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.
[Illustration: Signature, Joseph Pearse Palmer]
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.
[Illustration: Signature, Samuel Peck]
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.
[Illustration: Signature, Lendall Pitts]
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.
[Illustration: Signature, Henry Prentiss]
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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Signature, Edward Proctor]
COLONEL HENRY PURKITT,
Born in Boston, March 18, 1755, died March 3, 1846. He was educated at
the public schools of Boston; was afterwards apprenticed to Samuel Peck,
the cooper, a zealous "Son of Liberty," and member of the tea party, and
was himself active on that occasion, in disobedience to his master's
orders. His reminiscences of the affair have been related on a previous
page. Enlisting as a soldier in the Revolutionary army, he served
through the war, and was present at Trenton and Brandywine, and was at
one time a sergeant in Pulaski's Cavalry. After the war, he carried on
his trade of cooper successfully, in connection with his former
fellow-apprentice, Dolbear, in South Street. In 1803, appointed
inspector-general of pickled fish, and performed the duty satisfactorily
for thirty-five years. Joining a company of cavalry after the war, he
passed through all the grades, and rose to that of colonel. He was many
years a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association;
became a member of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter of Freemasons, in
1798, and was master of St. Andrew's Lodge, in 1804-5. "Uprightness and
exactness were prominent traits of his character, and universal love and
charity for all mankind were sincerely exhibited in his social
intercourse. He had troops of friends, but it is not known that he ever
had an enemy." In 1834, a number of Polish refugees arrived here, after
the final partition of their native country. A collection for their
benefit was proposed. The call was nobly responded to, and among others,
Purkitt sent his check, as follows:
"Pay to Count Pulaski, my commander at the battle of
Brandywine, his brethren, or bearer, one hundred dollars."
There is in possession of the family a full-length silhouette likeness
of Purkitt, and a daguerreotype. The accompanying portrait is from an
oil painting, in the possession of Mr. Henry P. Kidder, of Boston.
[Illustration: Signature, Henry Purkitt]
JOHN RANDALL,
Born in Watertown, Mass., October 2, 1750; married Sarah Barnard, 30th
December, 1778.
[Illustration: Signature, Henry Purkitt
_Better known as Colonel Purkitt._
"Uprightness and exactness were prominent attributes of his character,
and universal love and charity for all mankind were sincerely exhibited
in his social intercourse. He had troops of friends, but it is not known
that he ever had an enemy."--_Biographical Sketches St. Andrew's
R.A.C._]
PAUL REVERE,
Born in Boston, January 1, 1735; died at his residence, in Bennet
Street, May 10, 1818. He was of Huguenot ancestry, and learned the
goldsmith's trade of his father. Articles of silverware, with his
engraving, are still extant in Boston. He also engraved on copper, an
art in which he was self-instructed, producing a portrait of his friend,
the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew; a picture emblematical of the Stamp Act; a
caricature of the "Seventeen Rescinders," one of Lord North forcing the
tea down the throat of America; a picture of the Massacre in King
Street, and another representing the landing of the British troops in
Boston, in 1774. There were then but three engravers, besides Revere, in
America. In 1775, he engraved the plates, made the press, and printed
the bills of the paper money, which was ordered by the Provincial
Congress of Massachusetts. He was sent by this Congress to Philadelphia,
to obtain information respecting the manufacture of gunpowder, and on
his return was able, simply from having seen the process, to construct a
mill, which was soon in successful operation. Revere was an active
patriot during the whole of the struggle for Independence. He was one of
those who executed, as well as planned, the daring scheme of destroying
the tea in Boston harbor, and was one of a club of young men, chiefly
mechanics, who watched the movements of the British troops in Boston. He
acted an important part in rousing the country around Boston on the
morning of the memorable nineteenth of April, 1775, an event worthily
commemorated in Longfellow's poem,--"Paul Revere's Ride." Revere had
served at Fort Edward, near Lake George, as a lieutenant of artillery,
in 1756, and after the evacuation of Boston, was commissioned major in
Crafts' artillery regiment, raised for the defence of the State, in
which he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and remained in
service until the close of the war, after which he resumed his business
as a goldsmith. He was in the unfortunate Penobscot expedition, in 1779.
At a later period, he erected an air-furnace, in which he cast brass
cannon and church bells. He also erected extensive works at Canton, for
rolling copper and casting guns,--a business still carried on there by
his successors. In 1795 he assisted in laying the corner stone of the
State House, at Boston. At the time of his death he was actively
connected with many benevolent and useful institutions, and was the
first president of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association;
member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew's, in 1761, and grand master
of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in 1794-96.
[Illustration: Signature, Paul Revere]
JOSEPH ROBY
Resided in Prince Street, Boston, in 1807, but was living in Hanover,
N.H., in 1817.
[Illustration: Signature, Paul Revere
"Preserve union, and judge in all causes amicably and mildly, preferring
peace."--PAUL REVERE, 1795.]
JOHN RUSSELL
Was by trade a mason, and died in Boston, in 1778. His son, the
well-known journalist, Colonel Benjamin Russell, though only a
school-boy at the time, remembered seeing, through the window of the
wood-house, his father and Mr. Thomas Moore, his neighbor, besmearing
each other's faces with lampblack and red ochre.
[Illustration: Signature, John Russell]
[Illustration: LORD NORTH FORCING THE TEA DOWN THE THROAT OF AMERICA.]
WILLIAM RUSSELL.
William, son of Samuel and Elizabeth Hacker Russell, was born in Boston,
24th May, 1748, and died 7th March, 1784, in Cambridge, Mass. He was
sometime usher in Master Griffiths' school, on Hanover Street, below the
Orange Tree. On returning to his home, on Temple Street, after the tea
party, he took off his shoes, and carefully dusted them over the fire,
in order that no tea should remain, and saw every particle consumed. He
afterwards taught school in Newton. Joining Crafts' artillery regiment,
he served as sergeant-major and adjutant in the Rhode Island campaign.
He next joined a privateer, as captain's clerk, was captured, and kept
in Mill Prison, Plymouth, England, from August, 1779, until January,
1782. Again in a privateer, he was again taken, and this time suffered
confinement in the horrible prison-ship "Jersey," at New York. These
privations and sufferings occasioned his early death. His son, Colonel
John Russell, was a publisher and journalist in Boston. He joined St.
Andrew's Lodge of Freemasons in 1778.
ROBERT SESSIONS,
Whose interesting account of the tea party appears on page LXXIX, was
born in Pomfret, Conn., March 15, 1752, and died in Hampden, Mass., in
1836. His grandfather, Nathaniel, was one of the earliest settlers of
Pomfret, in 1704. Darius Sessions, Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island
at the opening of the Revolution, and an active patriot, was his uncle.
Robert Sessions served in the Revolutionary army, attaining the rank of
lieutenant. In 1778, he married Anna Ruggles, a descendant of the
Roxbury family of that name; settled in Pomfret, and in 1781 removed to
South Wilbraham, now Hampden, Mass. The high estimation in which he was
held by his fellow citizens, is evident from the number of offices of
trust and responsibility in which he was placed. He was for many years a
justice of the peace; town clerk and treasurer twelve years;
representative in the State Legislature for five years, (1814-19,) and
was almost always chosen moderator of the town-meeting. His sons,
William V. and Sumner Sessions, are yet living, at an advanced age.
The above facts, as well as the narrative on page LXXIX,
were furnished by my friends, Mr. John A. Lewis, of Boston,
and Hon. William Robert Sessions, the well-known
agriculturist, of Hampden County, and a member of the
Massachusetts Senate of 1884, a grandson of Robert.
[Illustration: Signature, Robert Sessions]
JOSEPH SHED
Was born in Boston, June 17, 1732, and died there October 18, 1812. He
was the son of Joseph, (born October 26, 1698,) who was the son of
Zachary, (born June 17, 1656,) who was the son of Daniel, the original
settler of that name in Braintree, and afterwards at Billerica, Mass.
The subject of this notice was a carpenter by trade, and worked upon
Faneuil Hall during its rebuilding, or enlargement. He was associated
with Samuel Adams, and other patriots, before and during the
Revolutionary war, and later on was an ardent Jeffersonian
Democrat,--hating the very name of Federalist. His residence was on Milk
Street, on the spot now occupied by the Equitable Life Insurance
building. At his residence a party of persons dressed, who were
concerned in the destruction of the tea, he being one of the number. His
friend, Samuel Adams, was often a visitor at his house, and his grandson
has the china punch-bowl from which the old patriot drank, when
Independence was declared. During the latter part of his life he kept a
grocery store, on the spot where he lived so many years, on Milk Street.
He was buried in the Granary burial ground, where many other patriotic
citizens of Boston are also interred.
Communicated by his grandson, Mr. Joseph G. Shed, of
Roxbury.
[Illustration: Signature, Joseph Shed]
BENJAMIN SIMPSON,
(Erroneously named Isaac in Thatcher's list of 1835,) whose story of the
tea party is told on pages LXXVII-VIII, was a bricklayer's apprentice.
He served in the Revolutionary army; removed to Saco, Maine, about
1790, and died at Biddeford, Maine, March 23, 1849.
CAPTAIN PETER SLATER
Died in Worcester, Mass., October 13, 1831; aged seventy-two. He was
apprenticed to a rope-maker, in Boston. His master, apprehensive that
something would take place that evening relative to the tea, then in the
harbor, shut Peter up in his chamber. He made his escape from the
window; went to a blacksmith's shop, where he found a man disguised, who
told him to tie a handkerchief round his frock, to black his face with
charcoal, and to follow him. The party soon increased to twenty persons.
Slater went on board the brig, with five others; two of them brought the
tea upon deck, two broke open the chests, and threw them overboard,
while he, with one other, stood with poles to push them under water. Not
a word was exchanged between the parties from the time they left
Griffins' wharf till the cargo was emptied into the harbor, and they
returned to the wharf and dispersed. Slater served five years in the
Revolutionary army. A monument in Hope Cemetery, New Worcester, erected
by his daughter, Mrs. Howe, bears the names of Slater, and many of his
companions of the "tea party."
[Illustration: 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. They lived in a two-story wooden house, at No. 38 Orange
(now Washington) Street, directly opposite Pine Street.
[Illustration: Signature, Samuel Sprague]
COLONEL JOHN SPURR,
Born in Dorchester, Mass., in 1748, died in Providence, R.I., November
1, 1822; after December 16, 1773, he went to Providence; joined the army
in 1775; was commissioned a captain in a Rhode Island regiment, in 1776,
major in 1777, and served throughout the Revolutionary war.
JAMES STARR,
Born in New London, Conn., died in Jay, Maine, in January, 1831; aged
ninety years and six months. He served in the old French war; afterwards
settled and married in Boston, and removed thence to Bridgewater. During
the Revolutionary war, he was taken prisoner, carried to Halifax, and
detained fourteen months. Placed on board a transport for New York, and
destined to the horrible Jersey prison-ship; after being two days at
sea, the prisoners rose on the ship's company, captured the vessel, and
took her into Marblehead.
[Illustration: Signature, Samuel Sprague]
CAPTAIN PHINEAS STEARNS,
A farmer and blacksmith of Watertown, born February 5, 1736, died March
27, 1798. He was a soldier at Lake George in 1756, and commanded a
company at Dorchester Heights, when the British evacuated Boston. He,
with Samuel Barnard and John Randall, all of Watertown, were among the
famous Boston tea party. He was offered a colonel's commission in the
army, but the care of his young motherless children, and of a family of
apprentices and journeymen, prevented his continuing in the public
service. He was distinguished for his benevolent and cheerful
disposition, and for strong common sense and strict integrity.
[Illustration: Signature, Lendall Pitts]
GENERAL EBENEZER STEVENS,