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Most of us have heard of Paul Revere’s midnight ride of April 18, 1775, when he, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott warned the countryside that the British were coming. That ride was made famous by Henry Longfellow’s 1860 poem. Less well known until the twentieth century were the rides of Israel and Isaac Bissell, who carried the news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord from Watertown, Massachusetts to and through Connecticut. In his presentation to DFAW on September 24, 2022 Damien Cregeau suggested that it is likely that both Isaac and Israel Bissell were among the many riders who spread the news of Lexington and Concord throughout the colonies. He noted that proof that Israel Bissell was a rider is contained in a record at the Scottish Rite Museum, Boston which clearly gives the name as Israel Bissel, with the charge to “alarm the Country quite to Connecticut.” A rider or riders then rode through eastern Connecticut from Brooklyn to New London and along the Connecticut shore. Meanwhile, Isaac Bissell was probably rider on a second route from Watertown to Hartford and then, perhaps, to New Haven. ... See MoreSee Less

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