Just over a year before the Liberty Bell rang out, calling all to come hear the Declaration of Independence, a young Paul Revere took his well-known Midnight Ride. Few of us who have been raised under the tutelage of our country are unaware of this ride. Yet how many of us know that on the very same night, a black man, Wentworth Cheswell, the freed grandson of a slave, also rode a Midnight Ride? Cheswell was the first black judge elected, in 1768. He was a devoted husband, church member, father of thirteen children, and for fo...
