Chapter 9

Was a tradesman of Boston, who acquired great prominence in the local disturbances of the town, prior to the outbreak of the Revolution, but who disappears from her history after that period. He first came into notice as the leader of the South End party, in the celebration of Pope Day, which took place on the 5th of November, in commemoration of the discovery of the gunpowder plot. In 1765, the two factions of the North and South Ends harmonized, and after a friendly meeting in King (now State) Street, marched together to Liberty Tree. The leaders,--Mackintosh of the South, and Swift of the North End,--appeared in military habits, with small canes resting on their left arms, having music in front and flank. All the property used on such occasions was afterwards burnt on Copp's Hill. Mackintosh was a ringleader in the riot of August 26, 1765, when Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson's house was destroyed, and was arrested in King Street next day, but was immediately released by the sheriff, on the demand of a number of merchants, and other persons of character and property.

From the Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson, we take the following passage:

"The Governor had summoned a council the day after the riot. The sheriff attended, and upon enquiring, it appeared that one Mackintosh, a shoemaker, was among the most active in destroying the Lieutenant-Governor's house and furniture. A warrant was given to the sheriff to apprehend him by name, with divers others. Mackintosh appeared in King Street, and the sheriff took him, but soon discharged him, and returned to the council chamber, where he gave an account of his taking him, and that Mr. Nathaniel Coffin, and several other gentlemen, came to him and told him that it had been agreed that the cadets, and many other persons, should appear in arms the next evening, as a guard and security against a fresh riot, which was feared, and said to have been threatened, but not a man would appear unless Mackintosh was discharged. The Lieutenant-Governor asked, 'And did you discharge him?' 'Yes.' 'Then you have not done your duty.' And this was all the notice taken of the discharge. The true reason of thus distinguishing Mackintosh was that he could discover who employed him, whereas the other persons apprehended were such as had collected together without knowing of any previous plan."

Mackintosh was styled the "First Captain-General of Liberty Tree," and had charge of the illuminations, hanging of effigies, etc. Long afterward, in speaking of the tea party, he said, "It was my chickens that did the job." My informant, Mr. Schuler Merrill, then a boy of ten, remarks that it was a mystery to him, at that time, "how chickens could have anything to do with a tea party!" Mackintosh is described by Merrill as "of slight build, sandy complexion, and nervous temperament." He died in extreme poverty, at North Haverhill, N.H., about the year 1812, at the age of seventy. His unmarked grave can be pointed out by Mr. Merrill, who still resides in North Haverhill, at the age of eighty-two.

COLONEL JOHN MAY,

Born in Boston, November 24, 1748, died July 16, 1812. On the afternoon of December 16, 1773, he went in haste to his home, on North Square, and said to his young wife, "Nabby, let me have a beefsteak as quickly as possible." While he was eating it, a rap was heard on the window, and he rose at once from the unfinished meal and departed. He returned late, tired and uncommunicative. In the morning, there was found in his shoes, and scattered upon the floor, a quantity of _tea_. The inevitable inference from these circumstances is strengthened by evidence of a very different character. Near the close of Major Melvill's life, he gave, while dining with a few friends, some anecdotes of the tea party, and turning to Henry Knox May, the son of Colonel May, he said, "Harry, there was one John there." The son, who knew the family tradition, was eager to learn more. "Not now, Harry," said the major, "Come and see me, and I will tell you all about it." Mr. May called repeatedly upon him, but could never obtain any further satisfaction respecting the object of his inquiry. Colonel May was a man of great energy and courage, an ardent patriot, and one not likely to be overlooked in the making-up of a company of picked men for such an enterprise. He was at one time colonel of the Boston regiment, and was for many years a selectman, and a firewarden of the town. He made a journey of exploration to the Ohio region, in 1788 and 1789, an account of which has been published. Two sons, Frederick and George Washington May, were skilful physicians, in Washington, D.C. He has numerous grandchildren living, among them Prof. Edward Tuckerman, of Amherst College, and Samuel P. Tuckerman, Mus. Doc., resident in England.

I am indebted for the above facts to my friend, John Joseph May, Esq., of Mayfield, Dorchester.

MAJOR THOMAS MELVILL

Was born in Boston, January 16, 1751, and died there September 16, 1832. He was the grandson of Thomas, minister of Scoonie Parish, Fifeshire, a cadet of the Scottish family of the Earls of Leven and Melvill. Allan, his father, left Scotland, and established himself in business in Boston, in 1743. Left an orphan at the age of ten, the care of his education devolved upon his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Mary Cargill, a relative of the celebrated surgeon, Dr. Abernethy. Young Melvill was graduated at Princeton College, in 1769, with a view to the ministry, but impaired health led him to make a visit to Scotland, in 1771. Returning to Boston, in 1773, he established himself in business in that town, just at the time when the tea excitement began, and being strongly in sympathy with the "Sons of Liberty," and a member of the Long Room Club, he took an active part in the event of December 16, 1773. Some of the tea taken from his shoes, after his return home, was preserved, and is now in the possession of Mrs. Thomas Melvill, of Galena, Illinois. The picture here given is a fac-simile of the venerable relic itself. In 1773, he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts, from Harvard College. In 1774, Melvill married Priscilla, daughter of John Scollay, a prominent Boston merchant. He had been selected by General Warren as one of his aids, just before the fall of the latter at Bunker's Hill, and was successively captain and major in Colonel Thomas Crafts's regiment of artillery, raised for the defence of the State. When, soon after the evacuation of the town, in March, 1776, the British fleet was driven from Boston harbor, Captain Melvill discharged the first guns at the hostile ships, from his battery, at Nantasket. He afterwards served in the Rhode Island campaigns of 1777 and 1779. After the war, he was naval officer of the port of Boston, in 1786-89, and through the influence of his friend, Samuel Adams, was, in the latter year, appointed inspector under the United States Government, a post which he held until made naval officer, in 1811. President Jackson removed him from this office in 1829, after which period he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. From 1779 to 1825, he was one of the firewards of Boston, and on retiring from his forty-seven years' service, was made the recipient of a silver pitcher as a testimonial of the appreciation of his services, by his associates. Major Melvill's long and honorable connection with the Boston Fire Department began in the good old times, when the firewards carried staves, tipped at the end with a brass flame, and marshalled the bystanders into lines for passing buckets of water to the scene of conflagration. One of the town engines was named "Melvill," in honor of the major, whose death was finally caused by over-fatigue at a fire near his house. He was a Democrat, and a firm friend of Samuel Adams, of whom he had a small portrait, by Copley, now at Harvard University. At the time of his death, he was president of the Massachusetts Charitable Society. Major Melvill was a man of sound judgment and strict integrity. He is still remembered by our older citizens as the last to wear, in Boston, a cocked hat and small clothes--the costume of the Revolution. Herman Melville, a grandson, has attained popularity as an author. The front door of Major Melvill's residence, which formerly stood near the easterly corner of Green and Staniford Streets, now does similar duty for the house at the corner of Bartlett and Lambert Streets, Roxbury. The accompanying portrait is from an oil painting in the possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs. Samuel Downer, of Dorchester. The beautiful garden at Downer Landing, Hingham, near which is her summer residence, perpetuates the name of this worthy and patriotic citizen of Boston. Admitted member Mass. Lodge, 1772.

WILLIAM MOLINEUX,

A distinguished and patriotic merchant of Boston, died there October 22, 1774; aged fifty-eight. Like Revere and Johonnot, he was of Huguenot ancestry. About the year 1760, he, with William Phillips and others, established the "Manufactory House," on the east side of what is now Hamilton Place. Here the people were taught spinning and weaving, free of cost, and soon many were clad in garments of their own manufacture. This building was put to other uses, in 1768. Molineux, from the very beginning of the dispute with the mother country, was an active and influential Whig. He was a member of the "Long Room Club," formed in 1762, and of the Sons of Liberty, in 1765; was one of the Boston committee of correspondence, from its origin, in 1772; one of the committee, and its spokesman, appointed by the Liberty Tree meeting, November 4, to request the consignees of the tea to resign, and took an active part in all the public meetings that followed. Molineux and Dr. Young were the only prominent leaders of the people who were known to have been actively present at the destruction of the tea. Molineux was a member of a committee, of which Samuel Adams was the chairman, to demand the removal of the British troops from Boston. John Adams relates that Molineux was obliged to march by the side of the troops, to protect them from the indignation of the people. With the exception of Samuel Adams, no name is oftener found, in connection with the public acts of the day, than that of William Molineux, and his death, a few months before the war broke out, was a great loss to the patriot cause. While the Boston Port Bill was under discussion in the British Cabinet, Governor Hutchinson was told by Lord Mansfield that the Lords of the Council had their pens ready to sign the warrant for the transportation to England and trial of Adams, Molineux and others, for high treason, but were prevented by the doubts of the Attorney and Solicitor-Generals as to the sufficiency of the evidence to convict them. Molineux resided at the corner of Beacon and Mount Vernon Streets, near John Hancock, where in 1760 he built a mansion-house that was considered as "quite splendid" for those days.

THOMAS MOORE,

Son of Hugh Moore, wharfinger, on Fish Street, informs his father's "good customers," in the _Gazette_ of November 24, 1773, that he "carries on the business as usual, and solicits their custom." Ben. Russell speaks of seeing Moore and his (Russell's) father blacking each other's faces on the 16th of December, 1773. He died in August, 1813; aged sixty.

ANTHONY MORSE.

"Anthony Morse, my father, afterwards a lieutenant during the Revolutionary war, and Mr. Joseph Roby, now (1819) of Hanover, N.H., were active in the destruction of the tea, December 16, 1773."

--Niles' Acts and Principles of the Revolution, p. 326.

JOSEPH MOUNTFORD,

A cooper, on Prince Street, died in Pepperill, Mass., May 11, 1838; aged eighty-eight.

E[LIPHELET] N[EWELL],

Of Charlestown, repeatedly informed Dr. Joseph Bartlett, author of a historical sketch of that town, that he was one of the Indians who destroyed the tea in Boston harbor. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, in 1778.

JOSEPH PEARSE PALMER

Was the only son of General Joseph Palmer, a prominent actor in the Revolutionary drama in Massachusetts, and Mary, the sister of Judge Richard Cranch, who resided in that part of Braintree called Germantown. Before the war he dealt in West India goods and hardware, at the town dock. Of his share in the tea party his widow says: "One evening, about ten o'clock, hearing the gate and door open, I opened the parlor door, and there stood three stout-looking Indians. I screamed, and should have fainted, but recognized my husband's voice saying, 'Don't be frightened, Betty, it is I. We have only been making a little salt-water tea.' His two companions were Foster Condy and Stephen Bruce. Soon after this, Secretary Flucker called upon my husband, and said to him, 'Joe, you are so obnoxious to the British Government, that you had better leave town.' Accordingly we left town, and went to live in part of my father's house, in Watertown." During the war, Mr. Palmer served in Boston and in Rhode Island, first as brigade major, and next as quartermaster-general. Soon after his father's death, in 1788, he went to Vermont, with Colonel Keith, to examine the facilities for establishing themselves in some branch of the iron business. Shortly after he reached Windsor he lost his life, having accidentally fallen from a bridge, then erecting over the Connecticut. He left a numerous family. His daughter, Mary, married Royal Tyler, of Vt. Member Massachusetts Lodge, 1773.

JONATHAN PARKER

Was a Roxbury farmer, a "high Son of Liberty," who safely brought through the British lines on the Neck, and secreted in Muddy Pond Woods, the two cannon which, by a clever stratagem, had been taken from the gun-house, on Boston common, at noon-day. Next day, a party of Red Coats were in Roxbury searching for them in every direction, but in vain. These are supposed to be the same pieces now in the chamber at the top of Bunker Hill Monument. Parker took the guns from the stable of the second house west from the court house, on the south side of Court Street. He brought a load of hay, and took home a load of stable manure, the guns being in the bottom of the wagon.

JOSEPH PAYSON

Was a housewright, on Foster's wharf, in 1789, and at 5 Bennet Street, in 1796. He was a descendant of Edward Payson, one of the first settlers of Roxbury, and his wife, Mary, a sister of the Apostle Eliot, and was born in 1743.

SAMUEL PECK

Was a cooper, and in 1789 did business at Hallowell's ship-yard, near the foot of Milk Street. He was a prominent Son of Liberty, also a leading and influential member of the North End Caucus. He was one of the guard on the "Dartmouth," on the night of November 30, 1773, and on the morning following the destruction of the tea, his apprentices noticed traces of red paint behind his ears. He was thought to have been one of the leaders in the affair. He joined the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew in 1756.

JOHN PETERS,

A native of Lisbon, Portugal, died in Philadelphia, April 23, 1832, at the great age of one hundred years, five months and twenty-three days. He was able to attend to his business up to the close of 1831. He came to America soon after the earthquake of 1755, and settled in Boston. He was one of the tea party; was in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill,--in which latter he lost a finger,--at Princeton, Monmouth and Trenton. He was also at the capture of Burgoyne and of Cornwallis, was again wounded, and after being discharged, in 1783, resided in Philadelphia, where he reared a numerous family.

WILLIAM PIERCE,

Born in Boston, December 25, 1744, died October 10, 1840. He served his time with John Adams, a barber, in Dock Square, at the sign of the "Great Boot," and opened a shop for himself in Marshall Street, some years before the Revolution. His shop was a sort of exchange for the gossip current at the North End, and was frequented by many celebrated residents of that locality. He boasted of having shaved Franklin, and he stated that Franklin told him that he was born in the house on the corner of Union and Hanover Streets, at the sign of the "Blue Ball." Hewes relates that Pierce was one of those that boarded the ships on December 16, 1773. He continued actively engaged in his business until the year 1835, having followed his profession seventy-six years!

LENDALL PITTS,

Youngest son of Hon. James Pitts, a merchant and an active patriot of Boston; born in 1747, died December 31, 1787, and being captain of a volunteer company, was buried with military honors. According to Hewes, Pitts commanded the division of the tea party that boarded the brig "Beaver," and after the affair was over, formed the party in military order, with the aid of Major Barber and Colonel Proctor, and marched them back into town. A solemn pledge, for the protection of those engaged in this affair, was entered into by the committee of correspondence,--of whom Lendall's brother, John Pitts, was one,--about a week afterwards, when it was currently supposed that those who had borne a part in that daring performance would be arrested, if discovered, and executed for treason. It was worded as follows:

"The subscribers do engage to exert our utmost influence to support and vindicate each other, and any person or persons who may be likely to suffer for any noble efforts they may have made to save their country, by defeating the operations of the British Parliament, expressly designed to extort a revenue from the Colonies against their consent."

The names of four members of this family are prominently associated with the tea episode at Boston. James Pitts, the father, (H.U., 1731,) an eminent and wealthy merchant, who, as member of the Governor's Council, thwarted the chief-magistrate, Hutchinson, in his efforts to have the tea landed, and who died in Dunstable, Mass., January 25, 1776; aged sixty-four. His sons,--JOHN, born in 1737, (H.U., 1757,) a selectman, and on the committee to urge the consignees to resign; an active member of the committee of correspondence, of the Provincial Congress of 1775; Speaker of the House in 1778, and member of the senate in 1780-84, who died at Tyngsboro', Mass., in 1815; SAMUEL, born in 1745, an officer in the company of cadets, said also to have been one of the tea party, and LENDALL, the leader of the party, noted above, who was clerk of the market in 1775-6, and an officer in Hancock's cadets. The sons all had Huguenot blood in their veins, their mother being a sister of James Bowdoin. All were merchants, and active Sons of Liberty, and prior to the Revolution, were in business together, engaged in extensive commercial transactions. Pitts's wharf was just north of Faneuil Hall Market. Pitts Street perpetuates the name and fame of this noted family; no one of their descendants bearing the name now surviving in Boston. The Pitts mansion, a favorite place of meeting for the Boston patriots, occupied the ground now covered by the Howard Atheneum. The accompanying portrait of Lendall Pitts is taken from a painting owned by his grandson, Lendall Pitts Cazeau, of Roxbury.

For many of the above facts I am indebted to the Pitts "Memorial," by Daniel Goodwin, Jr., of Chicago.

THOMAS PORTER,

A merchant, formerly of Boston, died in Alexandria, Va., in June, 1800.

CAPTAIN HENRY PRENTISS,

Born in Holliston, Mass., March 27, 1749, died in Medfield, Mass., August 31, 1821; son of Rev. Joshua, forty-five years pastor of the Holliston church. Captain Prentiss served during the Revolutionary war, at Cambridge, at Long Island, and at Trenton. He was an Overseer of the Poor, in Boston, in 1784; a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1786; a sea captain in 1789, and was afterwards a merchant of Boston. He, with his brother Appleton, was one of the first to introduce into New England the art of printing calico,--producing a coarse blue and red article on India cotton. Their place of business was at the corner of Buttolph Street. Captain Prentiss' residence was in a stone house, near the head of Hanover Street, the former residence of Benjamin Hallowell, Comptroller of Customs, which was ransacked at the time Gov. Hutchinson's House was mobbed. Member Massachusetts Lodge, 1789.

DR. JOHN PRINCE

Was pastor of the First Church, in Salem, from 1779 to his death, June 3, 1836. He was a native of Boston, and was a witness only of the destruction of the tea, as he informed Colonel Russell, of the "Centinel," long afterward. Admitted member Massachusetts Lodge, 11th January, 1780.

COLONEL EDWARD PROCTOR,

A prominent citizen and military officer of Boston, died there in November, 1811; aged seventy-eight. He was an importer of West India goods, at the sign of the "Schooner," in Fish Street, at the North End, before the war, after which he was in the auction business, at No. 1 Union Street. He was an active patriot, and was placed on the committee to obtain the resignation of the consignees of the tea, and commanded the guard on the "Dartmouth," on the night of November 29, 1773.[22] In 1756, he joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, of which his grandfather, Edward Proctor, had been a member in 1699; was in the service during the Revolutionary war, and was a member of the committees of correspondence and of safety. He became a member of the Masonic fraternity in 1765, when he joined St. Andrew's Lodge; was master in 1774-76, and was junior grand warden of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge in 1781. For some years previous to his death, he was one of the Overseers of the Poor, and was a fireward in 1784-89. Hannah, his widow, died October 31, 1832, aged 87.

COLONEL HENRY PURKITT,