Boston are in a great ferment. Everything that has been in
my power, without the Council, I have done, and continue to
do, for the preservation of the peace and good order of the
town. If I had the aid, which I think the Council might
give, my endeavors would be more effective. They profess to
disapprove of the tumultuous, violent proceedings of the
people, but they wish to see the professed end of the people
in such proceedings attained in the regular way; and,
instead of joining with me in proper measures to discourage
an opposition to the landing of the teas expected, one and
another of the gentlemen, of the greatest influence,
intimate that the best thing that can be done to quiet the
people, would be the refusal of the gentlemen to whom the
teas are consigned, to execute the trust; and they declare
they would do it if it was their case, and would advise all
their connexions to do it. Nor will they ever countenance a
measure which shall tend to carry into execution an act of
parliament which lays taxes upon the colonies, for the
purpose of a revenue. The same principle prevails with by
far the greater part of the merchants who, though in general
they declare against mobs and violence, yet they as
generally wish the tea may not be imported. The persons to
whom the teas are consigned, declare that whilst they can be
protected from violence to their persons, they will not give
way to the unreasonable demands which have been made of
them. I wish the vessels bound to New York may arrive before
those designed to this Province. Governor Tryon I know to be
well disposed to do his duty, and the people there are less
disposed to any violent proceedings, as I have reason to
think, than they are here, and an example of peace and good
order there may have its influence here."
Samuel Adams, Hancock, Warren, Molineux and Young, the most prominent of
the popular leaders, apprehended fully the responsibilities of the hour.
They had a great principle to maintain, and the courage to uphold it.
They knew that, though the people were with them, the failure to obtain
the resignation of the consignees had inspired doubt in other quarters,
as to whether Boston would meet the expectations of the patriots of
other colonies. To such as questioned whether it was not premature to
push matters to extremities, they replied, that if fidelity to the
common cause was likely to bring on a quarrel with Great Britain, this
was the best time for it to come. "Our credit," they said, "is at stake;
we must venture, and unless we do, we shall be discarded by the Sons of
Liberty in the other colonies, whose assistance we may expect, upon
emergencies, in case they find us steady, resolute and faithful." With
men like these "to the fore," though independence was scarcely dreamed
of, revolution was a foregone conclusion.
Thomas Mifflin, an active patriot of Philadelphia, subsequently a
general, and governor of Pennsylvania, when in Boston, said to some of
these men, "will you engage that the tea shall not be landed? if so, I
will answer for Philadelphia." And they pledged their honor that its
landing should be prevented.
On November 11, Hutchinson issued the following order:
"Massachusetts Bay. By the Governor.
To Colonel John Hancock, Captain of the Governor's Company
of Cadets, &c.
The Cadet company, under your command, having signalized
itself heretofore upon a very necessary occasion, and the
late tumultuous proceedings in the town of Boston requiring
that more than usual caution should be taken at this time
for the preservation of the peace, I think it proper that
you should forthwith summon each person belonging to the
company to be ready, and to appear in arms at such place of
parade as you think fit, whensoever there may be a
tumultuous assembly of the people, in violation of the laws,
in order to their being aiding and assisting to the civil
magistrate as occasion may require."
This company, which was immediately under the governor's orders, had
been of service during the stamp act riots, and had often been
complimented for its discipline. The evident intent of this order, to
use military force to suppress public assemblages, and the stationing of
companies of British troops in the neighboring towns, augmented the
uneasiness already felt. There was now, besides the soldiers at the
castle, a considerable naval force in the harbor, under Admiral John
Montagu.
* * * * *
On the morning of November 17, a little party of family friends had
assembled at the house of Richard Clarke, Esq., known as the "Cooke
House," near the King's Chapel, on School Street, to welcome young
Jonathan Clarke, who had just arrived from London. All at once the
inmates of the dwelling were startled by a violent beating at the door,
accompanied with shouts and the blowing of horns, creating considerable
alarm. The ladies were hastily bestowed in places of safety, while the
gentlemen secured the avenues of the lower story, as well as they were
able. The yard and vicinity were soon filled with people. One of the
inmates warned them, from an upper window, to disperse, but getting no
other reply than a shower of stones, he discharged a pistol. Then came a
shower of missiles, which broke in the lower windows, and damaged some
of the furniture. Influential patriots had by this time arrived, and put
a stop to the proceedings, and the mob quietly dispersed. The consignees
now called on the governor and council for protection.
During the day, an arrival from London brought the news that three
ships, having the East India Company's tea on board, had sailed for
Boston, and that others had cleared for Philadelphia.
A petition for a town meeting was at once presented to the selectmen,
representing that the teas were shortly expected, and that it was
apprehended that the consignees might now be sufficiently informed on
the terms of its consignment, to be able to give their promised answer
to the town. A meeting was therefore appointed for the next day.
John Hancock was the moderator of the last town meeting, in which public
sentiment was legally brought to bear upon the consignees. It was held
on the 18th. The meeting was quiet and orderly, and its business was
speedily transacted.
A committee was appointed to wait on the consignees for a final answer
to the request of the town, that they resign their appointment. This was
their reply:
"BOSTON, November 18, 1773.
Sir,--In answer to the message we have this day received
from the town, we beg leave to say that we have not yet
received any order from the East India Company respecting
the expected teas, but we are now further acquainted that
our friends in England have entered into general engagements
in our behalf, merely of a commercial nature, which puts it
out of our power to comply with the request of the town.
We are, sir, your most humble servants,
RICHARD CLARKE & SONS,
BENJ. FANEUIL, JR., for self and
JOSHUA WINSLOW, Esq.,
ELISHA HUTCHINSON, for my
Brother and self."
Immediately on receiving this answer, the meeting, without vote or
comment, dissolved. "This sudden dissolution struck more terror into the
consignees," says Hutchinson, "than the most minatory resolves;" and but
for his efforts, they would have followed the example of those of
Philadelphia, who had resigned six weeks before.
Next day (November 19), the consignees, in a petition to the governor
and council, asked leave to resign themselves, and the property
committed to their care, to his Excellency and their Honors, as
guardians and protectors of the people, and that means might be devised
for the landing and securing the teas, until the petitioners could
safely dispose of them, or could receive directions from their
constituents. Their action was the cause of much comment in the
newspapers, and debate in the council. It was urged in opposition to the
scheme, that it was no part of the legitimate functions of this body to
act as trustees and storekeepers for certain factors of the East India
Company.
In a letter to a friend, dated November 24, Hutchinson thus expresses
his views of the situation. He says:
"When I saw the inhabitants of the town of Boston, assembled
under color of law, and heard of the open declaration that
we are now in a state of nature, and that we have a right to
take up arms; and when in a town meeting, as I am informed,
a call to arms was received with clapping and general
applause; when a tumultuous assembly of people can, from
time to time, attack the persons and the property of the
king's subjects; and when assemblies are tolerated from
night to night, in the public town hall; to counsel and
determine upon further unlawful measures, and dark proposals
and resolutions are made and agreed to there; when the
infection is industriously spreading and the neighboring
towns not only join their committees with the committee of
Boston, but are assembled in town meetings to approve of the
doings of the town of Boston; and, above all, when upon
repeated summoning of the Council, they put off any advice
to me from time to time, and I am obliged to consent to it,
because all the voices there, as far as they declare their
minds, I have reason to fear, would rather confirm than
discourage the people in their irregular proceedings,--under
all these circumstances, I think it time to deliberate
whether his majesty's service does not call me to retire to
the castle, where I may, with safety to my person, more
freely give my sense of the criminality of these proceedings
than whilst I am in the hands of the people, some of whom,
and those most active, don't scruple to declare their
designs against me."
And he concludes this doleful story with the question, "What am I in
duty bound to do?" His position was certainly a very uncomfortable one.
Frequent conferences with the consignees were held by the selectmen of
Boston. "Though we labored night and day in the affair, all our efforts
could not produce an agreement between them and the town." So wrote
John Scollay,[9] chairman of the Board of Selectmen, who also informs
us, in a letter written December 23, that there was a way by which the
consignees might have avoided trouble. "Had they," writes he, "on the
terms of first application to them, offered to have stored the tea,
subject to the inspection of a committee of gentlemen, till they could
write their principals, and until that time (agreed that) no duty should
be paid,--which no doubt the customs officers would have consented
to,--I am persuaded the town would have closed with them."
The selectmen told the consignees plainly that nothing less than sending
the tea back to England would satisfy the people. Some of their Tory
friends also urged them to arrange matters in this way, but they would
only agree (Nov. 27) that nothing should be done in a clandestine way;
that the vessels should come up to the wharves, and that when they
received the orders that accompanied the teas, they would hand in
proposals to the selectmen, to be laid before the town. They meant only
to gain time. They were determined to make the issue with the popular
leaders on this question. They were backed by the governor and the
influential Tories, and no doubt believed that they could carry their
point.
On Monday, the 22d, the committees of correspondence of Dorchester,
Brookline, Roxbury and Cambridge, met the Boston committee at the
selectmen's chamber, Faneuil Hall.
They resolved unanimously to use their joint influence to prevent the
landing and sale of the teas; prepared a letter to be sent to the other
towns, representing that they were reduced to the dilemma, either to sit
down in quiet, under this and every burden that might be put upon them,
or to rise up in resistance, as became freemen; to impress the absolute
necessity of making immediate and effectual opposition to the detestable
measure, and soliciting their advice and co-operation. Charlestown was
"so zealous in the cause," that its committee was added to the others.
This body continued to hold daily conferences, "like a little senate,"
says Hutchinson.
The "Gazette" of November 22, said: "Americans! defeat this last effort
of a most pernicious, expiring faction, and you may sit under your own
vines and fig trees, and none shall, hereafter, dare to make you
afraid."
On the 26th, the men of Cambridge assembled, and after adopting the
Philadelphia resolves, "very unanimously" voted, "That as Boston was
struggling for the liberties of their country, they could no longer
stand idle spectators, but were ready, on the shortest notice, to join
with it, and other towns, in any measure that might be thought proper,
to deliver themselves and posterity from slavery."
[Illustration: (_From the original, in the possession of_ GEORGE H.
ALLAN, _Boston_.)]
[Illustration: Signature, Francis Rotch
1750-1822. Bond, April 3^d 1773. £1000.]
On Sunday, the 28th, the ship "Dartmouth," Captain Hall, owned by the
Quaker, Francis Rotch,[10] arrived in Boston harbor, with one hundred
and fourteen chests of tea, and anchored below the castle. As the news
spread, there was great excitement. Despite the rigid New England
observance of the Sabbath, the selectmen immediately met, and remained
in session until nine o'clock in the evening, in the expectation of
receiving the promised proposal of the consignees. These gentlemen were
not to be found, and on the next day, bidding a final adieu to Boston,
they took up their quarters at the castle.
[Illustration: Signature, F. Rotch]
Hutchinson advised the consignees to order the vessels, when they
arrived, to anchor below the castle, that if it should appear unsafe to
land the tea, they might go to sea again, and when the first ship
arrived she anchored there accordingly, but when the master came up to
town, Mr. Adams and others, a committee of the town, ordered him at his
peril to bring the ship up to land the other goods, but to suffer no tea
to be taken out.
The committee of correspondence, who also held a session that day,
seeing that time was precious, and that the tea once entered it would be
out of the power of the consignees to send it back, obtained the promise
of the owner not to enter his ship till Tuesday, and authorized Samuel
Adams to summon the committees and townspeople of the vicinity to a mass
meeting, in Boston, on the next morning. The invitation read as follows:
"A part of the tea shipped by the East India Company is now
arrived in this harbor, and we look upon ourselves bound to
give you the earliest intimation of it, and we desire that
you favor us with your company at Faneuil Hall, at nine
o'clock to-morrow forenoon, there to give us your advice
what steps are to be immediately taken, in order effectually
to prevent the impending evil, and we request you to urge
your friends in the town, to which you belong, to be in
readiness to exert themselves in the most resolute manner,
to assist this town in its efforts for saving this oppressed
country."
The journals of Monday announced that the "Dartmouth" had anchored off
Long Wharf, and that other ships with the poisonous herb might soon be
here. They also contained a call for a public meeting, as announced in
the following handbill, already printed and distributed throughout the
town:
"Friends! Brethren! Countrymen! That worst of plagues, the
detested tea, shipped for this port by the East India
Company, is now arrived in this harbor; the hour of
destruction or manly opposition to the machinations of
tyranny stares you in the face; every friend to his country,
to himself, and posterity, is now called upon to meet at
Faneuil Hall, at nine o'clock this day, (at which time the
bells will ring,) to make a united and successful resistance
to this last, worst and most destructive measure of
administration.
Boston, November 29, 1773."
[Illustration: Signature, Jon Williams]
At nine o'clock the bells were rung, and the people, to the number of at
least five thousand, thronged in and around Faneuil Hall. This edifice,
then about half as large as now, was entirely inadequate to hold the
concourse that had gathered there. Jonathan Williams,[11] a citizen of
character and wealth, was chosen moderator. The selectmen were John
Scollay, John Hancock, Timothy Newell, Thomas Newhall, Samuel Austin,
Oliver Wendell,[12] and John Pitts. The patriotic and efficient town
clerk, William Cooper,[13] was also present. Samuel Adams, Dr. Warren,
Hancock, Dr. Young and Molineux took the lead in the debate. The
resolution offered by Adams, "that the tea should not be landed; that it
should be sent back in the same bottom to the place whence it came, at
all events, and that no duty should be paid on it," was unanimously
adopted. On hearing of this vote the consignees withdrew to Castle
William. For the better accommodation of the people, the meeting then
adjourned to the Old South Meeting House.
The speeches made at the Old South have not been preserved. Some were
violent, others were calm, advising the people by all means to abstain
from violence, but the men in whom they placed confidence were unanimous
upon the question of sending back the tea. Dr. Young held that the only
way to get rid of it was to throw it overboard. Here we find the first
suggestion of its ultimate fate. Both Whigs and Tories united in the
action of the meeting. To give the consignees time to make the expected
proposals, the meeting adjourned till three o'clock.
Of this assembly Hutchinson says: "Although it consisted principally of
the lower ranks of the people, and even journeymen tradesmen were
brought to increase the number, and the rabble were not excluded, yet
there were divers gentlemen of good fortune among them." With regard to
the speeches he observes: "Nothing can be more inflammatory than those
made on this occasion; Adams was never in greater glory." And of the
consignees he says: "They apprehended they should be seized, and may be,
tarred and feathered and carted,--an American torture,--in order to
compel them to a compliance. The friends of old Mr. Clarke, whose
constitution being hurt by the repeated attacks made upon him, retired
into the country, pressed his sons and the other consignees to a full
compliance."
A visitor from Rhode Island who attended the meeting, speaking of its
regular and sensible conduct, said he should have thought himself rather
in the British senate than in the promiscuous assembly of the people of
a remote colony.
At the afternoon meeting in the Old South, it was resolved, upon the
motion of Samuel Adams, "that the tea in Captain Hall's ship must go
back in the same bottom." The owner and the captain were informed that
the entry of the tea, or the landing of it, would be at their peril. The
ship was ordered to be moored at Griffins' wharf, and a watch of
twenty-five men was appointed for the security of vessel and cargo, with
Captain Edward Proctor as captain that night. It was also voted that the
governor's call on the justices to meet that afternoon, to suppress
attempted riots, was a reflection on the people.
Upon Hancock's representation that the consignees desired further time
to meet and consult, the meeting consented, "out of great tenderness to
them," and adjourned until next day. This meeting also voted that six
persons "who are used to horses be in readiness to give an alarm in the
country towns, when necessary." They were William Rogers, Jeremiah
Belknap, Stephen Hall, Nathaniel Cobbett, and Thomas Gooding, and
Benjamin Wood, of Charlestown.
The guard for the tea ships, which consisted of from twenty-four to
thirty-four men, was kept up until December 16. It was armed with
muskets and bayonets, and proceeded with military regularity,--indeed it
was composed in part of the military of the town,--and every half hour
during the night regularly passed the word "all's well," like sentinels
in a garrison. It was on duty nineteen days and twenty-three hours. If
molested by day the bells of the town were to be rung, if at night they
were to be tolled. We have the names of those comprising the watch on
November 29 and 30. They are:
For November 29. Captain, EDWARD PROCTOR.
Henry Bass.
Foster Condy.
John Lovell.
John Winthrop.
John Greenleaf.
Benjamin Alley.
Joshua Pico.
James Henderson.
Josiah Wheeler.
Joseph Edwards.
Jonathan Stodder.
Stephen Bruce.
Paul Revere.
Moses Grant.
Joseph Lovering.
Dr. Elisha Story.
Thomas Chase.
Benjamin Edes.
Joseph Pierce, Jr.
Captain Riordan.
John Crane.
John McFadden.
Thomas Knox, Jr.
Robert Hitchborn.
November 30. Captain, EZEKIEL CHEEVER.[14]
Thomas Urann.
William Dickman.
Samuel Peck.
Thomas Bolley.
John Rice.
Joseph Froude.
Obadiah Curtis.
George Ray.
Benjamin Ingerson.
Adam Collson.
Daniel Hewes.
Joseph Eayres.
William Sutton.
Ebenezer Ayres.
William Elberson.
Benjamin Stevens.
James Brewer.
Rufus Bant.
William Clap.
Nicholas Pierce.
Thomas Tileston.
Richard Hunnewell.
[Illustration: Signature, Ezekiel Cheever]
[Illustration: MAJOR GEN^L. JOSEPH WARREN
Slain at the Battle of Bunker Hill _June 17 1775_
(_Copied from the Boston print of 1782, it being from the London print
previous to this date._)
"May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum of
the oppressed, a name, a praise in the whole earth."--JOSEPH WARREN.
March 5, 1772.]
Hancock and Henry Knox were members of this volunteer guard. Volunteers
were, after the first night, requested to leave their names at the
printing-office of Edes and Gill; the duty of providing it having
devolved upon the committee of correspondence.
Obadiah Curtis, born in Roxbury, Mass., in 1724; died in
Newton, Mass., November 11, 1811. He was a wheelwright by
trade, and his wife, Martha, kept an English goods store, at
the corner of Rawson's Lane, (now Bromfield Street,) and
Newbury (now Washington) Street, and accumulated a handsome
estate. Becoming obnoxious to the British authorities, Mr.
Curtis removed with his family to Providence, remaining
there until after the evacuation of Boston. A person who saw
him at this time thus describes his appearance: "He was
habited according to the fashion of gentlemen of those
days,--in a three-cornered hat, a club wig, a long coat of
ample dimensions, that appeared to have been made with
reference to future growth, breeches with large buckles, and
shoes fastened in the same manner."
James Henderson was a painter, in Boston, at the beginning
of this century.
Daniel Hewes, a mason by trade, resided on Purchase Street,
where he died July 9, 1821; aged 77. He was a brother of
George Robert Twelves Hewes.
Robert Hitchborn was a cooper, on Anne Street, in 1789.
Thomas Knox, Jr., a branch pilot, died in Charlestown,
Mass., in April, 1817; aged 75. He joined the Masonic Lodge
of St. Andrew in 1764. In 1789 his residence was on Friend
Street.
Joseph Lovering was a tallow chandler. He lived on the
corner of Hollis and Tremont Streets, opposite Crane and the
Bradlees. Joseph Lovering, Jr., held the light by which
Crane and others disguised themselves in Crane's carpenter's
shop, on the evening of December 16. Lovering was a
prominent member of the Charitable Mechanic Association, was
many years a selectman and a fireward under the old town
government of Boston, and was also a member of the first
Board of Aldermen, under Mayor Phillips. He followed his
father's business, and was some years a partner in the firm
of J. Lovering & Sons.
Joshua Pico, a cooper, on Sheaffe Street, residing on Clarke
Street; died in January, 1807.
Joseph Pierce, Jr., was a merchant, at 58 Cornhill, in 1799.
Nicholas Pierce was a bricklayer, on Back (Salem) Street, in
1800.
John Rice was deputy-collector at Boston, 1789.
Benjamin Stevens was a tailor, at 33 Marlboro' Street, in
1789.
Jonathan Stodder was a member of St. Andrew's Lodge of
Freemasons, in 1779.
Thomas Tileston, born September 21, 1735, was a carpenter on
Purchase Street, in 1789. His father, Onesiphorous Tileston,
also a housewright and a man of wealth, was captain of the
Artillery Company in 1762.
John Winthrop resided in Cambridge Street, and died February
12, 1800; aged 53.
The power and influence of the Boston committee of correspondence, which
played so important a part in the tea affair, can best be estimated by a
glance at the list of names of its members. They were, Samuel Adams,
James Otis, Joseph Warren, William Molineux, Dr. Benjamin Church,
William Dennie, William and Joseph Greenleaf, Dr. Thomas Young, William
Powell, Nathaniel Appleton, Oliver Wendell, Josiah Quincy, Jr., John
Sweetser, Richard Boynton, John Bradford, William Mackay, Nathaniel
Barber, Caleb Davis, Alexander Hill, and Robert Pierpont.
After the dissolution of the meeting of November 29, the committee met,
and called on the committees from other towns to join them on all
necessary occasions. Besides sending accounts of these events to all the
towns, they also wrote to the committees of Rhode Island, New Hampshire,
New York and Philadelphia, explaining their course, acting, as they
said, "in the faith that harmony and concurrence in action uniformly and
firmly maintained, must finally conduct them to the end of their wishes,
namely, a full enjoyment of constitutional liberty." They received
cheering replies and encouraging assurances from all quarters.