Thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem in 1861, Paul Revere has been immortalized as a national folk here. This legendary man did a great deal more than just warn the patriots that the Redcoats were coming. Left with his father's silversmith trade, Revere went on to become one of the most skilled artisans of his time. The ambitious businessman learned engraving and dentistry but it was his interest in masonry which launched him into the arena of political leadership. His patriotism drove him to become an active revolutionary--engraving political cartoons, joining underground societies like the Sons of Liberty, and helping to stage the Boston Tea Party. Paul Revere's activities as courier and spy not only helped to spread the spirit of rebellion but earned him the title of Colonel in the Continental Army.