Art and paintings of the
American Revolutionary War

ISAIAH THOMAS
Revolutionary War Patriot

Isaiah Thomas Prints

Israel Bissell Prints

 

 

Union St., Boston, 1771-1775
Isaiah Thomas was a nearly forgotten newspaper printer and publisher who printed the The Massachusetts Spy newspaper from Boston from 1770 to 1775 and later became one of the most prominent publishers of his time.

Throughout this time he made many contributions to writings on human rights and individual freedom. His scathing criticisms of the ruling British authority had many times endangered his own life.  The numerous gatherings of founding patriots and these writings earned his printing shop the deserved reputation as "The Sedition Foundry" (see below).

It was partially through his newspaper, 'The Massachusetts Spy', and a host of his other publications that many of the colonists in New England learned the facts of the oppressive conditions imposed upon them by the ruling British authorities.

His newspaper and his patriotic efforts had in many ways fueled the flames of the American Revolutionary War.

The events of Isaiah Thomas's activities in Boston relating to the developments of the American Revolutionary War were imagined in paintings commissioned by the historic landmark, The Union Oyster House, in Boston.  The images of these paintings were made into prints with text describing these events.


(please click to view the prints)

The Sedition Foundry

Isaiah Thomas (above center) was born youngest of three into a poor Boston family on January 19, 1749. From the ages of six through sixteen, Isaiah was indentured as an apprentice to a Boston printer, Zachariah Fowle, where he learned his trade.

In 1767, Thomas lived in Halifax. He worked on the Halifax Gazette against the Stamp Act, a British Parliamentary tax law of 1765 and took such a strong stand against this measure that he was fired. In 1767 at 18, Thomas settled for two years in Charleston, South Carolina, and worked as a journeyman printer.

On Christmas day of 1769, he married Mary Dill, and moved to Boston in the spring of 1770 where he began a partnership with his former master, Fowle. The first samples of The Massachusetts Spy were issued on July 17, 1770. By October 23, 1770 , Fowle sold his interest to Thomas.

At the end of October 1771, Isaiah Thomas moved his print shop to a house on the "south corner of Marshall Lane, leading from Mill bridge into Union Street".

Between 1771 and 1775, when Isaiah Thomas operated his press from his home and office on Union Street in Boston, many radical revolutionaries met secretly there to draft their plans for liberty. Portrayed from left to right are Paul Revere, James Otis, John Hancock as they proofread the daring November 14, 1771 issue.

22-year-old Isaiah Thomas at his "Old No. 1" Press

 

ISRAEL BISSELL

Who was Israel Bissell?  Heard of Paul Revere's ride? Same thing, but much, much more... It's the difference between 20 miles and 345 miles.

Israel Bissell was a 23-year old, little known post rider who carried the "call to arms" from Watertown, Massachusetts to the City Hall in Philadelphia.  He alerted the colonists along the way of the British attack on April 19, 1775 in Lexington. He rode day and night for four days, six hours and some minutes covering 345 miles and roused citizens in tiny hamlets, towns and cities shouting of the impending danger that started with the "shot heard round the world" for American independence.

"To arms to arms, the war has begun" he warned. Sleeping little, eating sparingly, changing horses, he persevered and sounded the alarm. The exhausted and disheveled Bissell delivered the message which was to change the course of this country. The rest is history.

Please click to learn more about Israel Bissell or to purchase the print

Text and Images Copyright © D. W. Roth 2015, All rights reserved