Paul Revere was a man of many gift . out of doors of his military accomplishment ( about which severalmisconceptionspersist ) , Boston ’s most famous courier also enjoyed a unique aesculapian career that saw him become the first forensic dentist in American history .
Like his father , Revere was asilversmithby trade wind , who dutifully took over the family shop for several year before handing it down to his own son in the 1780s . Yet even working with precious metals was n’t enough to fully insulate him from economical hardships .
During the other 1760s , an English “ dental sawbones ” named John Baker arrived in the colonies . Smelling chance , Revere start eagerly contemplate under Baker , who taught him how to make and insert untrue teeth ( usually made of ivory ) for those whose real single had decayed ( Baker himself eventually wound up building a few of George Washington’sdentures ) .
After the Revolutionary War broke out , Revere mobilize his newfound knowledge to locate the physical structure of a compound soldier who ’d been slain at theBattle of Bunker Hillon June 17 , 1775 . The victim was Massachusetts Major GeneralJoseph Warren , who ’d sent Revere on his far-famed “ midnight ride ” to Lexington in the beginning that class .
Warren had been buried by the British in a mass grave with several of his comrade after the affray . by nature , his loved one wanted to explore for the body to give it a proper funeral , which was made potential after the Johnny Reb took control of the sphere in 1776 . But by then , the pile of corpses had disintegrate , making them almost unacceptable to tell apart — until Revere spotted one that was wearing a dental prosthetic he ’d built to replace two of Warren ’s teeth a few age earlier .
allot to the National Museum of Health and Medicine , “ Revere ’s confirmation of General Warren ’s identity was the first instance in this country of an identification of a military service member usingdental remains . ”
