At the time when the American colonists began to be restless under the
rule of Great Britain, the people of New Jersey showed as strong a
desire for independence as those of any other Colony, and they were by
no means backward in submitting to any privations which might be
necessary in order to assert their principles. As has been said before,
the people were prosperous, and accustomed to good living, and it was
not likely that there was any part of America in which a cup of
well-flavored tea was better appreciated than in New Jersey.
But when the other colonists determined to resist unjust taxation, and
resolved that they would not use tea, on which a heavy tax was laid
without allowing the American people to have anything to say about it,
the patriotic people of New Jersey resolved that they too would use no
tea so long as this unjust tax was placed upon it. When the tea was
destroyed in Boston Harbor, the Jersey patriots applauded the act, and
would have been glad to show in the same way what they thought upon the
subject.
But when tea was shipped from England, it was sent to the great ports of
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston; and what was used in
New Jersey came from these places after the consignees had paid the tax.
However, to show their sympathy with the efforts which were being made
at the sea-ports to prevent the landing of tea, the New Jersey people,
that is, those who belonged to the Whig party,--which was the patriotic
party, and opposed to the Tories, who favored England,--formed an
association, the members of which bound themselves to buy or use no tea
until the tax should be removed.
There is a story told of Hugh Drum of Somerset County, who was so
thoroughly in earnest on this subject, and who probably supposed that
the weak little Colonies would always have to submit to the power of
Great Britain, that he took an oath that never again during the rest of
his life would he take a cup of tea; and although he lived a great many
years afterward, during which the Americans imported their own tea
without regard to what any other country thought about it, Mr. Drum
never again drank tea.
But at last an opportunity came for patriotic Jerseymen to show that
they were not behind the other colonists in resisting the attempt of
Great Britain to force upon them this taxed tea.
Nearly a year after the tea had been thrown overboard in Boston Harbor,
a vessel from England--loaded with tea, and bound to Philadelphia--put
into Cohansey Creek, a small stream which runs into Delaware Bay, and
anchored at the little town of Greenwich. This vessel, called the
"Greyhound," was afraid to go up to Philadelphia, because from that
port tea ships were sent back to England as soon as they arrived, as was
also the case in New York. So the captain of the "Greyhound" thought it
would be a good plan to land his tea at Greenwich, from which place it
could be taken inland to its destination. Here the cargo was unloaded,
and stored in the cellar of a house opposite the open market place.
This business of forcing tea upon the American colonists had become a
very serious matter to England; for the East India Company had now in
their warehouses at London seventeen million pounds of tea, and, if
there should be no sale for any of this in the American market, the loss
would be very severe. Consequently every possible method was resorted
to, in order to have the tea landed on American soil; it being believed,
that, if the tea once got into the hands of the dealers, the people
would overcome their prejudices to its importation, and begin to use it
again.
Therefore the captain of the "Greyhound" thought he was doing a very
sharp thing when he sailed up Cohansey Creek and unloaded his tea. That
cargo was landed, and in those days an English captain of a tea ship
might well be proud of having performed such a feat.
But it is not likely that the captain of the "Greyhound" had ever before
sailed into a port of New Jersey, large or small, or had anything to do
with Jerseymen; for if he had, he would not have been so well satisfied
with the result of the voyage.
The people of Greenwich could not prevent the landing of the tea, for
there was no organized force at the place, nor could they order the
"Greyhound" to turn round and go back to England; but they would not
allow their town to be made use of as a port of entry for this obnoxious
merchandise, simply because it was a little town, and could not keep
English ships out of its waters. A meeting of the patriotic citizens was
held, and it was resolved that no tea should go out of Greenwich to
comfort the bodies and contaminate the principles of people in any part
of the Colonies; and they would show their British tyrants that it was
just as unsafe to send tea into Cohansey Creek as it was to send it into
the harbor of Boston.
Having come to this determination, they went immediately to work. A
party of young men, about forty in number, was organized; and in order
to disguise themselves, or strike terror into anybody who might be
inclined to oppose their undertaking, they were all dressed as Indians.
They assembled in the market place, and then, making a rush to the house
in which the tea was stored, they broke open the doors, carried out the
tea, split open the boxes in which it was contained, and made a great
pile of it in an open space near by.
When tea is dry and in good condition, it will burn very well, and it
was not many minutes before there was a magnificent bonfire near the
market place in Greenwich; and in all that town there was not one man
who dared to attempt to put it out. Thus the cargo of the "Greyhound"
went up in smoke to the sky. It must have been a very hard thing for
the good ladies of the town to sit in their houses and sniff the
delightful odor, which recalled to their minds the cherished beverage,
of which, perhaps, they might never again partake. But they were
Jerseywomen, of stout hearts and firm principles, and there is no record
that any one of them uttered a word of complaint.
But in every community there is at least one person in whose mind there
is a little streak of the Ananias nature, and there was a man of that
kind in Greenwich. His name was Stacks, and he was a great lover of tea;
moreover, he had a soul disposed to economy and thrift. Consequently it
was very hard for him to stand by and see all that tea wasted; and he
thought it would be no harm--as he was not a merchant, and did not
intend to exercise evil influences upon the people of America by
inducing them to buy tea--if he appropriated to himself a little of this
most desirable herb, which was to be burned and wasted before his very
eyes.
Whenever he had a chance, he slipped a little tea into some part of his
clothes where he thought it would not be noticed, and so gradually
loaded himself with a considerable stock of the herb. In fact, he stowed
away so many handfuls of it, that, when the fire was over, his
companions noticed that he had considerably increased in size; and it
was not long before his trick was discovered. We do not hear that he was
compelled to empty out the tea, but we are told that ever after he went
by the name of "Tea Stacks."
This tea bonfire created a great stir, and although the patriotic party
approved it, there were a great many Tories in the country who condemned
it as a piece of outrageous violence and wanton waste. This latter
opinion was so freely expressed, that the English owners of the cargo
were encouraged to take legal steps against the men who destroyed the
tea. It was easy enough to do this; for the young fellows who had made
the bonfire were very proud of what they had done, and, instead of
denying their connection with the burning of the tea, were always very
ready to boast of it.
When it was understood that the tea burners were to be prosecuted, all
the Whigs of the surrounding country determined to stand by them; and
they subscribed a large sum of money to engage lawyers to defend their
case. The strength of the popular feeling was shown by the fact, that,
when the case was brought to court, the grand jury positively refused to
bring a bill against these young men, although the judge insisted that
they should do so. The matter was thus postponed; and as it was not long
before the Colonies broke out into open rebellion, and a period
followed when Englishmen no longer brought suits in American courts,
there was no further action in regard to the tea burning at Greenwich.
Therefore, unless Mr. Stacks contrived to keep some of the tea which he
carried off in his clothes, the good people of the neighborhood, if they
drank tea at all, made it of the dried leaves of raspberries, or those
of some other bush, which have something of a tea taste, and were thus
enabled to have a hot beverage with their evening meal, with but a
little strain upon their imaginations, and none at all on their
consciences.
In other neighborhoods, however, there were people who, although they
were patriots and inclined to support the cause of American liberty,
could not see how such a little thing as drinking a cup of tea, if they
happened to have it, could interfere with their regard and respect for
the great principle of justice and independence.
Of course, it was to be supposed that the Tories, who were opposed to
this nonsense about independence, were glad to buy tea and to drink it
whenever they got the chance; but it was expected that those who called
themselves Whigs and patriots would stand by their party, and
discountenance tea drinking. There is a story told of a man who lived in
Bridgetown, who was a member of one of the Committees of Safety which
were formed for the purpose of promoting the cause of American liberty.
It was found out that this man and his family were in the habit of
drinking East India tea; and when his fellow-committeemen asked him in
regard to this matter, he boldly admitted that they all liked tea, that
they drank tea, and that they intended to drink tea.
This was a very serious matter, and the committee saw that it was
necessary to take vigorous measures in regard to this peculiar case. At
first they tried the force of argument; but all they could say to the
man amounted to nothing. He had principles, and what he considered very
good principles; but he liked tea, and, having it in the house, he saw
no harm in drinking it. So the teapot was on his table every day.
Now, his fellow-committeemen held another meeting, and formally resolved
that this unpatriotic patriot should be punished in a way which would
make a powerful impression on him, and which would show the whole
community how the Committee of Safety intended to stand firm in the
position they had taken in resisting unjust legislation. It was
resolved, that, so long as he and his family drank tea, the patriots of
the neighborhood would have nothing to do with him, they would not deal
with him, nor would they associate with him or his. This was an early
instance in America of what is known now as "boycotting."
It was a very hard thing to be shut out from all dealing and connection
with his friends and fellow-citizens, and it was not long before the tea
drinker made up his mind that the society and friendship of his
neighbors was better even than the highest flavored cup of tea; and so
he formally acknowledged his error, begged the pardon of the committee,
and promised that thereafter he would act in accordance with their
rules and regulations; and his family teapot was put away upon a high
top shelf.
But the time came, in a very few years, when the American people
attended to their own taxation, and when this teapot, with all the
others in the country, could be taken down and freely used without
interference with law or conscience.