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What was the name of Paul Revere's horse?

Question #1215. Asked by curious.
Last updated Sep 13 2016.

Related Trivia Topics: Animals   Name Game  
mentor
Answer has 23 votes
mentor
17 year member
38 replies

Answer has 23 votes.
No one knows. Many names have been suggested over the years, but there is no historical record to verify any of them. What is known is that Paul Revere rode a horse provided by Deacon John Larkin. No contemporary Larkin family records give a name for the horse. The naming of horses was not common at the time.

Apr 13 2000, 7:32 PM
Roxanne33
Answer has 22 votes
Roxanne33
25 year member
339 replies

Answer has 22 votes.
I have found these sites that say it was 'Brown Beauty':

(old links all dead. see below for updated link(s) )

Response last updated by Terry on Aug 19 2016.
May 08 2000, 6:59 PM
ODonnell
Answer has 40 votes
Currently Best Answer
ODonnell
25 year member
58 replies

Answer has 40 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
We can't be 100% sure. What we do know though is that the only name with any actual historical evidence is Brown Beauty for Paul Revere's horse.

This seems pretty definitive, and from the society that handles his historical house:
Revere left several accounts of his ride, and although he states that he borrowed the horse from John Larkin, neither he nor anyone else takes much notice of the mount, or refers to it by name. Revere calls it simply "a very good horse." In the years since 1775 many names have been attached to the animal, the most exotic probably being Scheherazade. The only name for which there is any evidence, however, is Brown Beauty.

The following excerpt is taken from a genealogy of the Larkin family, published in 1930.
"Samuel (Larkin) ... born Oct. 22, 1701; died Oct. 8, 1784, aged 83; he was a chairmaker, then a fisherman and had horses and a stable. He was the owner of "Brown Beauty," the mare of Paul Revere's Ride made famous by the Longfellow poem. The mare was loaned at the request of Samuel's son, deacon John Larkin, and was never returned to the owner."

According to this source, the famous horse was owned not by Deacon John, but by his father - if true, this would mean that not only did Revere ride a borrowed horse, but a borrowed, borrowed horse. That it had a name is difficult to prove in the absence of corroborating evidence.

link https://www.paulreverehouse.org/bio/faq.html


Response last updated by Terry on Sep 13 2016.
Apr 08 2002, 9:56 PM
avatar
zbeckabee star
Answer has 27 votes
zbeckabee star
Moderator
19 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 27 votes.
Samuel (Larkin) ... born Oct. 22, 1701; died Oct. 8, 1784, aged 83; he was a chairmaker, then a fisherman and had horses and a stable. He was the owner of "Brown Beauty," the mare of Paul Revere's Ride made famous by the Longfellow poem. The mare was loaned at the request of Samuel's son, deacon John Larkin, and was never returned to the owner.

Mounted on Brown Beauty, one of the swiftest horses in Massachusetts, Paul Revere warns his fellow patriots of the arrival of the British regulars.

link http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web01/features/see_it_now/1770.0111.html
link http://www.paulreverehouse.org/bio/faq.shtml

Jan 22 2008, 5:24 PM
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Terry star
Answer has 12 votes
Terry star
Moderator
25 year member
333 replies avatar

Answer has 12 votes.
This seems pretty definitive, and from the society that handles his historical house:

"The only name for which there is any evidence, however, is Brown Beauty."

link https://www.paulreverehouse.org/bio/faq.html

Aug 19 2016, 1:54 PM
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