Paul Revere’s Ancestry

Paternal Ancestry (France)

Great-great grandparents: Jean Rivoire (b. in southwestern France about 1610) married Sarra Frassineau in 1632.

Great-grandparents: Jean Rivoire (b. about 1632), a merchant in Sainte-Foye-la-Grande, a small town on the Dordogne River, in southwest France, married Magdeleine Malapougne between 1653 and 1664.

Grandparents: Isaac Rivoire (1660-1731), landowner in Riocaud, a village south of Ste. Foye, married Serenne Lambert in 1694.

Parents: Paul Revere (original name Apollos Rivoire) (1702-1754) born in Riocaud in 1702, was sent by his family to the New World in 1715. Arriving in Boston in early 1716, Apollos was apprenticed to the English-speaking goldsmith John Coney. Following Coney’s death in 1722, Apollos set up his own shop in Dock Square (today’s Faneuil Hall). Some time in the 1720’s he anglicized his name, first to Paul Rivoire, then to Paul Revere, the name he gave his oldest son. He married Deborah Hitchbourn* (1704-1777) in 1729.

* Other spellings of family name in use in the 18th century: Hichborn, Hitchborn.

Maternal Ancestry (New England)

Great-great grandparents: David and Catherine Hitchbourn (arrived in Boston in 1641 from Boston, England); Captain Richard Woody and Frances Dexter.

Great-grandparents: Thomas and Ruth Hitchbourn; Captain Richard Pattishall (d. 1689) and Martha Woody (1651-1718).

Grandparents: Thomas Hitchbourn (1673-1731) and Frances Pattishall (1679-1749). Thomas Hitchbourn owned a small wharf in Boston, where he built boats and handled light cargoes. His wife inherited the wharf following his death.

Paul Revere (Apollos Rivoire) and Deborah Hitchbourn were parents of at least 9 children, 7 of whom survived to adulthood: Deborah (b. 1732), married Thomas Metcalf; Paul (1734-1818); Frances (b. 1736), married Edward Calleteau; Thomas (b. 1740), goldsmith, married Mary ———; John (b.1741), a tailor, married (1) Anna Clemens, then (2) Silence Ingerfield; Mary (1743-1801), married (1) Edward Rose, then (2) Alexander Baker; Elizabeth (b. 1745), married David Moseley, a silversmith.

Sources: Andre J. and Pamela Labatut, “Paul Revere’s Paternal Ancestry,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 150 (July, 1996); Esther Forbes, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942); Paul Revere — Artisan, Businessman and Patriot: The Man Behind the Myth (1988).

Paul Revere’s Family

Paul Revere (1734-1818) married
Sarah Orne (1736-1773), on August 4, 1757.

Paul and Sarah Revere had 8 children:

  1. Deborah Revere (1758-1797) married Amos Lincoln, a carpenter. They had 9 children.
  2. Paul Revere Jr. (1760-1813) married Sally Edwards (1761-1808), on August 22, 1782. Sally was the daughter of Dolin Edwards and Rebecca Christie. They had 12 children. Paul Jr. was a silversmith and after the war he manufactured bells with his father and brother, Joseph Warren Revere, as a member of Paul Revere & Sons. In 1792, Paul Revere & Sons cast the first bell made in Boston.
  3. Sarah Revere (1762-1791) married John Bradford.
  4. Mary Revere (1764-1765)
  5. Frances Revere (1766-1799) married Thomas Stevens Eayres, a silversmith.
  6. Mary Revere (1768-1853) married Jedediah Lincoln, carpenter.
  7. Elizabeth Revere (1770-1805) married Amos Lincoln, a carpenter.
  8. Isannah Revere (1772-1773)

Paul Revere’s first wife, Sarah, died shortly after the birth of their 8th child Isannah.
Paul Revere married Rachel Walker (1745-1813), his second wife, on October 10, 1773.

Paul and Rachel Revere had 8 children:

  1. Joshua Revere (1774-1801) a merchant.
  2. John Revere (born/died 1776).
  3. Joseph Warren Revere (1777-1868) a merchant and manufacturer, married Mary Robbins.
  4. Lucy Revere (born/died 1780).
  5. Harriet Revere (1783-1860) A teacher?
  6. John Revere (1783-1786).
  7. Maria Revere (1785-1847) married Joseph Balestier, a merchant and diplomat.
  8. John Revere (1787-1847) married Lydia LeBaron Goodwin. John attended Harvard (1807) and became a physician.

Source: Paul Revere – Artisan, Businessman and Patriot: The Man Behind The Myth, 1988; Donald M. Nielsen, “The Revere Family,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 145 (1991); Second Church (Boston Mass) Records 1650-1970, Massachusetts Historical Society.