Editing Paul Revere (section)

==Early life and education==
Revere was born in the [[North End, Boston]], on December 21, 1734, according to the [[Old Style]] calendar then in use, or January 1, 1735, in the modern calendar.{{sfn|Triber|1998|p=7}} His father, [[Apollos Rivoire]], a French [[Huguenot]] who came to Boston at the age of 13, had been apprenticed to the silversmith [[John Coney (silversmith)|John Coney]].{{sfn|Triber|1998|pp=7–9}} By the time he married Deborah Hitchborn, a member of a long-standing Boston family that owned a small shipping wharf, in 1729, Rivoire had anglicized his name to Paul Revere. The Hitchborn family was of English origin; Deborah's maternal great grandparents, David and Catherine Hitchbourn, arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1641 from [[Boston, England]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Paul Revere: Artisan, Businessman, and Patriot--the Man Behind the Myth |author=Paul Revere Memorial Association |publisher=Paul Revere Memorial Association |date=1988 |page=21 |isbn=978-0-9619999-1-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xfrAAAAMAAJ&q=David%20Hitchbourn}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Revere's Ancestry |url=https://www.paulreverehouse.org/ancestry/ |website=Paul Revere House}}</ref> Their son, Paul Revere, was the third of 12 children and eventually the eldest surviving son.{{sfn|Fischer|1994|p=297}} Revere grew up in the environment of the extended Hitchborn family, and never learned his father's native language.{{sfn|Fischer|1994|p=9}}

At the age of thirteen, Paul Revere left school and became an apprentice to his father. Silversmithing afforded young Paul connections with a cross-section of Boston society; these would serve him well when he became active in the [[American Revolution]].{{sfn|Triber|1998|pp=14–16}} Further, though his father attended [[Puritan]] services, Revere was drawn to the [[Church of England]].{{sfn|Miller|2010|p=21}} In 1750, aged 15, Revere was part of the first group of [[Change ringing|change ringers]] to ring the new bells (cast in 1744) at Christ Church, in the north of Boston (the [[Old North Church]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldnorth.com/blog/the-bells-at-old-north/|title=Our Change Ringing Bells {{!}} The Old North Church|date=November 26, 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=January 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oldnorth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Bell-Ringer-document.pdf|title=Bell Ringer's Agreement|website=The Old North Church|access-date=January 31, 2020}}</ref> Revere eventually began attending the services of the political and provocative [[Jonathan Mayhew]] at the [[Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts|West Church]].{{sfn|Miller|2010|p=21}} His father did not approve, and as a result father and son came to blows on one occasion. Revere relented and returned to his father's church, although he did become friends with Mayhew, and returned to the West Church in the late 1760s.{{sfn|Miller|2010|pp=25, 103}}

[[File:PaulReveredentaltools.jpg|thumb|upright|Revere's dentistry tools]]

Revere's father died in 1754, when Paul was legally too young to officially be the master of the family silver shop.{{sfn|Triber|1998|p=21}} In February 1756, during the [[French and Indian War]] (the North American theater of the [[Seven Years' War]]), he enlisted in the provincial army. Possibly he made this decision because of the weak economy, since army service promised consistent pay.{{sfn|Triber|1998|pp=21–22}} Commissioned a second lieutenant in a provincial artillery regiment, he spent the summer at [[Fort William Henry]] at the southern end of [[Lake George (lake), New York|Lake George]] in [[New York (state)|New York]] as part of an abortive plan for the capture of [[Fort St. Frédéric]]. He did not stay long in the army, but returned to Boston and assumed control of the silver shop in his own name. On August 4, 1757, he married Sarah Orne (1736–1773); their first child was born eight months later.{{sfn|Miller|2010|p=33}} He and Sarah had eight children, but two died young, and only one, Mary, survived her father.{{sfn|Fischer|1994|pp=15, 297}}