USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 12
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An extract from a letter written by Abraham Lott, dated November 15, 1773, gave the British public fair warning of what was to come. He says: "If the tea arrives subject to duty, there will be no such thing as selling it, as the people would rather buy so much poison, for they say it is cal- culated to enslave them and their posterity, and are deter- mined not to take what they call the nauseous draught." A paper called "The Alarm" published at this time by the patriots in New York, was determined in its opposition to this measure and one article exhorted the Americans, to "open their eyes, and then like sons of liberty. throw off all connection with the tyrant, the mother country." A British officer wrote to a friend in London : "All America
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is in a flame on account of the tea importation. The New Yorkers as well as the Bostonians and Philadelphians, arc determined that no tea shall be landed. They have raised a company of artillery and almost every day are practising at a target. Their independent companies are out and exercise every day. The minds of the towns-people are in- fluenced by these principles. They swear they will burn every tea ship that comes in." A New York paper said: "Are the Americans such blockheads as to care whether it be a 'red hot poker,' or a 'hot red poker,' which they are to swallow, provided Lord North forces them to swallow one of the two?" A handbill was circulated in Philadelphia with the heading, "By Uniting We Stand, by Dividing We Fall." In it the factors of the East India Company were characterized as "political bombardiers to demolish the fair structure of Liberty." In Philadelphia the consignees of the tea, Messrs. Wharton, were waitted upon by a com- mittee, who requested them out of regard to their own characters, and the public peace and good order of the city, to resign their appointment, and the consignees gave a satisfactory reply to this appeal. In Boston, the leading patriots saw that they must organize if they would make their work effective, and what was known as the "North End Caucus" was organized by Dr. Joseph Warren, who. with one other person, drew up its regulations; and meet- ings were held in the house of William Campbell, near the North Battery and sometimes in the "Green Dragon Tav- ern," also known as the Freemason's Arms. This Tavern stood near the northerly corner of Union and Hanover Streets. The members of the North End Caucus were mostly mechanics, many of them shipcaulkers. Hence the name "Caucus" now generally used, for preliminary political meet- ings. At this North End Caucus, committees for public serv- ice were appointed and measures of defence, and resolves for the destruction of the tea, discussed. Paul Revere, John Hancock and Samuel Adams were regular attendants at these gatherings. Speaking of these meetings, Paul Revere said: "We were so careful that our meetings should be kept secret that every time we met, every person swore upon the Bible not to discover any of our transactions, but to Hancock, Adams or Church, and one or two other lead- ers." It was at one of these meetings, when the best meth- od of expelling the British regulars from Boston, was under
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discussion, that John Hancock exclaimed: "Burn Boston and make John Hancock a beggar if the public good re- quires it." The "North End Caucus" was included in the later organization of "The Sons of Liberty."
In the year 1755 Benjamin Edes, already referred to, began with John Gill, the publication of the "Boston Ga- zette and Country Journal;" it was a newspaper of de- served popularity, and unsurpassed in its public zeal for liberty. It was the chosen mouthpiece of the Whigs. The Adamses, Quincy and Warren were frequent contributors to its columns. Their printing office was on the corner of Court Street and Franklin Avenue where the building of the Old Colony Trust Company now stands. During the siege of Boston the "Gazette" was issued at Watertown. It was discontinued September 17, 1798. It was in the back room of this printing office that some of the Tea Party Indian braves, arrayed themselves on that memorable December night. A long room over the printing office was the favor- ite meeting place of these most ardent patriots, and it became known as the "Long Room Club" and it is said that the destruction of the tea was planned by this Club. There gathered in council in this room such famous and sterling men as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, Dr. Joseph Warren, Benjamin Church, Samuel Dexter, Paul Revere, Dr. Samuel Cooper, William Cooper, Thomas Dawes, Samuel Phillips, Royal Tyler, Thomas Fleet, Will- iam Molineux and Thomas Melville. They were a Good Government Committee, the like of which Boston has never seen. When the names of the consignees of the tea be- came known, the patriots at once began operations. They were summoned on the 2d of November to appear at the Liberty Tree, three days later and in the presence of a gathering of citizens to resign their commissions. A hand bill was circulated among the citizens notifying them of the meeting and its object. A large flag was hung out on Liberty Tree. The town crier announced the meeting at the top of his voice and the church bells rang for an hour. At noon five hundred persons assembled. Samuel Adams, John Hancock and William Phillips, representatives of Boston, were present, with William Cooper, the patriotic Town Clerk, and the Board of Selectmen. The consignees failing to appear, a committee consisting of William Molineux. William Dennie, Dr. Joseph Warren, Dr. Ben-
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jamin Church, Henderson Inches, Edward Proctor, Na- thaniel Barber, Gabriel Johonnot and Ezekiel Cheever, waited on them at Clark's warehouse, foot of King (State) Street.
Governor Hutchinson saw them as they passed the Old State House and admitted that many of the better class of citizens were in the company. William Molineux was the spokesman of the committee. "From whom are you a committee?" asked Clark. "From the whole people," was the reply. "Who are the committee?" "I am one," said Molineux and then he named the other members. "What is your request?" "That you give us your word to sell none of the teas in your charge, but to return them to London in the same bottoms in which they were shipped. Will you comply?" "I shall have nothing to do with you," was the rough and peremptory reply and the other con- signees who were present concurred. Molineux then read the Resolutions passed at the Liberty Tree, that those who refused to comply wth the request of the people "were enemies to their country and should be dealt with accord- ingly." When the waiting crowd outside the warehouse learned the result of the interview the cry was raised : "Out with them! Out with them!" Quite an excitement followed and the consignees narrowly escaped mob vio- lence. In their correspondence regarding the affair, the consignees attempted to make it appear that "the crowd was composed of people of the lowest class." But the political assemblies of those days fairly represented the body of the people. The town meeting held on the 5th of November was presided over by John Hancock and was a famous meeting-and others followed full of excitement and patriotic fervor. Another committee, including the Selectmen, visited the consignees and requested them out of regard to their own character, and the peace and good of the town and province to immediately resign their ap- pointment.
At an adjourned meeting in the afternoon the committee appointed to interview the consignees reported that they had seen Mr. Clark and Mr. Faneuil, two of the consignees, who would not give a definite answer until they had seen the other consignees and postponed their reply to the fol- lowing Monday. This answer was unsatisfactory. At a crowded meeting in Faneuil Hall on Saturday, the com-
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mittee reported that Elisha Hutchinson, one of the con- signees, was either in Milton or Boston. Thomas Hutchin- son. Jr .. in a letter, informed the citizens that "when the tea arrived they would then be sufficiently informed to an- swer the request of the inhabitants." This reply stirred up some of the hot blood in the assembly, and there was a cry of "To arms!" But discretion prevailed. Meanwhile the tea ships were nearing Boston Harbor. The leaders on both sides saw that a crisis was at hand. Governor Hutchinson clearly saw that this would prove a more diffi- cult affair to handle than any which had vet confronted him. When the patriotic Thomas Mifflin of Philadelphia visited Boston, he said to some of the patriots: "Will you engage that the tea shall not be landed? If so, I will an- swer for Philadelphia." And they pledged their honor that the tea should not be landed. November 17 the news came from London that three ships having the East India Company's tea on board had sailed for Boston. The next day a Town Meeting was held with John Hancock. Mod- erator, and this was the last time in which public senti- ment was brought to bear upon the consignees. The meet- ing was quiet and orderly and its business quickly de- spatched. The final answer of the consignees in writing was received in which they say "that our friends in Eng- land 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." AAfter reading the letter the meeting dissolved without comment. Hutchinson, one of the consignees, says: "This sudden dis- solution struck more terror into the consignees than the most violent resolves." John Scollay, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, told the consignees plainly that noth- ing less than sending the tea back to England would satisfy the people. On Sunday. November 28, 1773. the ship "Dartmouth," Captain Hall, owned by Francis Rotch. the Quaker, arrived in Boston with 114 chests of tea on board. and anchored below the Castle. There was intense excite- ment when the fact became known. Despite the rigid ob- servance of the New England Sabbath, the Selectmen held a meeting immediately, and remained in session until nine o'clock in the evening, in expectation of receiving the pro- posal of the consignees. These gentlemen could not be found. The next day, bidding a temporary farewell to
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Boston, they took up their quarters at the Castle under the protection of British soldiers. Samuel Adams sent a sum- mons to the committee and the towns people to a mass meeting to be held in Faneuil Hall, the next day, Monday. A hand bill was distributed throughout the city which read as follows: "Friends, Brothers, 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 of 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 ring, to make a united and successful resistance to this last and most destructive measure of administration." A+ nine o'clock November 29, 1773, nearly five thousand people thronged in and around Faneuil Hall. At that time, the hall was only about half as large as it is now, and it was entirely inadequate to hold the vast concourse that had come together. Jonathan Williams, a wealthy and in- fluential citizen, was chosen Moderator. The Selectmen were John Scollay, John Hancock, Timothy Newell, Thomas Newhall, Samuel Austin, Oliver Wendell and John Pitts. The patriotic and efficient Town Clerk, Will- iam Cooper was also present. Samuel Adams, Dr. Joseph Warren, John Hancock, Dr. Young and William Molineux, all took part in the animated discussion. Samuel Adams offered the following resolution which was unanimously adopted : "Resolved, that the tea should not be landed, that it should be sent back in the same bottoms to the place whence it came, at all events, and that no duty shall be paid on it." To better accommodate the vast crowd the meeting adjourned to the "Old South." It is greatly to be regretted that we have no record of the speeches deliv- ered at that adjourned meeting. Governor Hutchinson writing concerning this meeting said: "That nothing could be more inflammatory than the speeches. Adams was never in greater glory," and of consignees, he said: "They apprehended that they would be seized, and may be tarred and feathered, and carted,-an American torture, in order to compel them to a compliance." Dr. Young held that the only way to get rid of the tea was to "throw it over- board," and this appears to be the first suggestion of what actually happened. The citizens at the meeting sent word
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to the owner of the vessel, and to the captain, "that the entry of the tea, or the landing of it, would be at their peril."
The ship was ordered to be moored at Griffin's Wharf. and a watch of twenty-five men were appointed for the security of vessel and cargo, and Captain Edward Proctor was Cap- tain of the guard that night. This guarding of the ship was kept up until December 16, and the service was performed with military precision. Every half hour during the night the words, "all's well," passed from Sentry to Sentry. Some of the "Solid men" were members of this guard, and among them were Paul Revere, Benjamin Edes, John Hancock and Henry Knox. The Oliver Wendell whom we have men- tioned as one of the Selectmen of Boston, and a prominent patriot, was a judge. His daughter, Sarah, married the Rev. Abiel Holmes, the father of our well beloved poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes. The papers of these days were filled with items concerning this tea question. In fact but little else was talked about; it was the all engrossing topic. On Tuesday, December 14, Mr. Rotch, the owner of the Ship "Dartmouth," accompanied by Samuel Adams, Benjamin Kent and eight others, applied to the Collector of the Port for a clearance. The Collector promised to give an answer the next day, after he had consulted with the Comptroller. The next day Mr. Rotch, with the Committee, again went to the Custom House, and the Collector and Comptroller were both present. Mr. Rotch stated that he was compelled by the meeting to demand a clearance for his vessel for London. This, the Collector em-
phatically refused to do until the tea was discharged. The next day, December 16, 1773, will forever be memorable in the Annals of Boston. The twenty days for a clearance ex- pired that night. On the morrow the tea would be landed under the protection of British soldiers and under the guns of a British-man-of-war. Again, several thousand of the peo- ple rallied in and around the "Old South Meeting House." It was an assembly of quiet, thoughtful, but very determined men, who, with anxious faces, awaited the outcome of the meeting. The Committee reported the decision of the Col- lector. Mr. Rotch was directed to enter a protest at the Custom House, and to apply to the Governor for a pass to proceed at once with his vessel on its voyage to London. The meeting waited to learn the result of Rotch's conference with the Governor. The Governor tried to compromise with Rotch,
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but without avail, for Mr. Rotch did not wish to incur the ill will of the people. He was a young man only twenty-three years of age, and it must be admitted he was placed in a very hard position. He was American born and came of an ex- cellent Quaker family. He pleaded that the compromise pro- posed would ruin him, and as he could not obtain either a clearance from the Collector or a pass from the Governor for his ships, they would either be sunk by the British batteries or captured and confiscated under the revenue laws. Even- tually, as affairs turned out, he escaped loss, as the East India Company paid him the freight due on the cargoes of tea trans- ported in his ships. After the Revolutionary War, his ship, the "Bradford," was the first to display the American flag on the river Thames. Governor Hutchinson sternly refused to give him a pass and thus the last door of conciliation was closed.
When Mr. Rotch returned to the meeting and told the re- sult of his interview with the Governor, it was nearly six o'clock. "Darkness had set in, and the 'Old South,' dimly lighted with candles, was still filled with an anxious and im- patient audience." "Who knows," said John Rowe, "how tea will mingle with salt water?" There was a cry and a hurrah, and some tumult among the people, but the leaders soon re- stored good order. Dr. Young addressed the meeting, after the decision of the Governor was announced, and said, "that Mr. Rotch was a good man and had done all in his power to gratify the people, and charged them to do no hurt to his person or his property." Samuel Adams then arose and ut- tered these memorable words: "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." This was a signal for action and there was a "war whoop" from the men at the church doors. From the gallery came a voice: "Boston harbor a tea-pot to- night. Hurrah for Griffin's Wharf!" The Mohawks with their hatchets were on hand ready to cut the Gordian knot."
When order was restored the people, having manifested great patience and caution, and having endeavored to preserve the property of the East India Company, and return it safe to its owners, then dispersed, giving three cheers as they left the Old South Meeting House. John Rowe, who gave the vast audience a hint of what might be expected, was a leading merchant and patriotic citizen of Boston. He was for many years a Selectman, Overseer of the Poor, and representative to the General Court and later, in January 1779, was chosen
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Chairman of the Committee to fix the price of merchandise and bring to punishment all offenders against the Act, for- bidding monopoly and forestalling. He was a member of the First Lodge of Freemasons in Boston and Master of the Lodge in 1749 and Provincial Grand Master in 1762. Rowe's
Old Daggett House, Corner Tremont and Howes Streets
Wharf is named in honor of this true friend of his country.
The Rowe Estate was sold in 1817 by the heirs, to Judge William Prescott, and he lived there until his death in 1844. as did also his son, Wm. H. Prescott, the historian. The house was taken down in 1845. and the site is now covered by the Bedford Street store of the Jordan, Marsh Company.
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We have already alluded to the Green Dragon Tavern near the northerly corner of Hanover and Union Streets, as a fa- vorite meeting place of the patriots. The St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons also met there and many of its leading mem- bers were active "Sons of Liberty" and members also of the famous Tea Party. We have mentioned two points where the "Merchants" met and arranged themselves for their descent upon the tea ships. There was another important rendezvous where the South End Mohawks gathered, on the corner of Hollis and Tremont Streets, and put on their feathers and war paint. In this vicinity lived John Crane, Joseph Lovering and the Bradlees, also Captain Thomas Bolter and Samuel Fenno. Young Lovering afterwards used to tell how he held the light for Crane and other neighbors, as they disguised themselves in Crane's shop.
Griffin's Wharf, the point aimed at, was directly opposite Hutchinson Street, now Pearl Street. Flounder Lane, a little foot path, under Fort Hill, wound around the margin of the water and entered Hutchinson Street near the wharf. This lane was afterwards widened and was called Broad Street, but is now a part of Atlantic Avenue. The laying out of Broad Street and consequent filling in nearly obliterated Grif- fin's Wharf. Its legitimate successor was Liverpool Wharf. One of the best, and probably most accurate accounts of the Boston Tea Party is that published in the Massachusetts Ga- zette, under date of December 23, 1773:
"Just before the dissolution of the meeting in the Old South Meeting House, a number of brave and resolute men, dressed in the Indian manner, approached near the door of the Assembly, and gave a whar whoop which rang through the house, and was answered by some in the galleries, but silence was commanded, and a peaceable deportment enjoined until the dissolution. The Indians, as they were then called, repaired to the wharf where the ships lay that had the tea on board' and were followed by hundreds of people to see the event of the transactions of those who made so grotesque an appearance. The Indians immediately repaired on board Cap- tain Hall's ship, when they hoisted out the chests of tea, and when on deck stove them in with their hatchets and emptied the tea overboard. Having cleared this ship, they proceeded to Capt. Bruce's, and then to Captain Coffin's. They applied themselves so dexterously to the destruction of this com- modity, that in the space of three hours they broke up three
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hundred and forty-two chests, which was the whole number in those vessels, and discharged their contents into the docks. When the tide rose it floated the broken chests and the tea ; insomuch that the surface of the water was filled therewith, a considerable way from the South part of the Town to Dor- chester Neck and lodged on its shores."
There was the greatest care taken to prevent the tea being purloined by the populace ; one or two being detected in en- deavoring to pocket a small quantity were stripped of their acquisitions and roughly handled.
Horace E. Scudder in his most interesting book for boys, entitled, "Boston Town," in writing of the Tea Party says :
"There was one man in the crowd who thought it would be a fine thing to carry off some of the tea, so he went on board with the rest and slyly stuffed all he could inio his coat pock- ets and inside the lining. He was a Captain O'Connor ot Charlestown. One of the men who was at work destroying the tea saw him do this, and as the Captain was leaving the ship he sprang forward and caught him. O'Connor made a jump and left his coat tails behind him. Mr. Hewes cried out and let the people know what he had done. and as the Captain tried to get away from the wharf, everybody in his neighborhood helped him on with a kick, and the next day Captain O'Connor's coat toils were nailed to the whipping post in Charlestown."
It is worthy of remark that although a considerable quan- tity of goods were still remaining on board the vessels, no injury was sustained. Such attention to private property was observed that a small padlock belonging to the captain of one of the ships being broken another was procured and sent to him. The town was very quiet during the whole evening, and the night following. Those who were from the country went home with a merry heart, and the next day joy appeared on almost every countenance, some on account of the destruction of the tea. others on account of the quietness with which it was effected. One of the Monday's papers says: "The masters and owners are well pleased that the ships were thus released." The value of the tea was £18,000 ($90,000). The night was clear ; the moon shone brilliantly.
"It was not the deed of a lawless mob, but the well consid- ered act of intelligent and determined men. One of the par- ticipants. G. R. T. Hewes, whose portrait is in the Old State House over the Registry Desk, published a little volume in
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1835 in which he gives a number of incidents connected with the event. He says: "The disguise of the Indians was hastily prepared. Many arrayed themselves in a store on Fort Hill. The original number was fifteen or twenty. Many others dis- guised themselves as best they could and joined the party. While the crowd was rushing down Milk Street to Griffin's Wharf, Hewes himself made his way to a blacksmith's shop on Boylston Wharf where he hastily begrimed his face with suitable preparation, thence to the house of an acquaintance near Griffin's Wharf, where he got a blanket to wrap around his person." Hewes' whistling talent, for which he was some- what famous among his acquaintances, procured him the posi- tion of boatswain in the party under Captain Lendall Pitts, which boarded the brig.
The British Squadron lay in the stream less than a quarter of a mile distant and its officers witnessed the whole proceed- ings. "Admiral Montague was on shore at the time in the house of a Tory named Coffin, on Atkinson (Congress) Street. As the party returning passed Coffin's house, the Ad- miral saw them, and opening the window said, "Well, boys, you have had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't you? But, mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet." "O, never mind," shouted Lendall Pitts, "never mind, Squire. Just come out here, if you please, and we will settle the bill in two minutes." This caused a shout, the fife struck up a lively tune, the Admiral shut the window in a hurry, and the company marched on.'
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