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Revere bells and bellfoundries.
The famous patriot Paul Revere is also known as the second major bellfounder in America.
(He was preceded by Col. Aaron Hobart of Abington [*], Massachusetts,
and a handful of other colonial artisans who made small numbers of tower bells.)
His definitive biography, the well-known "Paul Revere and the world he lived in",
by Esther Forbes (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942), describes his bell-making work
on pages 385-391.
*
The name of the town of Abington was mis-spelled as "Abingdon" on the proclamation
which established it, and a few historic references use that spelling.
This page provides some information about Revere's work and Revere bells, organized as follows:
Extant bells by Paul Revere and family
This section presents links to Webpages which mention surviving bells
that were cast by Paul Revere, his sons or his grandsons.
They are listed in approximate chronological order, and grouped according to the changes in
the name and/or the proprietorship of the business.
(There are gaps in the dates because the chronology given here is based
partly on the inscriptions of dated surviving Revere bells.)
Actual inscriptions are shown in boldface type when known.
Paul Revere, Boston, 1792-1798
Paul Revere's original bellfoundry was simply an extension of the iron and brass foundry
which he had set up in Boston in 1787.
- In 1796, Revere sold a bell to the Town of Falmouth, MA.
That is presumed to be the bell which is in the tower of
First Congregational Church of
Falmouth; see the History page.
(There once was also an Organ page which carried more information about the bell,
but it has been removed.)
This bell is undated, and carries no maker's name, but its poetic inscription
is the same as is found on other bells which do carry the Revere name,
and its style is the same.
- (Six other bells survive from this period, but are not on the Web.)
Revere & Sons, Boston, 1801
At least two of Paul Revere's 16 children, Paul Jr. and Joseph, entered their father's business.
- (Three bells survive from this period, but none are on the Web.)
Revere & Son, Boston, 1801-11
After a short time, Paul Jr. left his father's employ.
(It is said that he went to work for bellfounder George Holbrook,
but that has not been confirmed.)
Joseph Revere stayed on with his father, as a junior partner in the business.
In this same year, Revere set up the first copper rolling mill in America, in Canton.
In 1804, the foundry was moved from Boston to Canton (though the bells continued to be
labelled "Boston"), and Joseph made a trip to Europe to study bell-casting.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1802,
Congregational
Church, Newington, NH.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1804,
The Paul Revere House,
Boston, MA, has a bell originally bought by East Parish Church
in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1805.
- (16 other bells survive from this period, but are not on the Web.)
Paul Revere & Son, Boston, 1811-1818
When Paul Revere retired from business in 1811, the partnership was reorganized under the
same name but with Joseph holding 4/6 interest and Paul's grandsons Paul 3rd and Thomas Eayres Jr
each holding 1/6.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1814,
First Parish Church (Unitarian
Universalist), Wayland (originally East Sudbury), MA; information about this bell
has been removed from the Website.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1816,
King's Chapel,
Boston, MA.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1818,
St.Michael's Church,
Marblehead, MA - This history page tells about the bell,
and has a photo of the now-truncated bell tower, but not one of the bell itself.
A very long history of the church includes a section about the Revere bell and a photo of it.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1818,
St.Patrick's Church,
Damariscotta Mills (Newcastle), ME; the only Catholic church with a Revere bell.
- (14 other bells survive from this period, but are not on the Web.)
Paul Revere & Son, Boston, 1818-1828
On the death of Thomas Eayres Jr in 1818, Paul 3rd sold his share to Joseph, thus leaving the
latter as sole proprietor.
(Paul 3rd later became a partner of bellfounder Henry N. Hooper.)
The name of the firm remain unchanged, even though Paul Sr had also died in 1818.
The last bell entry in the Revere stockbooks was dated 1828, though bells made after 1824
did not carry a date on them.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1819,
First Parish Church,
Unitarian, Groton, MA, is pictured on a town history page (though oddly it does not
give its name!) and the bell is mentioned.
.
A local realtor's
area information page
has a photo of the building a mentions the bell.
- REVERE & SON BOSTON 1819,
Christ Church, Savannah, GA;
a former History page.which mentioned this bell, was removed in a redesign of the Website.
- REVERE BOSTON 1822,
All Souls Unitarian Church, Washington, DC;
see Archives and History, under About Us.
- REVERE BOSTON 1822,
St.John's Episcopal Church,
Washington, DC - This history page has a paragraph about the bell, and a photo,
showing that it is hung on an early version of Meneelys' Rotating Yoke.
- (37 other bells survive from this period, but are not on the Web.)
Revere Copper Company, Boston, 1828-
The Canton firm was incorporated as the Revere Copper Company in 1828.
Joseph Revere was president, a position he held for 60 years.
Bells continued to be made occasionally,
all undated except for the last-known which was produced in 1843.
- (45 bells survive from this period, but are not on the Web.)
Recast Revere bells
When bells are cracked through misuse, damaged by fire, or broken by other means,
they are often recast using the original metal (usually with additions).
This establishes a historical connection to the original bell, although the
result cannot properly be attributed to the original bellfounder.
The following bells are documented recastings of former Revere bells.
- Warren, RI,
Baptist Church;
"Paul Revere's 13th bell" (1800?), recast by Meneely & Co., West Troy, NY,
and hung in Meneely fittings.
(alternate page)
- North Boston, MA, St.Stephen's Church
has a bell reputed to be by Revere.
However, the style of the bell, yoke and
uprights indicate that it is probably a recasting by Hooper or Blake.
(The wheel is a modern replacement.)
- (Other bells may survive from this period, but are not on the Web.)
These links should be distributed among the sections above when details are known.
These Weblinks lead to pages which put Paul Revere's bellfounding
in the context of the rest of his life.
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This page was created 2002/08/30 and last revised on 2020/08/14.
Please send comments or questions about this page to
csz_stl@swbell.net.
