B. 1752 Robert Newman was the sexton of Christ Church (known today as the Old North Church), and a personal friend of Paul Revere's. It was Newman who hung the lanterns from church steeple to warn riders in Charlestown that the British were marching on Lexington and Concord. Two lanterns - indicating that the British were travelling by sea. Newman was later questioned about his actions that night - possibly because a twenty-something announcing he's going to bed early is inherently suspicious - but he talked his way out of arrest, and fled Boston.