William's story

William had a friend, you have heard of this friend many times. He has been written about time and again through the ages of history. There is one memorable event associated with William's friend; but as Paul Harvey would say here is the rest of the story.

It is a dark night by the harbor; rumors have been running rampant all day that something was about to happen. What that something was no one knew for sure, but there was much speculation.
There were clusters of people from both sides gathered on the street corners all day talking in hushed voices.
One would ask do you really think they will do it? And another would respond saying, "that is what I am hearing. They are getting pretty tired of all that is happening and ...

My purpose here is not to tell the story of that night, but to tell you about William Dawes. He was a quiet individual; he was known around town, but outside of his immediate area few knew him or even knew his name. William's friend, on the other hand, was known by everyone. He could not walk down the street without people calling out his name and wishing him a good day. Maybe that is not fair, but that is the way it was.

One night the word finally came that the British were starting to make their move. They were forming up for a march starting in the wee hours of the morning on the road that leads to ...
Lexington and Concord!

This story may be familiar to you and if it is you have probably guessed that William's friend was Paul Revere. Paul Revere was well known and because he was well known he was successful in getting the word out that the British were coming. He did not have to do much more than say "The British Are Coming" then men would jump from their beds, get their rifles and start spreading the word to their friends.

William, on the other hand, had the same responsibility to spread the word, just his area was South of Boston. When William rode up to a home, he first had to introduce himself, then he had to explain why he was disturbing them in the middle of the night, and finally he was able to tell them that the "British Were Coming".

The subsequent conversation when the homeowner went back into the house to tell his family about the commotion was to say that; "Some guy named William something is riding around telling people that the British Are Coming; whatever that means. He wants us to take up our arms and ride over to Lexington and Concord to help fight the British." I do not know if this is for real or not; I just do not know this guy." And to his wife he says; "What do you think?"

Her response was probably; "I do not know dear, but whatever you want is fine by me. I am sure, however, it can wait until morning. Let's go back and get some sleep."

I have taken some, no a lot, of literary license with the story, but it is true that Dawes was an unknown and as a result very ineffective in getting people to Lexington and Concord to fight the British.