Editing William Dawes (section)

==Childhood==
Dawes was born in [[Boston]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], on April 6, 1745, to William and Lydia Dawes ([[née]] Boone), and baptized at Boston's [[Old South Meeting House|Old South Church]]. He became a [[Tanning (leather)|tanner]] and was active in Boston's militia. On May 3, 1768, Dawes married Mehitable May, the daughter of Samuel and Catherine May (née Mears). The ''[[Boston Gazette]]'' noted that for his wedding, he wore a suit entirely made in North America. At the time, [[Radical Whigs|Whigs]] were trying to organize a boycott of British-made products in order to pressure the [[Parliament of Great Britain]] into repealing the [[Townshend Acts]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 17, 2014|title=William Dawes: The Forgotten Midnight Rider|url=https://historyofmassachusetts.org/william-dawes/|access-date=September 8, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref>