Talk:Israel Bissell

message: *April 19, 1775, Monday, leaves Watertown, Massachusetts to Worcester, Massachusetts
*April 20, 1775, Tuesday
*April 21, 1775, Wednesday, New Haven, Connecticut
*April 22, 1775, Thursday
*April 23, 1775, Friday, arrives in New York City
*April 24, 1775, Saturday
*April 24, 1775, Sunday, arrives in Philadelphia
Our Israel Bissell?
Israel Bissell, East Windsor, Ct., d. 1776 in middle life of camp distemper in Rev. War;
m. Hannah ----, who d. 5/28//1799 They had Robert, Israel, Justus, Eunice, Roxana, Prudence and Anna.
:The dates in the timeline seem incorrect, or at least the names of the days if we can believe time and date.com. At the very least I doubt that April 24th was both a Saturday and a Sunday! What is the correct timeline? -Shai-kun 22:18, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There are two problems here. One is that the rider is identified as Israel, and the other is that the timeline goes to New York and Philadelphia (i.e., outside of Massachusetts and Connecticut which was the route per the dispatch).–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:07, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I may have been too quick on the draw, see Talk:Isaac Bissell#Two post riders named Bissell?–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:54, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: The timeline is in the article, with dates and times from the attestations on the dispatch papers and citations.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:25, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Timeline

message: According to an article that appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe (Metro Region section, pages B1 and B6) of April 20, 1997, Israel Bissell's grave is in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, "in the far corner of the Maple Street Cemetery. He died in 1823 at age 71." The author of the article, Globe correspondent Dorothy W. Chapman, also notes "Israel Bissell was born in East Windson, Conn., in 1752. The article features a photo of a man standing at Bissell's grave.  I highly recommend that researchers consult this article.
134.241.194.113 18:58, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This doesn't apply because the postrider was Isaac, not Israel. There's a long and wide pattern of confusion about the rider's name that started when the name "Isaac" was changed to "Israel" when copies of the dispatch were made along the route.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:07, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I may have been too hasty, see Talk:Isaac Bissell#Two post riders named Bissell?–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:54, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, thanks, that article has been used: Chapman, Dorothy W. (1997-04-20). "Unknown patriot outdid Revere". The Boston Globe. p. 33. –CaroleHenson (talk) 02:32, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Israel Bissell 

message: He and Daniel Bissel are now related to the Ellis', Hewes and Dougherty's that still reside in East Windsor. Isreal is also related to the Frew's of Worthington and the Cowan's and Bissell's of Pittsfield.
:Not applicable. It's Isaac.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:07, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I may have been too quick on the draw, see Talk:Isaac Bissell#Two post riders named Bissell?–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:54, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Genealogy

message: An anon IP added large blocks of text to the article. We appreciate your contributions, but in the form they were pasted in, it is not possible to keep them in the article. Please discuss the additions on this talk page, and they'll surely be put in.
Also, pasting text word-for-word from other websites could constitute copyright violations. This creates problems for Wikipedia, and so it isn't allowed.
Please try rephrasing the text, that would avoid this problem.
Thanks
xC | ☎  18:08, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  content 

message: This was the removed content, could someone please have a look at it and add in whatever could improve the article-
The “bearer” Israel Bissell, a twenty-three old express rider from East Windsor, Connecticut, set out along the Boston Post Road toward Worcester about thirty-six miles away. The traffic was unusually heavy with hundreds of militiamen from towns further west heading for Concord in answer to the earlier alarm. Those who had not yet heard the news were startled by the cries of “the war has begun, the war has begun!”   
- The home of General Artemas Ward, newly elected Commander-in-Chief of the Massachusetts militia, still overlooks the Boston Road in Shrewsbury about five miles east of Worcester. Ward was confined to bed with a painful bladder stone when the message arrived. At sunrise the next day he painfully mounted his horse and headed for Cambridge.   
- Before noon Bissell arrived in Worcester dusty and tired shouting: “To arms, to arms, the war has begun!” His fast white horses, spent with fatigue, fell dead near the meetinghouse and Palmer's plea for additional horses became prophetic. An old signal cannon was fired from the hill behind the meetinghouse and the bell was rung to alert the outlying towns of important news. Palmer's original letter was copied and the first endorsement added:   
- “A true copy taken from the original per order of the Committee of Correspondence for Worcester   
- - April 19, 1775.   
- Attest. Nathan Baldwin, Town Clerk.”   
- The whereabouts of the original copy is not known, but the practice of keeping the copy received and sending a new copy forward was followed several times along the route. Copies were also made by individuals for their personal files or to send as dispatches or marching orders. Several copies can be found in the archives of local newspapers and broadsides which were printed as the news spread southward.   
- Also not known with certainty is the identity of the post rider who carried the news southward. Israel Bissell's name remained as part of the letter as it was written by Joseph Palmer and copied many times along the route. The spelling of Israel's first name changes slightly as copies of the letter are made and sent forward, but strictly speaking, unless other evidence such as separate news accounts or manuscripts are found, we can only speculate, as have several historians, that Israel Bissell actually carried the letter the entire distance to Philadelphia.   
- http://www.connecticutsar.org/articles/lexington_alarm.htm   
-    
- Israel Bissell, is the 23-year old, little known, post rider who carried the "call to arms" alerting the colonists of the British attack on April 19, 1775. He rode day and night for four days, six hours and some minutes covering 345 miles from Watertown to the City Hall in Philadelphia.   
- Along the way he 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.   
- His body lies in a tiny cemetery in Hinsdale, Ma., a few miles from his home site that is marked by a simple boulder where the memory of his heroic ride is carefully preserved.    
- Text © by Dorothy W. Chapman   
- Copyright © D. W. Roth 2007, All rights reserved   
- http://www.dwroth.com/frames/finearts/historical/bissell/bissell2.htm#back   
-    
- In 1775, the future rapidly became more ominous. State and local militia were organized, mustered, and drilled. On April 19, 1775, the British, seeking the "traitors" Samuel Adams and John Hancock, engaged the patriots in Lexington and exchanged fire; the war was on. Israel Bissell, a post rider, was dispatched at 10 a.m. on April 19 to Connecticut to alert the countryside to the "Lexington Alarm." He arrived at Norwich at 4 p.m. the next day and reached New London by 7. Stonington must have learned the news the same evening.   
- http://www.stoningtonhistory.org/archiv5.htm   
-    
- Local farmer Israel Bissell had played a key role in the first days of the American Revolution. According to authenticated records, he was one of the three post riders, led by Paul Revere and accompanied by William Dawes, who warned eastern Massachusetts citizens of the British march on Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.   
- Although Revere was captured briefly by the British, Bissell made his way from Watertown, near Boston, to Waterbury,    
-    
- The historic library was built in 1866. The English Tudor edifice, with Gothic, Norse and Celtic touches, was designed by Leopold Eidlitz, one of the architects involved in planning the State Capitol building in Albany, N.Y.   
- Conn., and then Philadelphia, where he reached the Continental Congress after a marathon five-day ride.   
- He spent the rest of his life in Hinsdale and was buried at the town cemetery on Maple Street. His exploits were chronicled in magazines, newspaper accounts (including narratives by Eagle columnists Gerard Chapman and Clay Perry), and in an anthology of Revolutionary era documents published during the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976. Bissell was first honored in the Berkshires by Hinsdale historian Marion Ransford, who died in 1990 at the age of 96; she drew upon historic documents in the archives of Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. At the behest of Mrs. Ransford, the Daughters of the American Revolution installed a special marker at Bissell's grave. Realtor Isadore Goodman donated the Bissell homestead site on Plunkett Lake Road to the town in 1972.   
- http://www.berkshireeagle.com/fastsearch/ci_5471331   
-    
- "Wednesday morning near 10 of the clock - Watertown   
- To all the friends of American liberty be it known that this morning before break of day, a brigade, consisting of about 1,000 to 1,200 men landed at Phip's Farm at Cambridge and marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our colony militia in arms, upon whom they fired without any provocation and killed six men and wounded four others. By an express from Boston, we find another brigade are now upon their march from Boston supposed to be about1,000. The Bearer, Israel Bissell, is charged to alarm the country quite to Connecticut and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses as they may be needed. I have spoken with several persons who have seen the dead and wounded. Pray let the delegates from this colony to Connecticut see this.   
- J. Palmer, one of the Committee of Safety."   
- http://www.bayequest.info/unbridled/unbridlednews-revere.htm   
- By The Associated Press    
- HINSDALE, Mass. -- Paul Revere got all the credit.    
- But residents here will tell you it was a young postal rider named Israel Bissell who did the lion's share of alerting the American colonies that the British were coming.    
- Revere, who was immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride," was arrested by the British after galloping less than 20 miles.    
-    
- But Bissell rode for 345 miles, summoning the militia in five colonies in a blistering six-day trek from Watertown to Philadelphia. It was he who carried the historic message: "to arms, to arms the war has begun."    
- Bissell's story, recounted in a Boston newspaper, is know by few people nationwide, even as the 222nd Patriots' Day approaches. Every year, Hinsdale residents gather at the grave of their "unsung hero" to honor his contribution.    
- Bissell, who was 23 at the time, carried with him the "call to arms," part of which read:    
- "To all friends of American Liberty let it be known that this morning before the break of day a Brigade consisting of about one thousand or twelve hundred men landed at Phip's Farm at Cambridge and marched to Lexington, where they found a Company of our Colony Militia in Arms, upon whom they fired without provocation, and killed six men and wounded four others."    
- The startling report said another brigade was headed for Boston. The message, which was signed and copied by local officials, ended with an appeal: "The bearer, Israel Bissell, is charged to alarm the Country quite to Connecticut, and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses, as they may be needed."    
- But Bissell continued to Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress.    
- Along the way, he stopped in Worcester, where his horse fell dead of exhaustion. In New Haven, Conn., he alerted Captain Benedict Arnold who gathered his force to march on Boston.    
- Bissell marched into New York City on April 23, 1775, five days after the war began at Lexington and Concord. He arrived in Philadelphia the next day.    
- Perhaps someday the 1995 poem by the late Berkshire County poet Clay Perry will bring Bissell some deserving fame. His work begins:    
- "Listen my children, to my epistle; of the long, long ride of Israel Bissell; Who outrode Paul by miles and time; But didn't rate a poet's rhyme."   
- http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/04-97/04-21-97/a03sr018.htm 
Thanks xC | ☎  18:11, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It seems that this is about "Israel" rather than "Isaac" Bissell, so I am not finding anything useful.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:02, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I will be back, see Talk:Isaac Bissell#Two post riders named Bissell?–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:54, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Struck out my comment that doesn't apply since I found out there were two Bissells spreading the word.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:11, 5 April 2024 (UTC)

text: * I didn't explain all the relevant guidelines that apply for what content gets included or not, like WP:Content forks that applied a number of times (e.g., Samuel Adams and John Hancock, etc.). If you question, though, why something wasn't added, please let me know and we can sort it out one way or another. I just took my best pass on this, based on my experience here, but that doesn't mean I am right.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:23, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Added two updates.–CaroleHenson (talk) 00:11, 6 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  shifted 

message: According to new research, the legend of "Israel Bissell" is apparently as fictional as that of Paul Revere. The following article reports that his real name was Isaac Bissell, the name was transcribed wrong, he only rode in his regular local area, the alleged ride to Philadelphia was impossible, and the commonly known story was not corroborated when it first appeared in the 1920's. 
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=15001
198.228.208.64 (talk) 08:04, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It's sad that this message is so old, but I have changed the article to "Isaac Bissell" and that his route was through Massachusetts and Connecticut (and not Philadelphia). It's a work in progress, but here's a good snapshot of the changes .–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:00, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I am thinking it is right to have changed this to Isaac Bissell, but an article may be needed for Israel. See Talk:Isaac Bissell#Two post riders named Bissell?–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:54, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  This page untrue based on new findings 

message: The Lexington Alarm
First express
* Worcester - From the Norwich document: there is nothing on the endorsement to indicate the time of arrival or departure. The tradition is that the bearer arrived in Worcester before noon on the nineteenth, dusty and worn, shouting, "To arms, to arms, the war has begun" and that his white horse, spent with fatigue, fell dead near the meeting house, which would have meant he covered 36 in two hours while his average per hour on the rest of the trip is about five miles per hour. Based on the Brooklyn dispatch arriving at 11, it's possible that the rider arrived in the late afternoon or evening and rested overnight p. 63 , part of this in a note
* The dispatch for Brooklyn, Connecticut, about 45 miles from Worcester, arrived April 20, at 11:00 a.m. (footnote Force, ser. 4, vol. 2, p. 378.) p. 63 
* Norwich, Connecticut dispatch, with L C Norwich watermark, says the bearer is Israel Bissell. Not sure if it means anyting, but Colo. Foster comment under Palmer's signature. p. 49 (first page of the pdf). It says that a true copy was taken from Worcester (attested by town clerk Nathan Balding) and Brooklyne (attested by Daniel Tyler Jr) copies of the dispatch. p. 50 and a handwritten image on the page between 50 and 51. See p. 64  - no attestation for Norwich, but a note about a copy of the handwritten message
* Governor Trumbull was in Norwich when the news of the battle arrived. (footnote I. W. Stuart, Life of Jonathan Trumbull, Sen. (Boston, 1859), p. 173) p. 64 
* The message arrived in New London on Thursday, April 20 before 7 pm. p. 64 
** It sounds like the route for the Norwich dispatch was a  60-mile ride south of Worcester to Brooklyn and then Norwich, roughly what is currently I-395. (vs. the westerly route by Isaac Bissell, roughly I-90)
* A dispatch was sent from Norwich to New London, with a note added in New London to have the message conveyed to Saybrook and East Haddam. p. 56 
* The message arrived in New London on Thursday, April 20, 7 p.m. p. 64 
* The message was then sent to Lyme, Saybrook, Killingsworth, Branford, New Haven, and New York, where it arrived on September 5, the day the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. (footnote: Force, scr. 4, vol. i, p. 325.) p. 56
** The September 5 date does not make sense and out of synch with the rest of the info.
**I t's a 70-mile southwesterly then westerly route from Norwich through these Connecticut towns to New Haven (except for Killingsworth which would take a rider off course, going north-west-south)
* Lyme endorsement, Friday morning at one o'clock p. 65 
* Saybrook, Friday morning at four o'clock 
* Killingsworth at seven o'clock p. 65 
* East Guilford at eight p. 65 
* Guilford at ten p. 65 
* Branford at twelve, noon. p. 65 
* New Haven - while there is no hour of arrival or departure noted it seems that Bissel must have stayed all night there for he arrived on the twenty-first, Friday, and the next endorsement is at Fairfield p. 65   with a note
* The endorsement for New Haven states, "We thought it necessary and expedient to communicate by express, expecting your speedy aid to forward the same to the Congress at Philadelphia..." (footnote Force, ser. 4, vol. i, p. 325) p. 57  
* Fairfield, twenty-one miles away from New Haven, at eight o'clock, Saturday, the twenty-second. p. 65 
* The message arrived in Philadelphia the next day (after New York) - which would be September 6.  p. 56  - I don't understand this date as compared to the rest of the timeline
*  The manuscript copy of the alarm message which is now in the collections of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is made up of four pages. The first begins with the Watertown message of Joseph Palmer and ends with the endorsement of the Committee for New London. The second page begins with the endorsement for Lyme and, after the first endorsement for Fairfield, begins the message which was added at Fairfield giving the news of the express from Woodstock. The third page completes the Woodstock message and ends with a second endorsement for Fairfield signed by the same men who signed the endorsement on the second page. The fourth page carries the endorsements from New York to Trenton, inclusive, and the notation of the arrival of the document in Philadelphia , added a note about a copy of the document is at the Historical Society of Philadelphia 
** It seems this means that the route for the Philadelphia copy was page 1) Worcester, Brooklyn, Norwich, New London, 2) Lyme, 1sr Fairfield with a message about Woodstock, 3) the rest of Woodstock message, ending with Fairfield , 4) New York, Trenton, arrival in Philadelphia. See the timeline in the Elizabethtown dispatch between page 66 and 67
* "The next endorsement" (I am not sure if this is for the first or second express) "New York committee at four o'clock Sunday afternoon, April 23" with information about the handbill, information on the back. Information also came to New York from a Newport boat (footnote  New-York, Sunday 23rd April, 1775. The following interesting Advices, were this Day received here, by two Vessels from Newport, and by an Express by Land. Listed in Charles Evans, American Bibliography, No. 14337.) pp. 65-66
* "The next endorsement" (I am not sure if this is for the first or second express) "New York committee at four o'clock Sunday afternoon, April 23" with information about the handbill, information on the back. Information also came to New York from a Newport boat (footnote  New-York, Sunday 23rd April, 1775. The following interesting Advices, were this Day received here, by two Vessels from Newport, and by an Express by Land. Listed in Charles Evans, American Bibliography, No. 14337.) pp. 65-66
* There was a question in New York whether the call to arms was valid or not p. 57
* The message from New York, as printed on the copy that arrived in Philadelphia, said to go to New Brunswick and stop in Elizabethtown. 
* The rider went to Elizabethtown but there's no endorsement for the Philadelphia dispatch. It appears that the original dispatch received the evening of April 23 (not 24?) was saved and a copy without the Elizabethtown endorsement went on to Philadelphia. The copy is rare in that it was made by a Committee of Safety member rather than a Committee of Correspondence member pp. 67-68 , except no mention of the different Committees
* The express rode all the night of April 24, with a new rider, per General McDougall's comment from New York p. 68 
* Check out notes about Trenton endorsements, including a comment that it is a copy of what was sent to Philadelphia and delivered to Trenton by Comm. Eben Hasard, pp. 63-64  
* New Brunswick, dated April 24 at two o'clock in the morning p.68 
* Princeton at six a.m. p.68 
* Trenton at nine in the morning p.68
* The last stop, Philadelphia at five o'clock in the afternoon of April 24. p.68 
* There seems to be a mix-up in Philadelphia whether they received a real dispatch (which set church bells ringing) or one done in error. (By that time, there were 50,000 soldiers from Massachusetts and Connecticut armed and marching to Boston.) p. 56 - , note about 50,000 men
* There is a copy of the Philadelphia alarm on the page between 56 and 57. The person identified as the bearer of the note is Trail B--- perhaps Bisel or Bisiel. Like the Norwich copy, it has attestations from Worcester, Brooklyn, Norwich.. and the addition of multiple signatures from New London , except the part about Norwich/Philadelphia attestations.
* At Philadelphia a broadside was printed by W. and T. Bradford. (footnote Evans No. 14397) A handbill showed that towns the express riders passed through. Three Philadelphia newspapers of the 25th and 26th printed the same message, utilizing the text of the handbill. (footnote Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 25, I77S; Pennsylvania Gazette, April 26, 1775; Pennsylvania Journal, April 26, 1775.) p. 68 and a copy of the handbill between pages 68 and 69
* Map of towns with Committees of Correspondence that received call to arm messages in April and May - between p. 60 and 61  in a note
Second express
* See the information written on the Philadelphia document about a second express, with likely just an oral report at Pomfert, Connecticut - April 20th at 3 - that provides information about the battle at Concord.  Signed Eb. Williams. Fairfield may have removed some endorsements. pp. 65-66 , added Pomfret / second express info in a note
Information that may be helpful
* Committee of Correspondence established in Boston to communicate important information amongst scattered communities in 1772 and then other towns in Massachusetts - and then other states. pp. 51-54.
* Discussion of First Continental Congress, Massachusetts Provincial Government, Committee of Safety, and Joseph Palmer preparation pp. 57-61
* Evening of April 18 in Boston, British movements, officers at Lexington, morning of April 19, Palmer's authority to send a call to arms, the verbiage in the call to arms by Palmer pp. 61-63
* Information about how information made its way into Maryland, etc. pp. 69-78 
* Confusion about what is really happening, next steps, conclusion pp. 78-79
The only mention of Israel Bissell is in the text of the call to arms, with the name changing to Trail Bissell and Tryal Bissell along the route.
My take right now is:
* There was a southernly route from Worcester, through southern Connecticut, then to New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
* It was not made by Issac Bissell, who took a westerly route from Worcester
* It's feasible that Israel rode the southerly route - will see what other sources say. 
* Israel's name on the New York handbill / notice could be correct for this route, assuming he was the rider.
* From New York, it is said that a new rider carried the message to Philadelphia –CaroleHenson (talk) 20:31, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: ''The Lexington Alarm'' by John Scheide

message: From  Journal of Events in the Revolution by Elias Boudinot
* I see the "Copy of Alarm Sent by the Committee of Watertown, Mass, April 23, 1775", with the bearer identified as Israel Bissel and that it was received the evening of April 23, 1775.
* It has a nice list of the stops: Worcester, Brooklyn, Norwich, New London, Lynne, Say Brook, Shillingsworth, E. Guilford, Guilford, Bradford, New Haven, Fairfield with dates and times
* There's also a second express with an update about the fighting by EB Williams
My take is:
* It is helpful to see the route the dispatch was sent
* It seems as if the message went from Fairfield directly to Elizabethtown, which does not make sense.
** That has been sorted out with the timeline from the attestations.–CaroleHenson (talk) 20:37, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text:  There's nothing that needs to be done at this point.–CaroleHenson (talk) 20:37, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: ''Journal of events...'', by Boudinot

message: Leonard F. Swift in this post.
This is the list without the items already covered above, and in the order I am going to research them:
* Both the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution in their local chapters have recognized the facts of Israel Bissell's ride.
** Hunts Daughter of the American Revolution article about Israel Bissell is already in this version, which will be the starting point. Reading it again, with the mindset of there being two rides, everything she says makes sense. It's helpful that the article calls out New Haven and Pomfret of the southerly route. –CaroleHenson (talk) 20:33, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: See the top of "#Next steps".–CaroleHenson (talk) 23:10, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Updates. Still a work-in-progress.–CaroleHenson (talk) 22:35, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: I am going to close this out, unless someone has some comments or suggestions.–CaroleHenson (talk) 00:22, 3 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Swift's points