HISTORICAL NOTE

THE FIRST BOSTON MARATHON was run on April 19, 1897, setting the precedent that the oldest continuously running marathon in America would be run on Patriots’ Day, a holiday commemorating the start of the American Revolution, which is recognized only in Massachusetts and Maine.

While the Battle of Lexington officially began the Revolutionary War, the five men who died in the Boston Massacre are considered some of the first casualties for the Cause of American independence. James Caldwell, a young sailor who died the night of March 5, 1770, was said to have no known family. Therefore, Liberty Caldwell is entirely fictitious.

The Massachusetts State House time capsule, buried by Governor Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and William Scollay in 1795, was unearthed for a short time in 1855, and then more recently in December 2014. It was opened at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts a month later and put on display from March 11, 2015 to April 22, 2015. The time capsule contained coins, newspapers, a medal with the likeness of George Washington, and a silver plaque believed to be Paul Revere’s work. Liberty’s poem is also, of course, fictitious.

While I have tried to stay true to the real-life historical characters and their beliefs, I cannot presume I did so perfectly. Therefore, any fault is completely my own. Nevertheless, I hope I have honored the fathers of our country within the pages of this story.