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Boston Massacre bullets
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[ This description is from the project: Revolutionary-era Art and Artifacts ]
These two bullets were collected from the home of Edward Payne (1721-1788), a merchant who lived above his business on King Street, the site of the Boston Massacre. One bullet (fired by a British soldier) hit Payne's arm; this bullet travelled through his arm and then lodged in a door post.
On the evening of 5 March 1770, Edward Payne was standing at the front door of his house, just across the street from the Custom House. He had heard the town bells ringing and, when he went outside to see what was happening, saw and heard the commotion in the street. He later testified in a deposition published in A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston.... [Payne's deposition appears on page 43 of the appendix of this publication (sequential image 81 of the full item).]