have learned before, the fact that Old Boston Post Road passed through Pelham meant that a number of the nation's Founding Fathers, including the exalted George Washington, passed through Pelham. In fact, on October 15, 1789, President George Washington embarked on a tour of the Eastern States setting out from New York City (then the nation's capital) and traveling along the Old Boston Post Road.

According to his journals, Washington passed through the newly-created Town of Pelham during the afternoon of that day noting that: "The Road for the greater part, indeed the whole way, was very rough and Stoney, but the Land strong, well covered with grass and a luxurient [sic] Crop of Indian Corn intermixed with Pompions [pumpkins] (Which were yet ungathered) in the fields. We met four droves of Beef Cattle for the New York Market (about 30 in a drove) some of which were very fine -- also a flock of Sheep for the same place. We scarcely passed a farm house that did not abd. in Geese. Their Cattle seemed to be of a good quality and their hogs large but rather long legged. No dwelling Ho. is seen without a Stone or Brick Chimney and rarely any without a shingled roof -- generally the Sides are of Shingles also. The distance of this days travel was 31 Miles in which we passed through (after leaving the Bridge) East Chester New Rochel [sic] & Marmeroneck [sic]; but as these places (though they have houses of worship in them) are not regularly laid out, they are scarcely to be distinguished from the intermediate farms which are very close together and seperated [sic], as one Inclosure [sic] from another also is, by fences of Stone which are indeed easily made, as the County is immensely Stony. Upon enquiry [sic] we find their Crops of Wheat & Rye have been abundant -- though of the first they had sown rather sparingly on Acct. of the destruction which had of late years been made of that grain by what is called the Hessian fly."

Source: Donald Jackson & Dorothy Twohig, eds., The Diaries of George Washington, Vol. V, pp. 460-62 (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1976-79) (a series of The Papers of George Washington).

Rides through Pelham such as those taken by Paul Revere and George Washington may not seem today as dramatic as the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere described by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They were, however. historic and form a proud part of the history of the little Town of Pelham.

* * * * *

Article with Photograph That Also Appears at the Beginning

of Today's Blog Posting with Information About Colonial

Place in the City of Mount Vernon. The Text of the Article

Appears Below to Facilitate Search. Source: Know Your

Westchester, Citizen Register [Ossining, NY], Jul. 31, 1952,

p. 3, cols. 3-5. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

"Know Your Westchester

COLONIAL PLACE, a 500-foot bit of unpaved road running from Sandford Boulevard to South Columbus Avenue in Mount Vernon, is the oldest stretch of original roadway left in Westchester and perhaps in the state, according to the Mount Vernon historian, Edward Oakley. Here, between its ancient stone walls and giant trees, survives withoug change a bit of the original Boston Post Road which was transformed from an Indian path to a highway by the farm carts of the Eastchester settlers from Fairfield, Conn. On a map of 1671 it is designated as 'Ye Highway into New England.' John Richbell followed the trail to his plantation in Mamaroneck. Joh Pell passed here on his way to his Manor of Pelham. Post riders carried the mail down this lane from 1673 until 1772 when the stage coaches took over the mails. Madame Knight, the New England diarist, records the 'horrible' condition of the Eastchester road on Dec. 21, 1704. In 1712 the Court of General Sessions ordered Eastchester and Pelham to build a bridge (or pay a fine of 20 pounds) over the Hutchinson River a few yards east of this Sandford Boulevard entrance to today's Colonial Place. Benjamin Franklin, as Postmaster General, passed this way in 1737 on his tour to establish milestones. Washington rode the highway in Februay, 1756, to his Boston conference with Governor Shirley. The first stage coach rumbled by on June 25, 1772. Paul Revere, carrying dispatches to New York telling of the Boston Tea Party, passed along the road in December, 1773. John Adams traveled the road on Aug. 20, 1774, bound for the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia and later to his own inauguration as president. The list of the names of famous travelers along the rutted lne of today's Colonial Place is long. Only one house faces the road. It is owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. MacIlvane who would resist with all their power any attempt to modernize or alter in any way this one last unchanged bit of 'Ye Highway into New England.'"

* * * * *

Below is research from David Hackett Fischer's wonderful book "Paul Revere's Ride." The text that appears in bold red font represents a reference to a sixth round trip during which Paul Revere passed through Pelham and the Bronx on two occasions.

"Paul Revere's Revolutionary Rides: Research by Michael Kalin

Date: 17 Dec. 73
From: Boston
To: New York & Phila.
Purpose of trip: Explaining Tea Party
From: Phila.
To: New York & Boston
Purpose of trip: Concerning responses
Duration: 10 Days

Date: 14 May 74
From: Boston
To: New York & Phila.
Purpose of trip: News of Intolerable Acts
From: Phila.
To: New York, Hartford & Boston
Purpose of trip: Response of Colonies
Duration:

Date: Summer 74
From: Boston
To: New York
Purpose of trip: Meetings with Whig leaders
From: New York
To: Boston
Purpose of trip: 'for calling a Congress'
Duration:

Date: 11 Sep. 74
From: Boston
To: Milton
Duration: 3 hours
Purpose of trip: Pick up Suffolk Resolves
Date: 11 Sep. 74
From: Milton
To: New York & Phila.
Duration: 6 days
Purpose of trip: Suffolk Resolves to Congress
Date: 18 Sep. 74
From: Phila.
To: Boston
Duration: 5 days
Purpose of trip: Congressional response

Date: 29 Sep. 74
From: Boston
To: Phila.
Duration: 6 days?
Purpose of trip: Response to British measures
Date: 11 Oct. 74
From: Phila.
To: Boston
Duration: 7 days?
Purpose of trip: Congressional resolves

Date: 12 Dec. 74
From: Boston
To: Portsmouth, N.H.
Duration: 1 day
Purpose of trip: Warning of British Attack
Date: 13 Dec. 74
From: Portsmouth
To: Boston
Duration: 1 day
Purpose of trip:

Date: 26 Jan. 75
From: Boston
To: Exeter, N.H.
Duration: 1 day?
Purpose of trip: Liaison with N.H. Congress
Date:
From: Exeter
To: Boston
Purpose of trip:
Duration:

Date: 7 Apr. 75
From: Boston
To: Concord
Duration: 1 day
Purpose of trip: Warning to move stores
From: Concord
To: Boston
Purpose of trip:
Duration:

Date: 16 Apr. 75
From: Boston
To: Lexington
Duration: 1 day
Purpose of trip: Meeting with town leaders
Date:
From: Lexington
To: Charlestown
Duration:
Purpose of trip:

Date: 18 Apr. 75
From: Boston
To: Lexington & Concord
Duration: 4 hours
Purpose of trip: Warning of British march captured in Lincoln
From:
To:
Purpose of trip:
Duration:

Date:
From:
To:
Purpose of trip:
From:
To:
Purpose of trip:
Duration:

Date: 20 Apr. 75
From: Mass
To: Various places
Duration: 17 days
Purpose of trip: 'Out of doors work' for the Committee of Safety
Date: 7 May 75
From:
To:
Purpose of trip:
Duration:

Date: 12 Nov. 75
From: Boston
To: Philadelphia
Duration: 7 days
Purpose of trip: Studying methods for the manufacture of munitions
Date: 24 Nov. 75
From:Phila
To: Boston
Duration: 7 days
Purpose of trip:
Duration:"

Source: Fischer, David Hackett, Paul Revere's Ride, Appendix C -- Paul Revere's Revolutionary Rides: Research by Michael Kalin, pp. 299-300 (NY, NY / Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1994) (bold red emphasis added and text converted from columnar form).

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Labels: 1773, 1774, 1775, 45 Iden Avenue, Colonial Avenue, Colonial Place, David J. Pell, Mount Vernon, Old Boston Post Road, Paul Revere, Pelhamdale, Philip Pell Jr.