Chapter 10

Born in Boston, March 18, 1755, died March 3, 1846. He was educated at the public schools of Boston; was afterwards apprenticed to Samuel Peck, the cooper, a zealous "Son of Liberty," and member of the tea party, and was himself active on that occasion, in disobedience to his master's orders. His reminiscences of the affair have been related on a previous page. Enlisting as a soldier in the Revolutionary army, he served through the war, and was present at Trenton and Brandywine, and was at one time a sergeant in Pulaski's Cavalry. After the war, he carried on his trade of cooper successfully, in connection with his former fellow-apprentice, Dolbear, in South Street. In 1803, appointed inspector-general of pickled fish, and performed the duty satisfactorily for thirty-five years. Joining a company of cavalry after the war, he passed through all the grades, and rose to that of colonel. He was many years a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association; became a member of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter of Freemasons, in 1798, and was master of St. Andrew's Lodge, in 1804-5. "Uprightness and exactness were prominent traits of his character, and universal love and charity for all mankind were sincerely exhibited in his social intercourse. He had troops of friends, but it is not known that he ever had an enemy." In 1834, a number of Polish refugees arrived here, after the final partition of their native country. A collection for their benefit was proposed. The call was nobly responded to, and among others, Purkitt sent his check, as follows:

"Pay to Count Pulaski, my commander at the battle of Brandywine, his brethren, or bearer, one hundred dollars."

There is in possession of the family a full-length silhouette likeness of Purkitt, and a daguerreotype. The accompanying portrait is from an oil painting, in the possession of Mr. Henry P. Kidder, of Boston.

JOHN RANDALL,

Born in Watertown, Mass., October 2, 1750; married Sarah Barnard, 30th December, 1778.

PAUL REVERE,

Born in Boston, January 1, 1735; died at his residence, in Bennet Street, May 10, 1818. He was of Huguenot ancestry, and learned the goldsmith's trade of his father. Articles of silverware, with his engraving, are still extant in Boston. He also engraved on copper, an art in which he was self-instructed, producing a portrait of his friend, the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew; a picture emblematical of the Stamp Act; a caricature of the "Seventeen Rescinders," one of Lord North forcing the tea down the throat of America; a picture of the Massacre in King Street, and another representing the landing of the British troops in Boston, in 1774. There were then but three engravers, besides Revere, in America. In 1775, he engraved the plates, made the press, and printed the bills of the paper money, which was ordered by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. He was sent by this Congress to Philadelphia, to obtain information respecting the manufacture of gunpowder, and on his return was able, simply from having seen the process, to construct a mill, which was soon in successful operation. Revere was an active patriot during the whole of the struggle for Independence. He was one of those who executed, as well as planned, the daring scheme of destroying the tea in Boston harbor, and was one of a club of young men, chiefly mechanics, who watched the movements of the British troops in Boston. He acted an important part in rousing the country around Boston on the morning of the memorable nineteenth of April, 1775, an event worthily commemorated in Longfellow's poem,--"Paul Revere's Ride." Revere had served at Fort Edward, near Lake George, as a lieutenant of artillery, in 1756, and after the evacuation of Boston, was commissioned major in Crafts' artillery regiment, raised for the defence of the State, in which he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and remained in service until the close of the war, after which he resumed his business as a goldsmith. He was in the unfortunate Penobscot expedition, in 1779. At a later period, he erected an air-furnace, in which he cast brass cannon and church bells. He also erected extensive works at Canton, for rolling copper and casting guns,--a business still carried on there by his successors. In 1795 he assisted in laying the corner stone of the State House, at Boston. At the time of his death he was actively connected with many benevolent and useful institutions, and was the first president of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association; member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew's, in 1761, and grand master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in 1794-96.

JOSEPH ROBY

Resided in Prince Street, Boston, in 1807, but was living in Hanover, N.H., in 1817.

JOHN RUSSELL

Was by trade a mason, and died in Boston, in 1778. His son, the well-known journalist, Colonel Benjamin Russell, though only a school-boy at the time, remembered seeing, through the window of the wood-house, his father and Mr. Thomas Moore, his neighbor, besmearing each other's faces with lampblack and red ochre.

WILLIAM RUSSELL.

William, son of Samuel and Elizabeth Hacker Russell, was born in Boston, 24th May, 1748, and died 7th March, 1784, in Cambridge, Mass. He was sometime usher in Master Griffiths' school, on Hanover Street, below the Orange Tree. On returning to his home, on Temple Street, after the tea party, he took off his shoes, and carefully dusted them over the fire, in order that no tea should remain, and saw every particle consumed. He afterwards taught school in Newton. Joining Crafts' artillery regiment, he served as sergeant-major and adjutant in the Rhode Island campaign. He next joined a privateer, as captain's clerk, was captured, and kept in Mill Prison, Plymouth, England, from August, 1779, until January, 1782. Again in a privateer, he was again taken, and this time suffered confinement in the horrible prison-ship "Jersey," at New York. These privations and sufferings occasioned his early death. His son, Colonel John Russell, was a publisher and journalist in Boston. He joined St. Andrew's Lodge of Freemasons in 1778.

ROBERT SESSIONS,

Whose interesting account of the tea party appears on page LXXIX, was born in Pomfret, Conn., March 15, 1752, and died in Hampden, Mass., in 1836. His grandfather, Nathaniel, was one of the earliest settlers of Pomfret, in 1704. Darius Sessions, Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island at the opening of the Revolution, and an active patriot, was his uncle. Robert Sessions served in the Revolutionary army, attaining the rank of lieutenant. In 1778, he married Anna Ruggles, a descendant of the Roxbury family of that name; settled in Pomfret, and in 1781 removed to South Wilbraham, now Hampden, Mass. The high estimation in which he was held by his fellow citizens, is evident from the number of offices of trust and responsibility in which he was placed. He was for many years a justice of the peace; town clerk and treasurer twelve years; representative in the State Legislature for five years, (1814-19,) and was almost always chosen moderator of the town-meeting. His sons, William V. and Sumner Sessions, are yet living, at an advanced age.

The above facts, as well as the narrative on page LXXIX, were furnished by my friends, Mr. John A. Lewis, of Boston, and Hon. William Robert Sessions, the well-known agriculturist, of Hampden County, and a member of the Massachusetts Senate of 1884, a grandson of Robert.

JOSEPH SHED

Was born in Boston, June 17, 1732, and died there October 18, 1812. He was the son of Joseph, (born October 26, 1698,) who was the son of Zachary, (born June 17, 1656,) who was the son of Daniel, the original settler of that name in Braintree, and afterwards at Billerica, Mass. The subject of this notice was a carpenter by trade, and worked upon Faneuil Hall during its rebuilding, or enlargement. He was associated with Samuel Adams, and other patriots, before and during the Revolutionary war, and later on was an ardent Jeffersonian Democrat,--hating the very name of Federalist. His residence was on Milk Street, on the spot now occupied by the Equitable Life Insurance building. At his residence a party of persons dressed, who were concerned in the destruction of the tea, he being one of the number. His friend, Samuel Adams, was often a visitor at his house, and his grandson has the china punch-bowl from which the old patriot drank, when Independence was declared. During the latter part of his life he kept a grocery store, on the spot where he lived so many years, on Milk Street. He was buried in the Granary burial ground, where many other patriotic citizens of Boston are also interred.

Communicated by his grandson, Mr. Joseph G. Shed, of Roxbury.

BENJAMIN SIMPSON,

(Erroneously named Isaac in Thatcher's list of 1835,) whose story of the tea party is told on pages LXXVII-VIII, was a bricklayer's apprentice. He served in the Revolutionary army; removed to Saco, Maine, about 1790, and died at Biddeford, Maine, March 23, 1849.

CAPTAIN PETER SLATER

Died in Worcester, Mass., October 13, 1831; aged seventy-two. He was apprenticed to a rope-maker, in Boston. His master, apprehensive that something would take place that evening relative to the tea, then in the harbor, shut Peter up in his chamber. He made his escape from the window; went to a blacksmith's shop, where he found a man disguised, who told him to tie a handkerchief round his frock, to black his face with charcoal, and to follow him. The party soon increased to twenty persons. Slater went on board the brig, with five others; two of them brought the tea upon deck, two broke open the chests, and threw them overboard, while he, with one other, stood with poles to push them under water. Not a word was exchanged between the parties from the time they left Griffins' wharf till the cargo was emptied into the harbor, and they returned to the wharf and dispersed. Slater served five years in the Revolutionary army. A monument in Hope Cemetery, New Worcester, erected by his daughter, Mrs. Howe, bears the names of Slater, and many of his companions of the "tea party."

Was one of the party, of whom we have no further information.

THOMAS SPEAR

Lived on Orange Street, in 1789. He was one of those whom Peter Mackintosh remembered to have seen run into his master's blacksmith's shop, and blacken their faces with soot.

SAMUEL SPRAGUE,

The father of the poet, Charles Sprague, was born in Hingham, Mass.,--the home of four generations of his ancestors,--December 22, 1753, and died in Boston, June 20, 1844. He was a mason by trade, and was athletic and tall of stature. His share in the tea party he thus related to his son: "That evening, while on my way to visit the young woman I afterwards married, I met some lads hurrying along towards Griffin's wharf, who told me there was something going on there. I joined them, and on reaching the wharf found the 'Indians' busy with the tea chests. Wishing to have my share of the fun, I looked about for the means of disguising myself. Spying a low building, with a stove-pipe by way of chimney, I climbed the roof and obtained a quantity of soot, with which I blackened my face. Joining the party, I recognized among them Mr. Etheridge, my master. We worked together, but neither of us ever afterwards alluded to each other's share in the proceedings." Sprague married Joanna Thayer, of Braintree, a woman of great decision of character. They lived in a two-story wooden house, at No. 38 Orange (now Washington) Street, directly opposite Pine Street.

COLONEL JOHN SPURR,

Born in Dorchester, Mass., in 1748, died in Providence, R.I., November 1, 1822; after December 16, 1773, he went to Providence; joined the army in 1775; was commissioned a captain in a Rhode Island regiment, in 1776, major in 1777, and served throughout the Revolutionary war.

JAMES STARR,

Born in New London, Conn., died in Jay, Maine, in January, 1831; aged ninety years and six months. He served in the old French war; afterwards settled and married in Boston, and removed thence to Bridgewater. During the Revolutionary war, he was taken prisoner, carried to Halifax, and detained fourteen months. Placed on board a transport for New York, and destined to the horrible Jersey prison-ship; after being two days at sea, the prisoners rose on the ship's company, captured the vessel, and took her into Marblehead.

CAPTAIN PHINEAS STEARNS,

A farmer and blacksmith of Watertown, born February 5, 1736, died March 27, 1798. He was a soldier at Lake George in 1756, and commanded a company at Dorchester Heights, when the British evacuated Boston. He, with Samuel Barnard and John Randall, all of Watertown, were among the famous Boston tea party. He was offered a colonel's commission in the army, but the care of his young motherless children, and of a family of apprentices and journeymen, prevented his continuing in the public service. He was distinguished for his benevolent and cheerful disposition, and for strong common sense and strict integrity.

GENERAL EBENEZER STEVENS,

A distinguished artillery officer in the Revolutionary war, son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth Weld Stevens, of Roxbury, was born in Boston, 11th August, 1751, and died at his residence, in Rockaway, now Astoria, N.Y., 22d September, 1823. He joined Paddock's artillery company, which was composed almost entirely of mechanics, many of whom were active members of the organization, which, under the name of Sons of Liberty, did effective service in opposing the machinations of the crown. Under its first lieutenant, Jabez Hatch, (Captain Paddock being a Tory,) this company volunteered as a watch on the "Dartmouth." The Boston Port Bill drove the mechanics out of the town, and Stevens went to Providence, where he became a partner with John Crane, in the business of carpentering. Commissioned first lieutenant of Crane's train of Rhode Island artillery, 8th May, 1775, he accompanied it to Boston, and served through the siege; made captain in Knox's artillery regiment, 1st January, 1776; took part in the expedition to Canada; made major 9th November, 1776; and in the campaign ending in the surrender of Burgoyne; appointed lieutenant-colonel 3d April, 1778, and soon after assigned to Colonel Lamb's regiment, with which he took part in Lafayette's operations in Virginia, and at Yorktown commanded the artillery alternately with Lamb and Carrington. After the war, he was a leading merchant of New York; member of the New York assembly in 1800, an alderman in 1802, and major-general of the State militia during the war of 1812. He was a founder of the Tammany and the New England Societies, and a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. General Stevens's connection with the tea party is related on a previous page.

DR. ELISHA STORY,

Born in Boston, December 3, 1743, died in Marblehead, Mass., August 27, 1805. His father, William Story, was Register of the Court of Admiralty. His office, on the north-westerly corner of State and Devonshire Streets, was broken into at the time of the Stamp Act riots, on the supposition that the stamps had been deposited there for distribution, and all the books and papers carried into King (now State) Street, and burned. Elisha Story, fully sympathizing with the patriots of the day, joined the "Sons of Liberty;" was one of the volunteer guard on the "Dartmouth," on the night of November 29, and on the evening of December 16, convened, with other disguised Sons of Liberty, in an old distillery, preparatory to their "little operation" in tea. He was a pupil of Master Lovell, and studied medicine with Dr. Sprague. He was surgeon of Colonel Little's Essex regiment, and fought as a volunteer at Lexington, and at Bunker's Hill, until obliged to remove a wounded friend to Winter Hill, where he passed the night in caring for the wounded. He was with Washington at Long Island, White Plains and Trenton. In 1774, he removed from Boston to Malden, and in 1777, settled in Marblehead, where he practiced his profession, with success, until his death. In 1767, he married Ruth, daughter of Major John Ruddock, by whom he had ten children. By his second wife, Mehitabel, daughter of Major John Pedrick, he had eleven children, the eldest of whom was Joseph, afterwards Associate-Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Isaac, the second son, was the father of Judge Isaac, of Somerville, Mass. Dr. Story was a skilful physician, and a man of great benevolence. "It is said that he at one time led a party of men to the Boston common, near where is now the Park Street gate, where there was a sentinel guarding two brass field-pieces. While Story overawed the sentinel, by presenting a pistol at his head, and enjoined silence upon him, the others came from behind and dragged away the guns, one of which was afterwards placed in the Bunker Hill Monument."

Communicated by Hon. Isaac Story, of Somerville.

COLONEL JAMES SWAN,

Merchant, politician, soldier and author before the age of twenty-two; born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1754, died in Paris, March 18, 1831. He came to Boston when very young, and in 1772, when a clerk in a counting-house, published "A Dissuasion to Great Britain and the Colonies from the Slave-Trade to Africa." At the time of the tea party, in which he was an actor, his place of business was next to Ellis Gray's, opposite the east end of Faneuil Hall, and he boarded in Hanover Street, where he and other young apprentices disguised themselves. Next morning, at breakfast, the tea in their shoes, and smooches on their faces, led to some mutual chaffing. He was a volunteer at Bunker's Hill; was a captain in Crafts's artillery regiment; afterwards secretary to the Massachusetts Board of War; member of the Legislature in 1778; Adjutant-General of the State, and at the close of the war was major of a cavalry corps. He acquired a fortune in France through government contracts, but afterwards became deeply involved, through the dishonesty of a partner, and was confined in St. Pelagie, a debtors' prison, in Paris, for many years, keeping up all the while an indefatigable litigation in the French courts. At the age of seventy he was, by French law, released. In 1777, he joined the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew. He was a man of large enterprise and benevolence, manly in person, and dignified in manner. He owned a fine estate in Dorchester, latterly the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Sargent.

THOMAS URANN,

One of the volunteer guard on the "Dartmouth;" became a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, in 1760, and was master of the Lodge, in 1771-72. He was a ship-joiner, in Batterymarch Street, near Hallowell's ship-yard. In 1784, he was surveyor of boards; and was sealer of woods, in 1787-90. By Mary, his wife, whom he married in 1750, he had thirteen children, nine of whom survived him. His will is dated May 7, 1791.

CAPTAIN JOSIAH WHEELER

Was a house-wright, who lived in half a double house, on Orange (now Washington) Street, west side, between Pleasant and Warrenton Streets. The other half was occupied by Sprague, also of the tea party. On the afternoon of December 16, 1773, Mrs. Wheeler became aware that there was something unusual on her husband's mind. It was late when he returned home that evening, but she sat up for him, and as he pulled off his long boots, a quantity of tea fell on the floor, revealing the cause of his absence. Seeing the tea, a female neighbor, who had sat up with Mrs. Wheeler to keep her company, in her husband's absence, exclaimed, "Save it; it will make a nice mess." Taking down her broom, this patriotic woman swept it all into the fire, saying, "Don't touch the cursed stuff." Wheeler commanded a company of minute-men at the opening of the Revolution, most of whom were skilled carpenters and joiners, and by Washington's order, he superintended the erection of the forts, on Dorchester Heights. He was also employed in building the State House, in Boston. He died in Boston, in August, 1817; aged seventy-four. His daughter, Mrs. Carney, was living in 1873, at Sheepscot, Maine, at the age of eighty-six. George W. Wheeler, a grandson, many years City Treasurer of Worcester, is now (1884) living in that city. Captain Wheeler was one of the volunteer guard on board the "Dartmouth."

JEREMIAH WILLIAMS

Was a blacksmith, who resided in the old mansion, yet standing, near Hog Bridge, in Roxbury, known as the "John Curtis House." He was the brother of Colonel Joseph, a distinguished citizen, and the father of Major Edward Payson Williams, an officer of the Revolutionary army, who died in the service.

THOMAS WILLIAMS,

Also of Roxbury, was one of the minute-men in Captain Moses Whiting's company, at Lexington. He, with his brother-in-law, Thomas Dana, Jr., and other Roxbury men, rendezvoused at the house of his father, John Williams, preparatory to the tea party, and returning home, Williams and Dana refused to join in sacking the house of a Tory, regarding it as no part of their enterprise. In 1812, Williams settled in Cazenovia, N.Y., and died in Utica, N.Y., July 31, 1817; aged sixty-three.

NATHANIEL WILLIS,

Journalist, born in Boston, February 7, 1755, died near Chillicothe, O., April 1, 1831. After serving an apprenticeship in a printing-office, in Boston, he became one of the proprietors and publishers of the "Independent Chronicle," a leading political journal, from 1776 to 1784. He subsequently issued the first newspaper ever published in Ohio, the "Scioto Gazette," and was for several years State printer of Ohio. His son, Nathaniel, also a journalist, was the father of Nathaniel P. Willis, Richard Storrs Willis, and Sarah Payson Willis, ("Fanny Fern,") afterwards Mrs. Parton. Member of St. Andrew's Lodge in 1779.

JOSHUA WYETH,

Whose relation is given on a preceding page, was the son of Ebenezer Wyeth, of Cambridge, and was born there in October, 1758. He served in the Revolutionary army; afterwards removed to the west, and was residing in Cincinnati, in 1827.

DR. THOMAS YOUNG,