Chapter 7

These varying estimates may be accounted for in this way. Those who report the smaller number either repeated what they were told, or saw only one of the parties on its way to the ships, while the others speak of the entire body after its separate parts had united at the wharf. Some may mean only such of the party as were in Indian dress. If we place the number on board the ships at fifty or sixty, and estimate those at work by the sides of the vessels at sixty or seventy, we shall probably not be far out of the way, the whole number then aggregating from one hundred and ten to one hundred and thirty. The names of more than one hundred of these have been preserved.

Who were these men? "Depend upon it," said John Adams to Hezekiah Niles in 1819, "These were no ordinary Mohawks. The profound secrecy in which they have held their names, and the total abstinence of plunder, are proofs of the character of the men." But two of the recognized leaders of the people were there,--Dr. Young and Thomas Molineux. Most of them were mechanics and apprentices, but they were mechanics of the stamp of Revere, Howard, Wheeler, Crane and Peck, men who could restrain and keep in due subordination the more fiery and dangerous element, always present in popular demonstrations. That element was not wholly absent on this occasion, for Mackintosh, the leader in the Stamp Act riots, was present with "his chickens," as he called them, and active in destroying the tea. There were also professional men, like Dr. Young and Dr. Story, and merchants, such as Molineux, Proctor, Melvill, Palmer, May, Pitts and Davis, men of high character and standing, so that all classes were fairly represented. As might be expected, those appointed for the work, and who were in Indian dress, were largely men of family and position in Boston.

A writer in the American Magazine of History attempts to discredit the statement that the party were in Indian dress, intimating that it was an afterthought, intended to deceive the authorities, and lead them to the belief that the disguise was too complete to allow of identification for arrest or punishment. Cavils like this are superfluous in view of the abundant testimony to the contrary. The sworn protest of Captain Bruce, of the "Eleanor," one of the tea-ships, given on a subsequent page in this volume, is of itself sufficient evidence upon this point. The number of those who, prepared as they were, on the spur of the moment, really bore any very great resemblance to Indians, was no doubt small. A large number of the actors hastily assumed such disguises as were nearest at hand.

No doubt the principals in this transaction pledged one another to keep their connection with it a profound secret, and they did so, but the young apprentices and volunteers, who, without premeditation, joined the party on its way to the wharf, were under no such restraint, and we can only wonder that they made no revelation concerning an event of such importance. It was not until a very late period of their lives that any of them opened their lips publicly about it, and when more than half a century had elapsed since it occurred.

The names of fifty-eight of these men, given below, are taken from Thatcher's "Traits of the Tea Party," published in 1835, while nine or ten of them were yet living, the source whence all later lists have been derived. Possibly this list is identical with that mentioned as having once been in the possession of Peter, the son of Benjamin Edes, the printer. Of this list it is safe to say that, while far from being complete, it is correct as far as it goes. The names that follow the list of 1835, have been gleaned from a great variety of sources, principally family tradition.

"List of the tea party, furnished in 1835, by an aged Bostonian, well acquainted with the subject, of the persons generally supposed, within his knowledge, to have been more or less actively engaged." Those starred were then living:

*George R.T. Hewes. Joseph Shed. John Crane. Josiah Wheeler. Thomas Urann. Adam Collson. S. Coolidge. Joseph Payson. James Brewer. Thomas Bolter. Edward Proctor. Samuel Sloper. Thomas Gerrish. Nathaniel Green. *Benj. Simpson. Joseph Eayres. Joseph Lee. William Molineux. Paul Revere. John Spurr. Thomas Moore. Samuel Howard. Matthew Loring. Thomas Spear. Daniel Ingoldson. Richard Hunnewell. John Hooton. *Jonathan Hunnewell. Thomas Chase. Thomas Melvill. *Henry Purkitt. Edward C. Howe. Ebenezer Stevens. Nicholas Campbell. John Russell. Thomas Porter. William Hendley. Benjamin Rice. Samuel Gore. Nathaniel Frothingham. Moses Grant. *Peter Slater. James Starr. Abraham Tower. *William Pierce. William Russell. T. Gammell. ---- McIntosh. Dr. Thomas Young. Joshua Wyeth. Edward Dolbear. ---- Martin. Samuel Peck. Lendall Pitts. *Samuel Sprague. Benjamin Clarke. Richard Hunnewell, Jr. *John Prince.

Additional names of the tea party, derived principally from family tradition:

Nathaniel Barber. Samuel Barnard. Henry Bass. Edward Bates. Nathaniel Bradlee. David Bradlee. Josiah Bradlee. Thomas Bradlee. Seth Ingersoll Brown. Stephen Bruce. Benjamin Burton. George Carleton. Gilbert Colesworthy. John Cochran. Gershom Collier. James Foster Condy. Samuel Cooper. Thomas Dana, Jr. Robert Davis. Joseph Eaton. ---- Eckley. William Etheridge. Samuel Fenno. Samuel Foster. John Fulton. Samuel Hammond. John Hicks. Samuel Hobbs. Thomas Hunstable. Abraham Hunt. David Kinnison. Amos Lincoln. Thomas Machin. Archibald Macneil. John May. ---- Mead. Anthony Morse. Eliphalet Newell. Joseph Pearse Palmer. Jonathan Parker. John Peters. Samuel Pitts. Henry Prentiss. John Randall. Joseph Roby. Phineas Stearns. Robert Sessions. Elisha Story. James Swan. John Truman. Isaac Williams. David Williams. Jeremiah Williams. Thomas Williams. Nathaniel Willis.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES

OF THE

Boston Tea Party.

MAJOR NATHANIEL BARBER,

A prominent merchant and patriot of Boston, was one of the famous "Whig Club" of ante-revolutionary days, in which were James Otis, Dr. Church, Dr. Warren and other leaders of the popular party. In it Civil Rights and the British Constitution were standing topics for discussion. He was one of the committee of correspondence, from its creation in 1772, and afterwards of the committee of safety, and was naval officer of the port of Boston in 1784. He joined St. Andrew's Lodge of Freemasons in 1780, and died at his house, in Bear Lane, (Richmond Street,) October 13, 1787; aged 59. Before the Revolution he kept an insurance office in Fish (now North) Street.

SAMUEL BARNARD,

A major in the Revolutionary army, was born in Watertown, Mass., June 19, 1737; died August 8, 1782.

HENRY BASS,

A prominent "Son of Liberty," a merchant on Orange Street, residing in Rawson's Lane, (Bromfield Street,) died June 5, 1813; aged 74. He was the first volunteer on the roll of the guard of the tea-ship, November 29, 1773. Drake ("Old Landmarks of Boston,") says Samuel Adams and Major Melvill often passed a convivial evening, and ate a Sunday dinner, at his house.

CAPTAIN THOMAS BOLTER,

A housewright, residing on Nassau (now Tremont) Street, died in August, 1811; aged 76. Mary, his widow, died May 30, 1813; aged 76.

DAVID, THOMAS, NATHANIEL, AND JOSIAH BRADLEE,

Were brothers, who lived in the house yet standing, on the southerly corner of Hollis and Tremont Streets. Their sister, Sarah, assisted her husband, John Fulton, and her brothers, to disguise themselves, having made preparations for the emergency a day or two beforehand, and afterwards followed them to the wharf, and saw the tea thrown into the dock. Soon returning, she had hot water in readiness for them when they arrived, and assisted in removing the paint from their faces. As the story goes, before they could change their clothes, a British officer looked in to see if the young men were at home, having a suspicion that they were in the tea business. He found them in bed, and to all appearance asleep, they having slipped into bed without removing their "toggery," and feigning sleep. The officer departed satisfied. Mrs. Fulton helped to dress the wounds of the soldiers who were in the battle of Bunker Hill. She died in Medford, Mass., in 1836, and is the authority for the above statement. Of the brothers,--

David, was born November 24, 1742; died March 10, 1811.

Thomas, born December 4, 1744; died Oct. --, 1805.

Nathaniel, born February 16, 1746; died May 8, 1813.

Josiah, born March 24, 1754; died October 2, 1798.

The old house, built by Nathaniel, in 1771, is now the residence of his grandson, Nathaniel Bradlee Doggett, to whose son, Samuel Bradlee Doggett, I am indebted for the above facts.

JAMES BREWER,

Pump and blockmaker, in Summer Street, died in April, 1805. He took an active part in the early movements of the Revolution; was one of the volunteer guard on the "Dartmouth," November 30, 1773, and prominent in the destruction of her cargo, and was also one of the young men who removed at noon-day, and while it was under guard, the cannon from the gun-house on West Street, which afterwards found its way to Washington's camp. Some of the tea party met at his house, and were assisted in preparing themselves by his wife and daughter, who blackened their faces with burnt cork. He was a confidential messenger between Governor Hancock and Washington, and was afterwards a prisoner of war, having been taken in a privateer, in 1781. He was an early member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, and was also a member of the Massachusetts Lodge of Freemasons in 1792. His son, Thomas, a member of the City Council of Boston in 1825-26, died June 4, 1859; aged 78.

SETH INGERSOLL BROWN

Was born in Cambridge, Mass., March 13, 1750. He was the son of William Brown, born in 1683. Mr. Brown's trade was that of a house carpenter. In the lower part of his shop, in Charlestown, was stored the ammunition afterwards used in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was in full sympathy with the cause of liberty; was one of the "Mohawks" on the memorable 16th of December, and on that occasion was masked and painted, and bore a club. He used to relate to his daughters, that on returning home from the scene of destruction, he had to fight his way through the excited crowd, with his back to the houses, to avoid discovery. They kept his connection with the affair a profound secret many years, and when it was spoken of in their old age, excused their silence regarding it on the ground that they thought it was a disgrace, like a riot or a mob, and ought not to be told. At Bunker Hill he was wounded in the leg, and also received an injury to his eye. He said he should never forget the cry that went up during the battle, of "No ammunition! no ammunition!" Mr. Brown served as an assistant commissary during the siege of Boston, and continued with the army until the war closed. He was paid off in worthless Continental money--there was no other--and it is related that his spunky little wife, indignant at the poor reward of such sacrifices as her husband had made, on receiving it from him, threw it all into the fire. She is described as short, stout and handsome, with long, straight, black hair, that fell almost to her feet.

After the war, Mr. Brown, with impaired health and eyesight, kept a tavern successively in Charlestown, Cambridge, Newton Corner, the Punch Bowl in Roxbury, and finally the Sun tavern, in Wing's Lane, (Elm Street,) Boston. He died in Charlestown, Mass., March 9, 1809, leaving several children by his second wife, Sarah Godding, of Cambridge. Three of his daughters, Cynthia, Harriet and Angeline--lived to be over eighty,--retained their memories and their mental faculties to the last, and preserved many interesting reminiscences of their father's revolutionary career. Mr. Brown was a good singer, and they recall this verse of a song, having reference to the battle of Bunker Hill:

"We marchèd down to Charlestown ferry, And there we had our battle; The shot it flew like pepper and salt, And made the old town rattle."

The name of Seth Ingersoll Brown is recorded on the monument, in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, Mass., erected in 1870, to the memory of Captain Peter Slater, and his associates of the Boston tea party. He is buried in the Granary burying-ground.

Of Mr. Brown's descendants, known in public life, may be mentioned Rev. John W. Hanson, D.D., of Chicago, Ill.; Rev. Warren H. Cudworth, D.D., formerly of East Boston; Harriet H. Robinson, who married William S. Robinson, ("Warrington,") journalist, and clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1862 to 1873, and their elder daughter, Harriet R. Shattuck.

"Though none of his descendants will continue to bear his name,--the male branch being extinct in the third generation," writes his grand-daughter, Mrs. H.H. Robinson, "some of them have inherited his spirit of resistance to laws that compel them--his only surviving representatives,--"to submit to taxation without representation." To this lady we are indebted for the materials from which this notice is derived.

Some lines, written in 1773, by Susannah Clarke, "Warrington's" great grandmother's sister, serve to manifest the spirit that pervaded the country when non-tea drinking was held to be a religious duty by American women:

"We'll lay hold of card and wheel, And join our hands to turn and reel; We'll turn the tea all in the sea, And all to keep our liberty.

We'll put on home-spun garbs, And make tea of our garden herbs; When we are dry we'll drink small beer, And FREEDOM shall our spirits cheer."

STEPHEN BRUCE

Was a merchant, doing business at 28 State Street, and was one of the volunteer guard on the "Dartmouth." He was the first inspector of beef and pork, appointed by the State of Massachusetts, and was a man of sound judgment and inflexible integrity. He became a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew in 1779, and master in 1782. He died July 26, 1801.

COLONEL BENJAMIN BURTON

Was born in the old Burton House, Thomaston, Maine, December 9, 1749, and died in Warren, Maine, May 23, 1835. Happening to be in Boston on a visit on the memorable 16th of December, 1773, he went with the crowd to the Old South Meeting House, and at the close of the meeting, heard the cry "Tea party! tea party!" Joining the party that boarded the tea-ships, he labored with all his might in throwing the tea into the water. It being about low tide, the tea rested on the bottom, and when the tide rose it floated, and was lodged by the surf along the shore. He was subsequently an officer in the Revolutionary army; was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and himself fell into the hands of the enemy, in February, 1781, sharing in the imprisonment of General Peleg Wadsworth, at Castine, and in the daring escape of that officer. After the war, he was eight years a magistrate, and was often a member of the legislature.

NICHOLAS CAMPBELL

A native of the Island of Malta, died in Warren, R.I., July 23, 1829; aged ninety-seven. He came to this country just previous to the Revolution, during a great part of which he was employed in the marine service, and by many deeds of noble daring, aided the cause of liberty, and evinced his attachment to his adopted country. He had been a resident of Warren fifty-four years.

THOMAS CHASE,

One of the most active of the "Sons of Liberty," was a distiller, near the famous Liberty Tree, at the junction of Orange, Essex and Newbury Streets. In the office of Chase & Speakman the meetings of the committee of the "Sons" were held, of one of which John Adams has left an account. Chase was one of those who prepared and suspended the effigies of Bute and Oliver from Liberty Tree, on August 14, 1765. He was one of the volunteer guard on the "Dartmouth," on the night of November 29, 1773; was a member of the "Anti-Stamp Fire Society," formed soon after the passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, and joined St. Andrew's Lodge of Freemasons in 1769.

BENJAMIN CLARKE

Was a cooper, in Ship Street, and in 1807 resided in Prince Street. He became a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association in 1801; of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1806, and died in 1840.

JOHN COCHRAN,

Born in East Boston, in 1750; died in Belfast, Maine, October 30, 1839. The monument there erected to his memory bears the following inscription: "He was one of the memorable tea party at Boston, December 16, 1773." His only surviving son, of the same name, now (1884) resides at Belfast, at the age of eighty-three.

GILBERT COLESWORTHY,

Born in Boston, December 23, 1744, removed to Nantucket, Mass., and died there in 1818.

GERSHOM COLLIER,

Of Chesterfield, Mass., died about the year 1825.

ADAM COLLSON

Was a leather dresser, near the "Great Trees," on Essex Street, as we learn by his advertisement soon after the passage of the Stamp Act, in which he says: "Understanding that many worthy tradesmen had agreed to wear nothing but leather for their working habits, 'he offers' to dress all sorts of skins suitable for that purpose." Collson was one of the volunteer guard on the "Dartmouth" on the night of November 30, 1773, and was said to be the person who, at the close of the meeting of December 16th, at the Old South, shouted from the gallery, "Boston harbor a tea-pot to-night!" He became a member of St. Andrew's Lodge of Freemasons in 1763, and at the time of his death, February 16, 1798, aged sixty, resided at 59 Marlboro' (Washington) Street. He was a member of the "Long Room" Club.

JAMES FOSTER CONDY,

A bookseller in Boston before the Revolution, doing business in Union Street, "opposite the cornfields," died in Haverhill, Mass., July 12, 1809.

SAMUEL COOPER

Was born in Boston, in 1755, and was living in Georgetown, D.C., in 1838. He was commissioned second lieutenant in Crane's artillery regiment, February 1, 1777; quartermaster 14th May, 1778; lieutenant and adjutant in 1783. He was inspector of pot and pearl ashes in New York city and county, from 1808 to 1830. Adjutant-General Samuel Cooper, of the United States army, afterwards a general in the Confederate army, who died in 1877, was his son.

JOHN CRANE,