CSI Revere
Revere’s side occupation of
dentistry led him to being involved in what has been deemed one of
the earliest examples of forensics techniques used to identify a
buried, decomposed body.
General Joseph Warren had died at
the Battle of Bunker Hill and was buried in a mass grave along
with numerous colonial soldiers that had also fallen in the
battle. Revere noted prior to the search and eventual excavation
of Warren’s body the details of a dental plate that he had made
for Warren.
When the body believed to be Warren’s was
located and exhumed, the dental plate Revere had described was
indeed found to match Revere’s description (with Revere himself
making a visual identification.)
Warren was subsequently
briefly buried in a tomb here at the Granary, then moved to a
crypt down Tremont Street at St. Paul’s church and eventually
moved one more time to his final resting place in Forest Hills
Cemetery, a few miles away.
|