Robert Newman (sexton)
Robert Newman was an American sexton at the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He is considered a Patriot in the American Revolution for hanging lanterns, along with two fellow patriots, in his church's steeple on April 18, 1775, part of a warning signal devised by Paul Revere, on the eve of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Life and career
Newman had become sexton of Christ Church in 1772. He was a member of the and resided in Boston's North End. The Newman family was quartering British regulars in their home, a common practice in 1775 while the city was under siege. After pretending to go to bed on the night of April 18, Newman snuck out of his house undetected by the regulars and joined vestryman John Pulling and, who assisted him with the signal. Bernard served as a lookout while Pulling and Newman went to the belfry, the tallest structure in the area. Using a code devised by Revere, Newman hung two lanterns in the church's belfry to warn Patriots that the British were about to descend upon Lexington via the Charles River. The signal was spotted across the river and allies began spreading the word. British regulars also witnessed the display and encircled the church. According to local legend, Newman escaped out the of the church and fled for home. General Gage arrested him the following day on April 19th, yet nothing could be proven against him and Newman was released three days later. He reported passing the keys of the church to Pulling, and when British authorities went to question Pulling, he had already escaped to Nantucket, where he remained until it was safe to return.Newman joined the the Society of Free Masons on January 15, 1783 and continued as sexton of the Old North Church until his death. The famous was toppled by the Snow Hurricane of 1804 in the fall after Newman died. He was survived by his second wife, Mary Hammon, whom he married in 1790. He is buried at Copp's Hill Burying Ground in Boston. His collected letters were published on the bicentennial of his signal, in 1975. One of the two original lanterns remains and is on display at the Concord Museum in Concord Massachusetts.
Notable Family Members
Robert Newman's maternal great grandfather was Reverend George Burroughs, the Harvard educated, non-ordaned minister who was sentenced for witch craft and hanged in Salem in 1692.Colorado State Senator,, was Robert Newman's grandson.
Archaeologist Payson D. Sheets is a direct descendent, as Robert Newman's great great great grandson.