THOMASTON — Take a mixture of 77 percent copper, 21 percent tin, 6 percent unintentional material, and a pinch of silver to ensure quality sound. Add in the labor of Paul Revere from his renowned blacksmith shop in Massachusetts. The result is the bronze belfry bell presiding atop the grassy knoll of Montpelier.

Before Tuesday, May 10, few Thomaston visitors knew of the bell’s purchase by General Henry Knox in 1791 for the Congregational Meeting House, aka The Old Church on the Hill, which once stood just beyond the current Knox Museum.

Now, they need not rely on a docent to educate them. They can read the information on a newly commissioned sign, thanks to the Lady Knox chapter of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution.

Who better to dedicate the three years of fundraising, meetings with town officials, and design vetoes?

The honor goes to the chapter’s outgoing regent Suzanne K. Shaub, who also happens to be a descendant of Paul Revere.

“It was a nice surprise,” Shaub said of the DAR meeting last year when another member announced a motion to dedicate the sign to her.

In fact, Shaub found the honor comparable in excitement to finding proof in the 1980s that her third great-grandfather is the famous metallurgist. Though her parents hailed from the east coast, she grew up in Michigan hearing only references of the relation.

The references made by her sister and mother were always followed with, “but I don’t believe it’s true,” according to Shaub.

Yet, it is true, just as true as the $625 paid by General Knox for the bell, and that someone from Thomaston would have stood in Revere’s shop. Revere required all customers travel to his foundry in Canton to hear the tone before taking their finished product home.

Like many others, Thomaston’s bell developed a crack within a couple of decades.

In 1822, 11 years after Revere cast his last bell, the Revere sons and grandsons melted down the bell’s precious metal and recast the mold. This time, the engraving ‘Revere 1822’ was added, though the material was the same as before.

The Revere Foundry cast 959 bells between 1792 and 1828. (Revere died in 1818 at the age of 83.)

Twenty-four of those bells reside in Maine, including Searsport, Belfast, Castine, Newcastle, Waldoboro, and Bath.

Another bell can be found as far away as Singapore, according to Shaub, who referenced the constant ocean traffic of the era.

Shaub and her husband, Dave, retired from careers in education. In 1998 they traded the busyness of Lake Bluff, Ill for the quietude of Union. Since then, Shaub has held offices within the Union Historical Society, including board member, vice president, president, and for 10 years, curator.

She also organized Union’s Founders Day for eight years.

Lady Knox DAR currently has 23 members from various Midcoast municipalities on and off the mainland. Among their many projects are the repair of Tolman Cemetery in Rockland, where soldiers of the War of 1812 and Civil War lie. They are also helping with the Moving Wall installation in Thomaston over the Memorial Day weekend.

In between projects, they help those individuals who believe to be linked to the American Revolution era trace their lineage.

Sarah Thompson and Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com.