On March 5, 1770 British regulars confronted Boston natives in front of the Old State House. In the confusion the soldiers fired upon the civilians killing five and wounding several more. This event came to be known as the Boston Massacre. Apparently among the onlookers was Boston cartographer and engraver, Henry Pelham, half-brother to prominent portrait artist John Singleton Copley. Pelham worked to memorialize the event in an engraving and apparently lent a copy to Paul Revere before prints were made. Revere copied Pelham's work and produced his own engraving which he rushed to market three weeks after the Massacre and a week before Pelham's version went on sale. Revere didn't credit Pelham, who discovered what had happened when Revere's prints went on sale. He wrote Revere three days later expressing dismay that Revere would take advantage of him so dishonorably.

When Pelham's print went on sale it was advertised as "An Original Print, representing the late horrid Massacre in Kingstreet, taken on the Spot.” emphasizing its authenticity over Revere's version.

"The Boston Massacre", Henry Pelham, 1770,
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, 2/20/20