Editing William Dawes (section)

{{Short description|American militiaman (1745–1799)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = William Dawes
| image              = William Dawes.jpg
| caption            = Portraits of William Dawes and his wife, Mehitabel Dawes, are in the Evanston History Center in Evanston, Illinois.
| birth_date         = {{birth-date|April 6, 1745}}
| birth_place        = [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1799|2|25|1745|4|5}}
| death_place        = [[Marlborough, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| occupation         = Tanner
| spouse             = Mehitable May (1768–1793; divorce)<br>Lydia Gendall
| parents            = William and Lydia Dawes
| children           = 3 with Mehitable May <br> and with Lydia Gendall
}}

'''William Dawes Jr.''' (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was an American soldier, and was one of several men who, in April 1775, alerted [[Minutemen (militia)|minutemen]] in [[Massachusetts]] of the approach of [[British Army|British regulars]] prior to the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] at the outset of the [[American Revolution]].<ref name="midnight">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/the-midnight-ride-of-william-dawes?linkId=23506843|title=The Midniight Ride of William Dawes|last=Klein|first=Christopher|date=April 18, 2012|publisher=History.com|access-date=October 24, 2017}}</ref> For some years, [[Paul Revere]] had the most renown for his ride of warning of this event.<ref>''Paul Revere's Ride'' by David Hackett Fischer</ref>