Communicated by his grandson, Mr. Joseph G. Shed, of Roxbury.
Communicated by his grandson, Mr. Joseph G. Shed, of Roxbury.
Signature, Joseph Shed
BENJAMIN SIMPSON,
(Erroneously named Isaac in Thatcher's list of 1835,) whose story of the tea party is told on pageslxxvii-viii, was a bricklayer's apprentice. He served in the Revolutionaryarmy; removed to Saco, Maine, about 1790, and died at Biddeford, Maine, March 23, 1849.
CaptainPETER 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."
Signature, Samuel Sloper
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. Theylived in a two-story wooden house, at No. 38 Orange (now Washington) Street, directly opposite Pine Street.
Signature, Samuel Sprague
ColonelJOHN 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.
Signature, Samuel Sprague
CaptainPHINEAS STEARNS,
A farmer and blacksmith of Watertown, born February 5, 1736, died March 27, 1798. He was a soldier at LakeGeorge 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.
Signature, Lendall Pitts
GeneralEBENEZER 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 inthe 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.
Communicated by Hon. Isaac Story, of Somerville.
ColonelJAMES 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 teaparty, 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.
Signature, James Swan
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.
Signature, Thomas Urann
CaptainJOSIAH 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, atSheepscot, 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 theproprietors 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.
Signature, Joshua Wyeth
Dr.THOMAS YOUNG,
A physician, was a conspicuous figure in the early Revolutionary movements in Boston. He was the first president of the North End Caucus, at which measures of importance to the town were initiated and discussed, and delivered the first oration commemorative of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1771, at the Manufactory House, on Tremont Street. He was an original member of the Boston committee of correspondence, whose work was so important in uniting the Colonies, and was a talented and vigorous contributor to the papers of the day, and to the Royal American Magazine,on medical, political and religious topics. He was a popular speaker in the public meetings of the day, and to him is attributed the first public suggestion of throwing the tea overboard. He was John Adams's family physician, and an army surgeon, in 1776, and was afterwards a resident of Philadelphia. Several spirited letters from his pen may be found in the "Life and Times of General John Lamb." "Tea," writes Young in the "Evening Post," "is really a slow poison, and has a corrosive effect upon those who handle it. I have left it off since it became a political poison, and have since gained in firmness of constitution. My substitute is camomile flowers."
It is not long, since an eminent Englishman, visiting Boston, asked the committee of the city government, who attended him, to point out the place where the tea was thrown overboard. He was taken to a distant wharf, known by its form as the T, and popularly associated with that event from the similarity of sound. Boston has appropriately marked many of her historical sites; surely the spot rendered forever memorable by the bold deed of the Sons of Liberty, on December 16, 1773, ought not longer to remain unmarked. No stranger, at all familiar with American history, would leave unvisited the scene of an event at once so unique in its character, and so important in its consequences. The precise locality is definitely known, and a tablet, suitably inscribed, or an enduring monument of some kind, should be placed there without further delay.
LOCATION OF GRIFFIN'S (NOW LIVERPOOL) WHARF, WHERE THE TEA-SHIPS LAY.LOCATION OF GRIFFIN'S (NOW LIVERPOOL) WHARF, WHERE THE TEA-SHIPS LAY.
In this diagram the old boundaries are designated by dotted lines. The place where the tea-ships lay, at the foot of Griffin's wharf, is coincident with the lower end of the large coal-sheds of Messrs. Chapin & Co., the present owners of the wharf. They have extended and widened the wharf, and have built a three-story brick block at its head. A mural tablet might be set in the front of the central building, at a small expense. The wharf should be rechristened "Tea Party Wharf."
BY DR. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
No! never such a draught was pouredSince Hebe served with nectarThe bright Olympians and their Lord,Her over-kind protector;Since Father Noah squeezed the grapeAnd took to such behaving,As would have shamed our grandsire ape,Before the days of shaving;No! ne'er was mingled such a draught,In palace, hall, or arbor,As freemen brewed, and tyrants quaffed,That night in Boston harbor!It kept King George so long awake,His brain at last got addled,It made the nerves of Britain shakeWith seven score millions saddled;Before that bitter cup was drainedAmid the roar of cannon,The western war-cloud's crimson stainedThe Thames, the Clyde, the Shannon;Full many a six-foot grenadierThe flattened grass had measured,And many a mother many a yearHer tearful memories treasured.Fast spread the tempest's darkening pall,The mighty realms were troubled,The storm broke loose, but first of allThe Boston tea-pot bubbled!An evening party,—only that,No formal invitation,No gold-laced coat, no stiff cravat,No feast in contemplation;No silk-robed dames, no fiddling band,No flowers, no songs, no dancing!A tribe of red men,—axe in hand,—Behold the guests advancing!How fast the stragglers join the throng,From stall and work-shop gathered;The lively barber skips alongAnd leaves a chin half-lathered;The smith has flung his hammer down,The horse-shoe still is glowing,The truant tapster at the CrownHas left a beer-cask flowing;The coopers' boys have dropped the adze,And trot behind their master;Up run the tarry ship-yard lads;—The crowd is hurrying faster.Out from the mill-pond's purlieus gush,The streams of white-faced millers,And down their slippery alleys rushThe lusty young Fort-Hillers.The rope-walk lends its 'prentice crew,The Tories seize the omen;"Ay, boys! you'll soon have work to doFor England's rebel foemen,'King Hancock,' Adams, and their gang,That fire the mob with treason,—When these we shoot, and those we hang,The town will come to reason."On—on to where the tea-ships ride!And now their ranks are forming,—A rush and up the Dartmouth's side,The Mohawk band is swarming!See the fierce natives! what a glimpseOf paint and fur and feather,As all at once the full-grown impsLight on the deck together!A scarf the pig-tail's secret keeps,A blanket hides the breeches,—And out the cursed cargo leaps,And overboard it pitches!O woman, at the evening board,So gracious, sweet and purring,So happy while the tea is poured,So blest while spoons are stirring.What martyr can compare with thee?The mother, wife, or daughter,—That night, instead of best Bohea,Condemned to milk and water!Ah, little dreams the quiet dame,Who plies with rack and spindle,The patient flax, how great a flameYon little spark shall kindle!The lurid morning shall revealA fire no king can smother,When British flint and Boston steelHave clashed against each other!Old charters shrivel in its track,His worship's bench has crumbled,It climbs and clasps the Union Jack,—Its blazoned pomp is humbled.The flags go down on land and sea,Like corn before the reapers;So burned the fire that brewed the teaThat Boston served her keepers!The waves that wrought a country's wreckHave rolled o'er Whig and Tory;The Mohawks on the Dartmouth's deckShall live in song and story.The waters in the rebel bayHave kept the tea-leaf savor;Our old North-Enders in their sprayStill taste a Hyson flavor.And Freedom's tea-cup still o'erflows,With ever-fresh libations,To cheat of slumber all her foes,And cheer the wakening nations!"
No! never such a draught was pouredSince Hebe served with nectarThe bright Olympians and their Lord,Her over-kind protector;Since Father Noah squeezed the grapeAnd took to such behaving,As would have shamed our grandsire ape,Before the days of shaving;No! ne'er was mingled such a draught,In palace, hall, or arbor,As freemen brewed, and tyrants quaffed,That night in Boston harbor!It kept King George so long awake,His brain at last got addled,It made the nerves of Britain shakeWith seven score millions saddled;Before that bitter cup was drainedAmid the roar of cannon,The western war-cloud's crimson stainedThe Thames, the Clyde, the Shannon;Full many a six-foot grenadierThe flattened grass had measured,And many a mother many a yearHer tearful memories treasured.Fast spread the tempest's darkening pall,The mighty realms were troubled,The storm broke loose, but first of allThe Boston tea-pot bubbled!
An evening party,—only that,No formal invitation,No gold-laced coat, no stiff cravat,No feast in contemplation;No silk-robed dames, no fiddling band,No flowers, no songs, no dancing!
A tribe of red men,—axe in hand,—Behold the guests advancing!How fast the stragglers join the throng,From stall and work-shop gathered;The lively barber skips alongAnd leaves a chin half-lathered;The smith has flung his hammer down,The horse-shoe still is glowing,The truant tapster at the CrownHas left a beer-cask flowing;The coopers' boys have dropped the adze,And trot behind their master;Up run the tarry ship-yard lads;—The crowd is hurrying faster.Out from the mill-pond's purlieus gush,The streams of white-faced millers,And down their slippery alleys rushThe lusty young Fort-Hillers.The rope-walk lends its 'prentice crew,The Tories seize the omen;"Ay, boys! you'll soon have work to doFor England's rebel foemen,'King Hancock,' Adams, and their gang,That fire the mob with treason,—When these we shoot, and those we hang,The town will come to reason."On—on to where the tea-ships ride!And now their ranks are forming,—A rush and up the Dartmouth's side,The Mohawk band is swarming!See the fierce natives! what a glimpseOf paint and fur and feather,As all at once the full-grown impsLight on the deck together!A scarf the pig-tail's secret keeps,A blanket hides the breeches,—And out the cursed cargo leaps,And overboard it pitches!
O woman, at the evening board,So gracious, sweet and purring,So happy while the tea is poured,So blest while spoons are stirring.What martyr can compare with thee?The mother, wife, or daughter,—That night, instead of best Bohea,Condemned to milk and water!
Ah, little dreams the quiet dame,Who plies with rack and spindle,The patient flax, how great a flameYon little spark shall kindle!The lurid morning shall revealA fire no king can smother,When British flint and Boston steelHave clashed against each other!Old charters shrivel in its track,His worship's bench has crumbled,It climbs and clasps the Union Jack,—Its blazoned pomp is humbled.The flags go down on land and sea,Like corn before the reapers;So burned the fire that brewed the teaThat Boston served her keepers!
The waves that wrought a country's wreckHave rolled o'er Whig and Tory;The Mohawks on the Dartmouth's deckShall live in song and story.The waters in the rebel bayHave kept the tea-leaf savor;Our old North-Enders in their sprayStill taste a Hyson flavor.And Freedom's tea-cup still o'erflows,With ever-fresh libations,To cheat of slumber all her foes,And cheer the wakening nations!"
FRAGMENT OF A RALLYING SONG OF THE TEA PARTY AT THE GREEN DRAGON.
Rally Mohawks! bring out your axes,And tell King George we'll pay no taxesOn his foreign tea;His threats are vain, and vain to thinkTo force our girls and wives to drinkHis vile Bohea!Then rally boys, and hasten onTo meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.Our Warren's there, and bold Revere,With hands to do, and words to cheer,For liberty and laws;Our country's "braves" and firm defendersShall ne'er be left by true North-EndersFighting Freedom's cause!Then rally boys, and hasten onTo meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.* * *
Rally Mohawks! bring out your axes,And tell King George we'll pay no taxesOn his foreign tea;His threats are vain, and vain to thinkTo force our girls and wives to drinkHis vile Bohea!Then rally boys, and hasten onTo meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.
Our Warren's there, and bold Revere,With hands to do, and words to cheer,For liberty and laws;Our country's "braves" and firm defendersShall ne'er be left by true North-EndersFighting Freedom's cause!Then rally boys, and hasten onTo meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.
* * *
Just by beauteous Boston lyingOn the gently swelling flood;Without Jack or streamers flying,Three ill-fated tea-ships rode.Just as glorious Sol was setting,On the wharf, a numerous crew—Sons of Freedom, fear forgetting,Suddenly appeared in view.Armed with chisel, axe and hammer,—Weapons new for warlike deed;Towards the herbage-freighted vessels,They approached with dauntless speed.O'er their heads aloft in mid sky,Three bright angel forms were seen;This was Hampden,—that was Sidney,With fair Liberty between.Soon they cried, "Your foes you'll banish,Soon the glory shall be won;Nor shall setting Phœbus vanish,Ere the matchless deed be done!"Quick as thought the ships were boarded,Hatches burst and chests displayed;Axe and hammers help afforded,—What a glorious crash they made!Quick into the deep descended,Cursed weed of China's coast;Thus at once our fears were ended,—Freemen's rights shall ne'er be lost!
Just by beauteous Boston lyingOn the gently swelling flood;Without Jack or streamers flying,Three ill-fated tea-ships rode.
Just as glorious Sol was setting,On the wharf, a numerous crew—Sons of Freedom, fear forgetting,Suddenly appeared in view.
Armed with chisel, axe and hammer,—Weapons new for warlike deed;Towards the herbage-freighted vessels,They approached with dauntless speed.
O'er their heads aloft in mid sky,Three bright angel forms were seen;This was Hampden,—that was Sidney,With fair Liberty between.
Soon they cried, "Your foes you'll banish,Soon the glory shall be won;Nor shall setting Phœbus vanish,Ere the matchless deed be done!"
Quick as thought the ships were boarded,Hatches burst and chests displayed;Axe and hammers help afforded,—What a glorious crash they made!
Quick into the deep descended,Cursed weed of China's coast;Thus at once our fears were ended,—Freemen's rights shall ne'er be lost!
(From Thomas's "Massachusetts Spy.")
Farewell, the tea-board with its equipageOf cups and saucers, cream-bucket and sugar-tongs,The pretty tea-chest also lately storedWith Hyson, Congo, and best Double Fine.Full many a joyous moment have I sat by youHearing the girls tattle, the old maids talk scandal,And the spruce coxcomb laugh—at maybe nothing.No more shall I dish out the once-loved liquor,Though now detestable;Because I'm taught—and I believe it true,Its use will fasten slavish chains upon my country;And Liberty's the goddess I would chooseTo reign triumphant in America.
Farewell, the tea-board with its equipageOf cups and saucers, cream-bucket and sugar-tongs,The pretty tea-chest also lately storedWith Hyson, Congo, and best Double Fine.Full many a joyous moment have I sat by youHearing the girls tattle, the old maids talk scandal,And the spruce coxcomb laugh—at maybe nothing.No more shall I dish out the once-loved liquor,Though now detestable;Because I'm taught—and I believe it true,Its use will fasten slavish chains upon my country;And Liberty's the goddess I would chooseTo reign triumphant in America.
Gen.JOSEPH WARREN
And the memorable Suffolk County Resolves of 1774.
The mansion where the famous Suffolk County Resolves were passed, September 9, 1774, is still standing. It is situated in Milton, Mass., a few doors from the Boston and Milton line, on the Quincy road. It is a low, two-story double house, 20 × 40 feet, with the main door in its centre, and a chimney on each end. In its front there is inserted a marble tablet, 14 × 28 inches, with the following inscription:
"IN THIS MANSION,On the 9th day of Sept., 1774, at a meeting of the delegates of every town and district in the County of Suffolk, the memorable Suffolk Resolves were adopted.They were reported by Maj.-Gen. Warren, who fell——in their defence in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.They were approved by the members of the Continental Congress at Carpenter's Hall, Phila.,on the 17thSept., 1774.The Resolves to which the immortal patriot here first gave utterance, and the heroic deeds of that eventful day on which he fell, led the way to American Independence.'Posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy.'"
"IN THIS MANSION,
On the 9th day of Sept., 1774, at a meeting of the delegates of every town and district in the County of Suffolk, the memorable Suffolk Resolves were adopted.
They were reported by Maj.-Gen. Warren, who fell——in their defence in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.
They were approved by the members of the Continental Congress at Carpenter's Hall, Phila.,on the 17thSept., 1774.
The Resolves to which the immortal patriot here first gave utterance, and the heroic deeds of that eventful day on which he fell, led the way to American Independence.
'Posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy.'"
In Warren's oration, March 5, 1772, more than two years before these Resolves were passed, the spirit of liberty burned within his heart. Nine months after these Resolves the battle took place, which finally resulted in the birth of American freedom.See portrait, pagexlvii.
Signature, Joseph Lovering
Signature of Joseph Lovering taken from a check dated May 3, 1848, one month prior to his death.
N.P. Lovering
JOSEPH LOVERING.[23]
Respecting Mr. Lovering's connection with the Tea Party, Mr. George W. Allan, of West Canton Street, Boston, now eighty-two years of age, relates that about the year 1835, he frequently conversed with that gentlemen, who told him that on the evening of December 16, 1773, when he was fifteen years of age, he held the light in Crane's carpenter's shop, while he and others, fifteen in number, disguised themselves preparatory to throwing the tea into Boston harbor. He also said that some two hundred persons joined them on their way to the wharf, where the tea-ships lay. Mr. George H. Allan, the son of George W. Allan, received a similar statement from Mr. Lovering, a short time before the latter's death, which occurred June 13, 1848, at the age of eighty-nine years and nine months.
Mr. Lovering appears to have been the youngest person connected with this affair, of whom we have any knowledge. His boyish curiosity led him to accompany the party to the scene of operations at Griffin's wharf, and on the following morning he was closely questioned and severely reprimanded by his parents, for being out after nine o'clock at night, as they were strict in their requirement that he should be in bed at that hour.
His son, Mr. N.P. Lovering, now seventy-seven years of age, resides in Boston, and is treasurer of the Connecticut and Passumpsic River Railroad Company. To this gentleman, and to his grand-daughter, Mrs. C.D. Bradlee, Boston, we are under obligation for the copy of a photograph from Mr. Lovering's oil-painting of his father.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Was born in Boston, 1706; died in Philadelphia, in 1790, and was buried in Christ Churchyard. A small marble slab, level with the ground, marks the spot. "No monumental display for me," was his request as expressed in his will.
Some years before his death he wrote his own epitaph. His usefulness to his country during the Revolutionary period will warrant us in giving it place in our "Tea Leaves:"
A.O.C.
The body ofBENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRINTER,Like the cover of an old book,its contents torn out,And stript of its lettering and gilding,Lies here, food for worms.Yet the work itself shall not be lost,For it will (as he believed) appear once morein a newand a more beautiful editioncorrected and amendedby the Author.
It is believed that Benjamin Franklin was made a Freemason in St. John's Lodge, of Philadelphia, early in the year 1731. In 1734 he printed and published the first Masonic book ever issued in America, being the work known as "Anderson's Constitution of 1723." Copies are now exceedingly rare, and readily sell for fifty dollars each. One is now in the library of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in an excellent state of preservation.
Sereno D. Nickerson,Recording Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Mass.
Signature, Benjamin Franklin
"As a philosopher he ranks high. In his speculations he seldom lost sight of common sense, or yielded up his understanding either to enthusiasm or authority."—Goodrich.
LETTER FROM MR. WILLIAM PALMER.
To the Directors of the East India Company.[24]
Gentlemen:
As the Act allowing a Drawback of the whole of the customs paid on tea, if exported to America, is now passed, in which there is a clause empowering the Lords of the Treasury to grant licences to the India Company, to export tea, duty free, to foreign States, or America, having at the time of granting such licences upwards of ten millions of pounds in their warehouses, and as the present stock oftea is not only near seventeen million, but the quantity expected to arrive this season does also considerably exceed the ordinary demand of twelve months, and the expediency of exporting tea to foreign States having been considered, I presume to lay before this Court the following extracts, &c., from letters relative to the consumption in America, and calculation of advantages attending the exportation of tea by licence, and as an assurance the same are formed upon some experience of this trade (having not only been concerned in a great part of the tea which has been shipped to America since the allowance of the drawback, in 1767; but being now about to repurchase at your ensuing sale no small quantity of Bohea tea for the same account,) I am desirous, at my own hazard, to include in such purchase, an assortment of all other kinds, viz.: Congou, Souchong and Hyson, but more particularly the several species of Singlo, namely, Hyson, Skin, Twankay and First Sort, from a conviction that, by degrees, the consumption of these species, also and particularly Singlo tea, might be introduced into America, at least so far for the benefit of the Company, as in part to relieve them from the disagreeable necessity, they will, without some such vend, be subject to, of forcing that species of tea to market, before it is greatly damaged by age, provided you are of opinion the same may possibly tend to the advantage of the Company; or, should it be the opinion of this Court, an immediate consignment should take place, I am ready to give such assistance towards carrying the same into execution as may be thought most conducive to the interest of the Company, together with such security as the nature of the trust may require. In the prosecution of these consignments, I would propose to obtaina more exact computation of the actual consumption; what quantity might probably find a sale there, and the most probable means of success in such sales, whether by waiting for a demand in the ordinary way, or by public sales there; conducted upon the outlines of those made in England, by fixing a future day of payment, and by a restriction in selling any future quantity for a limited time, but particularly (under my mode) in what manner, and within what time assurances can be given by remittances being made on account of such sales.
I am, gentlemen, your humble servant,
Wm. Palmer.
London, 19th May, 1773.
Extracts from Letters, &c., to Prove the State of the Tea Trade in America.
Extract from a Letter from Boston, dated 29th April, 1771, in Answer to a Consignment made in February, 1771, at 3s. 1d., with the whole drawback of £23 18s. 7½d. pr cent.:
"Were it not for the Holland tea, the vent of English would have answered your expectation here, but the profit is immense upon the Holland tea, which some say cost but 18d., and the 3d. duty here is saved. Many hundred chests have been imported. What is shipped may go off in time, without loss, for there must be buyers of English tea; the transportation of the Dutch by water being attended with much trouble and risk."
Extract from a Letter from Boston, dated 11th July, 1771:
"So much tea has been imported from Holland, that the importers from England have been obliged to sell for little or no profit. The Dutch traders, it is said, had their first teas at 18d. pr lb., the last at 2s.; either is much cheaper than from England, and they save the 3d. duty here. The Company must keep theirs nearer the prices in Holland. The consumption is prodigious."
Extract from a Letter from Boston, 2d Sepr., 1771:
"The consumption of Bohea tea thro' the Continent increases every year. It is difficult for us to say how great it is at present. We imagine there may be consumed in this Province, which is perhaps a seventh part of the Continent, 3000 chests in a year. We are sure nothing can discourage the running of it but the reducing the price as low, or lower, than it was two or three years past in England"
Extract from a Letter from Boston, (Messrs. Hutchinson,) dated 10th Sepr., 1771:
"From a more particular estimate of the consumption we are of opinion, the two towns of Boston and Charlestown consume a chest, or about 340 pounds of tea, one day with another. These two towns are not more than one-eighth, perhaps not more than one-tenth, part of the Province.Suppose they consume but 300 chests in a year, and allow they are but one-eighth, it will make 2400 chests a year for the whole Province. This Province is not one-eighth part of the Colonies, and in the other governments, especially New York, they consume tea in much greater proportion than in this Province. In this proportion, the consumption may be estimated at 19,200 chests per annum, or upwards of six millions of pounds. Yet at New York or Pensylvania they import no teas from England, and at Rhode Island very little. Here we find the Dutch traders continually gaining ground upon us. If teas do not sail with you before the spring shippings, we fear the Dutch will carry away all the trade of the Colonies in this article."
Extract of a Letter from Boston, dated 11th Sepr., 1772:
"We have delayed answering your last enquiries relative to the tea concern, in hopes of being able to form a better judgment, but to no great purpose; the great importation from Holland, principally through New York and Philadelphia, keeps down the price here, and consequently the sale of teas from England. We have set ours so low we shall have no profit from this years adventure, yet there are 50 chests still on hand. You ask our opinion whether the difference between the English and Dutch teas, if it did not exceed the 3d. duty and 9 pr cent., would be sufficient encouragement to the illicit trader? If the difference was not greater we think some of the smugglers would be discouraged, but the greater part would not. Nothing will be effectual short of reducing the price in England equal to the price in Holland. If no other burthen than the 3d. duty in theColonies, to save that alone would not be sufficient profit, and the New Yorkers, &c., would soon break thro' their solemn engagements not to import from England."
Extract from a Letter from Boston, dated 25th Feb., 1773, in Answer to a calculation sent of the supposed price at which the illicit trader can now import tea into America from Holland:
"In your calculation of the profits on Dutch teas, 12 pr cent. is too much to deduct for the risque of illicit trade. We are confident not one chest in five hundred has been seized in this Province for two or three years past, and the custom house officers seem unwilling to run any risk to make a seisure. At New York, we are told it is carted about at noon day. There is some expence in landing, which we believe the importers would give five pr cent. to be freed from."
Copy of a Letter from Rotterdam, dated 12th June, 1772:
"I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 5th instant, desiring information of the present state and prices of tea at this market, and also what the freight and charges are thereon to North America, to all which I cheerfully give you every elucidation in my power, and with the greatest pleasure, as neither you nor your friends have any thought of engaging in said trade, which, with everyother branch of smuggling, must be held in abhorrence by all good men. The present prices of tea are—