By Jeremy Dibbell

October’s Object of the Month is a letter from Rachel Revere to her husband Paul, dated 2 May 1775 (just a couple weeks after his famous ride). “The Revere Family papers (collection guide) held by the Massachusetts Historical Society contain only a small number of documents by or about Rachel Revere, so we know relatively little about her life–the life of an ordinary woman in 18th-century Boston–compared to that of her celebrated husband. In this letter, we get a brief glimpse of her character at a moment of crisis in their lives. It shows her to have been engaged by the momentous events taking place around her, but anxious to be of practical help to her husband. Torn by the necessity of offering bribes to the servant of a British officer she clearly detested to secure her family’s safety, and by the necessity of leaving her fifteen-year-old stepson, Paul, behind the British lines in Boston, she concerned herself with settling family business affairs and supplying her husband with money and clothing.”

You can see images of the letter, read a transcription, and find more background about Rachel and Paul Revere here.