Robert Newman

Robert Newman (March 20, 1752 – May 26, 1804) was an American sexton at Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He is considered a patriot in the American Revolution for hanging two lanterns in his church's steeple on April 18, 1775, part of a warning signal leading up to Paul Revere's and William Dawes' midnight rides, on the eve of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Painting of Christ Church, later renamed Old North Church, in North End, Boston. Exact date unknown.

Early life

In 1741, Newman's parents purchased a three-storied, prominent house in Boston's North End and moved with their young children. 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 later joined the Society of Free Masons, in 1783, and continued as sexton of the Old North Church until his death by suicide on May 26, 1804. The famous steeple was toppled by the Snow Hurricane of 1804, the autumn after Newman's passing. He was survived by his second wife, Mary Hammon, whom he married in 1790, and their five children. 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.

Notable family members Newman's maternal great-grandfather was Reverend George Burroughs, the Harvard educated, non-ordained minister who was sentenced for witchcraft and hanged in Salem in 1692.

Isaiah Thomas, first cousin to Newman, was the editor of the Massachusetts Spy and founder of the American Antiquarian Society.

Historic Marker Sites

Metal plaque: Charlestown, MA Stone tablet: Old North Church Courtyard, Boston, MA Stone tablet: North End, Boston, MA Timeline: Boston, MA Pews #50 and #78: Old North Church, Boston, MA