Chapter V: Part 5

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

GENERAL EBENEZER 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 in the 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.

COLONEL JAMES 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 tea party, 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.

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.

CAPTAIN JOSIAH 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, at Sheepscot, 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 the proprietors 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.

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.

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."

A BALLAD OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.

BY DR. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

No! never such a draught was poured
Since Hebe served with nectar
The bright Olympians and their Lord,
Her over-kind protector;
Since Father Noah squeezed the grape
And 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 shake
With seven score millions saddled;
Before that bitter cup was drained
Amid the roar of cannon,
The western war-cloud's crimson stained
The Thames, the Clyde, the Shannon;
Full many a six-foot grenadier
The flattened grass had measured,
And many a mother many a year
Her tearful memories treasured.
Fast spread the tempest's darkening pall,
The mighty realms were troubled,
The storm broke loose, but first of all
The 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 along
And leaves a chin half-lathered;
The smith has flung his hammer down,
The horse-shoe still is glowing,
The truant tapster at the Crown
Has 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 rush
The lusty young Fort-Hillers.
The rope-walk lends its 'prentice crew,
The Tories seize the omen;
"Ay, boys! you'll soon have work to do
For 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 glimpse
Of paint and fur and feather,
As all at once the full-grown imps
Light 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 flame
Yon little spark shall kindle!
The lurid morning shall reveal
A fire no king can smother,
When British flint and Boston steel
Have 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 tea
That Boston served her keepers!

The waves that wrought a country's wreck
Have rolled o'er Whig and Tory;
The Mohawks on the Dartmouth's deck
Shall live in song and story.
The waters in the rebel bay
Have kept the tea-leaf savor;
Our old North-Enders in their spray
Still 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!"

COMMEMORATIVE VERSES.

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 taxes
On his foreign tea;
His threats are vain, and vain to think
To force our girls and wives to drink
His vile Bohea!
Then rally boys, and hasten on
To 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 defenders
Shall ne'er be left by true North-Enders
Fighting Freedom's cause!
Then rally boys, and hasten on
To meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon.

* * *

* * * * *

A TEA PARTY BALLAD.

Just by beauteous Boston lying
On 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 Phoebus 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!

A FAREWELL TO TEA.

(_From Thomas's "Massachusetts Spy."_)

Farewell, the tea-board with its equipage
Of cups and saucers, cream-bucket and sugar-tongs,
The pretty tea-chest also lately stored
With Hyson, Congo, and best Double Fine.
Full many a joyous moment have I sat by you
Hearing 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 choose
To 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, Phil^a., on the 17^th Sept.,
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, page_ XLVII.

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 of
BENJAMIN 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 more
in a new
and a more beautiful edition
corrected and amended
by 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._

"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.

LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS.

LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS.

No. 1.

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 of tea 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 obtain a 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. 7-1/2d. 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 the Colonies, 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 every other branch of smuggling, must be held in abhorrence by all good men. The present prices of tea are--

_d._ _d._
Dutch Bohea's, in whole chests, 20 @ 22
" " half " 22 24
" " quarter " 24 25
Swedish, whole " 21 22
Danish, " " 21 22-1/2
Congo, 28 45
Souchon, 36 65
Peco, 32 55
Imperial, 49 50
Green, 48 50
Tonkay, 52 53
Heysan Skin, 60 62
Heysan, 90 95

The tare on whole chests is 84 lbs., if they weigh less than 400 lbs., and if they weigh 400 lbs. or upwards, then 90 lbs.; for the half chests, under 200 lbs., tare 54 lbs.; if 200 lbs., or upwards, then 60 lbs.; for the quarter chests, under 100 lbs., tare, 23 lbs.; if 100 lbs., or upwards, then 30 lbs. The advantages on the tares are calculated at 7 or 8 pr cent. on the whole chests, at 12 @ 13 pr cent. on the half chests, and at 15 @ 16 per cent. on the quarter chests. The quantity of teas on hand is not considerable, so that we do not apprehend a decline; on the contrary, if any orders of the least importance were to appear, the prices would go higher. There are now about 400 chests shipping for America, from Amsterdam, from which port the teas that go to North America from this country are always shipped, and not from this city; they are sent to Rhode Island, and not to Boston. Of Green teas there are hardly any left, neither fine Souchong nor Congos, but ordinary, in abundance. The freight of a whole chest of Bohea to St. Eustatius, one of the Dutch West India Islands, comes to about 7-1/4s. pr chest. It is reckoned by the foot square, at 6s. the foot to North America. It is generally £4 pr chest, New York currency, but the captain is not answerable in any case of seizure.

Agreeable to your desire, I send you a pro forma invoice of 6 chests Dutch Boheas, so as they come to stand on board if they were shipped here; but as the shipping is at Amsterdam, the charges may be somewhat higher. In regard to what they estimate, the risk that in America for running in the teas I cannot inform you, this you may be better able to learn from some of your New England houses, as our underwriters will not sign against the risk of seizures; but I fancy the risk is not very great, as the trade is carried on for so large parcels.

Pro forma invoice of 6 chests of Dutch Bohea tea:

lbs.
320 Tare of 4 chests, under 400
------
360 at 84 lb. each, 336} 2270
370 }
390 do. of 2 chests above } 516
410 400 @ 90 lb. each 180} ---- 1754 @ 24s. £2104 16
420 off 1 pr cent., 21 2
--------
£2083 14

CHARGES.

Custom and Passport, £20 4s
Sleding, 1 7
1/2 weigh money, 13 0
Brokerage, 10 8
Shipping, 3 0
Commission, 2 per cent. on £2131 13s. 42 12
--------
90 11
--------
£2174 5[25]

_Estimate of the advantages attending the Tea trade to North America, if carried on from England:_

Observe 1st. In the following calculation, no more than half the consumption of the Continent, as estimated by Messrs. Hutchinson, in their letter of the 10th Sepr., 1771, is assumed as the whole, as from the mode in which they were under the necessity of making their estimate, it was liable to error, and 19,200 chests is more than has been hitherto annually imported from China by all foreign companies.

2ndly. That this calculation is formed upon Bohea tea only, the species of tea already consumed there; yet it is probable by degrees other species might be introduced, the vend of which may be more profitable to the Company. 9600 chests of Bohea tea, each containing 340 lbs., makes 3,264,000 lbs., if sold at 2s. 6d. Boston currency, (which is 4d. lower than it appears to have been even at the time it was purchased in Holland, at 15 stivers, or under 18d. pr lb., amounts to

£408,000
Deduct 25 pr cent. for exchange, 102,000
Sterling, £306,000
Deduct 6 pr cent. for commission and charges, 18,360
Annual net proceeds before the American } £287,640
duty is deducted, }

_Application of those Net proceeds to the following purposes:_

To the revenue for the duty on 3,264,000, @ 3d. £40,800

To the ship owners, for freight from England to
America, if according to the present rate of
15 pr chest, 7,200

To the ship owners for freight from China to
England, according to Sir Richard Hotham's
plan, of £21 pr ton, of 10 hundred weight, or
for every 3 chests of tea, 67,200

To the purchase at Canton, if at 15 tale pr pecul
would amount thus: say 3,264,000 lb., divided
by 133-1/3 for each pecul, makes peculs 24,480
@ 15 each, is tales 367,200, which, at 6s. 8d. pr
tale, is sterling, 122,400

Commission on the purchase in China, 6,120

Charges of all sorts, rated at 10s. pr chest, 4,600
------
248,320

To the Company for Net profit after all deductions}
whatsoever upon the most reduced } 39,320
estimate, upwards of 30 pr cent. on the purchase, }
or
------
£287,640

No. 2.

LETTER FROM MR. GILBERT BARKLY.

Gentlemen:

I take the liberty to enclose for your consideration a
memorial, regarding the establishment of a branch from the
East India house in one of the principal cities in North
America. Should the design meet with your approbation, as I
am well acquainted with the teas most saleable in that
country, shall be extremely happy in giving you every
information in my power, I have the honor to be with due
esteem, gentlemen,

Your most obedt. & very humble servant,

GILB'T BARKLY.
Lombard Street,
26th May, 1773.

TO THE HON'BLE THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE EAST INDIA
COMPANY.

MEMORIAL.

_The Memorial of Gilbert Barkly, merchant, in Philadelphia,
in North America, who resided there upwards of sixteen
years, and who is well acquainted with the consumption of
that country, particularly in the article of Teas, &c._

Humbly proposes. In order to put a final stop to that
destructive trade of smuggling:

That the Company should open a chamber in one of the
principal, & central cities, of North America, under the
direction of managers, and that an assortment of teas from
England should be lodged in warehouses, and sales to
commence quarterly upon the same terms & conditions as those
in London.

By this means the merchants and grocers from the Southern
and Northern Provinces will attend the sales and purchase
according to their abilities. The goods thus brought from
home to them, and sold cheaper than they can be smuggled
from foreigners, the buyers will be bound by interest, and
think no more of running that risk, to which may be added
that they have them when paid for, immediately, for whereas,
when commissioned from abroad, they generally wait six
months before the receipt of them.

This country is now become an object of the highest
consequence, peopled by about three millions of inhabitants,
one third of whom, at a moderate computation, drink tea
twice a day, which third part, reckoning to each person one
fourth part of an ounce pr day, makes the yearly consumption
of 5,703,125 lbs. This quantity, at the medium price of 2s.
6d. pr lb., amounts to £712,890 2s. 6d.

The common people in all countries are the greatest body,
few of those in North Briton or Ireland drink tea, this is
not the case in America, all the planters are the real
proprietors of the lands they possess; by this means they
can afford to come at this piece of luxury, which has been
greatly introduced among them by the example of the Dutch
and German settlers.

The great object to be considered is to bring the goods to
market in such a manner as to afford them as cheap as they
can be bought of foreigners. Should this be the case the
success of the design is beyond a doubt.

The duty of 3d. pr lb. some time ago laid on teas payable in
America, gave the colonists great umbrage, and occasioned
their smuggling that article into the country from Holland,
France, Sweden, Lisbon, &c., St. Eustatia, in the West
Indies, &c., which, from the extent of the coast,
(experience has taught) cannot be prevented by custom
officers, or the king's cruizers, and as the wisdom of
Parliament reckons it impolitical to take off this duty, the
colonists will persevere in purchasing that article in the
usual manner if the above method is not adopted, and the
goods brought into their country and sold as cheap as they
can have them abroad.

The freight, &c., of teas to America would not much exceed
what they might cost to Holland, or any other foreign
company, particularly as the ships may load back with masts,
and other goods that might nigh pay the whole expence, and
should the Company think of exporting their overstock of
teas to Holland, or any other foreign country, it is not to
be expected that the merchants abroad would buy them but
with a view of profit. This, with freight, commission, duty,
&c., would far exceed the expence of sales and freight to
America.

If this scheme should be approved of, the sooner it is
executed the better, as the smugglers in America will soon
be laying in their fall and winter stock of teas, unless
they are prevented by this design, and as Spanish dollars
are the current coin in that country, the Company can be
furnished with any quantity they may require towards their
payment, should they require it.

The managers may be paid by a commission on the sales, and
at the same time bound to obey such orders and directions
as they may receive from time to time from the Hon'ble the
Court of Directors, and as your memorialist is universally
acquainted with the trade, and has respectable connections
in that country, he humbly offers himself as a proper person
to be one of the managers, and if required, will find
security for the trust reposed in him. Your memorialist also
presumes to mention John Inglis, Esq., of the city of
Philadelphia, as another proper person, being universally
esteemed in America, and well known in the city of London,
as a man of probity, fortune and respect.

No. 3.

LETTER FROM MR. BROOK WATSON, TO DANIEL WIER, ESQ.

Dear Sir:

The annual consumption of teas in Nova Scotia is about 20
chests Bohea, and 3 or 4 of good Common Green. Should the
Company determine on sending any to that Province, I pray
your interest in procuring the commission to Watson's &
Rashleigh's agent there, John Butler, a man of long standing
in the Province and in the Council, and by far the fittest
person to be employed, for whom W. & R. will be answerable.
At Boston I have two friends equally deserving. You would do
the Company service, and me an acceptable kindness, by
recommending them, Benjamin Faneuil, Jun., & Joshua Winslow.
The consumption at Boston is large, say at least 400 chests
Bohea & 50 of Green pr annum. The freight to both these
places I should be glad to have if you could procure it
without inconvenience to yourself.

Yours faithfully,
BROOK WATSON.[26]
4 June, 1773.

No. 4.

A PROPOSAL FOR SENDING TEA TO PHILADELPHIA.

_Received from the Hon'ble Mr. Walpole._[27]

As Philadelphia is the capital of one of the most populous
and commercial Provinces in North America, and is situated
in the center of the middle British Colonies, it is
proposed:

That the East India Company should, by the middle of June at
farthest, send to Philadelphia at least five hundred chests
of black teas, one hundred half chests of green teas, and
seventy five half chests of Congou and Souchon teas.

That they should consign these teas to a house of character
and fortune in Philadelphia, and direct the proceeds thereof
to be remitted hither in bills of exchange or specie.

That previous, however, to the teas being shipped, factors
should be appointed in Philadelphia, and the directors of
the East India Company should _immediately_ advise them of
their intended consignation, and direct them to engage
_proper_ warehouses for the reception thereof.

That the factors should be authorized to sell the teas at
public auction, (giving notice of the times of the sale in
all the North American newspapers, at least one month before
hand,) and in such small lots as will be convenient for the
country storekeepers to supply themselves with such sales.

That the factors should grant the purchasers the same
allowance of tare, tret, discount, &c., as are customary at
the company's sales in this city.

That in case the factor should be of opinion, the sales of
the tea would be encreased both in quantity and price, by
having occasional auctions in Boston and New York, in the
manner proposed at Philadelphia; that they should be at
liberty to send from time to time to Boston & New York as
many chests as they may think necessary for the consumption
& _commerce_ of those places, but that the factors, or one
of them, should always attend the sales in Boston and New
York.

That the East India Company should be at the charge &
expence of the warehouse rent in America, the cartage, and
the freight of the teas from Philadelphia to Boston & New
York, and that the factors should be allowed for receiving
and selling the teas, collecting the payment thereof and
remitting the same, a commission of 2-1/2 pr cent. on the
amount of the sales.

N.B.--It is submitted whether it would not be proper for the
directors of the East India Company to send two persons to
Philadelphia, who have been accustomed to pack and repack
teas at the India House, to the end that they may be
employed for that purpose, and in dividing whole chests of
black teas into half chests, for the greater accommodation
of the country shopkeepers.

No. 5.

MR. PALMER'S COMPLIMENTS TO MR. WHELER, ENCLOSES THE
OUTLINES OF A PLAN UPON WHICH THE EXPORTATION OF TEA ON
BEHALF OF THE COMPANY TO AMERICA TAKE PLACE. MR. P. WILL
ATTEND THE COMMITTEE WHENEVER HE IS DESIRED.

PLAN.

Admitting that an exportation of tea to America by licence
takes place immediately, in order to prevent the colonists
from becoming purchasers at the sales of foreign companies,
usually made from September to November, and consequently at
least discourage those companies from encreasing their China
trade, and also to obtain some information, though
imperfect, before the investments for the China ships of the
ensuing season are ordered. It is proposed that chests of
Bohea tea, chests of each specie of Singlo tea, together
with a smaller assortment of Hyson, Souchong, & Congou tea
be consigned to such a number of merchants conjointly as may
be thought sufficient, (for whom their correspondents in
England shall give satisfactory security,) together with
such persons as shall be thought proper for that purpose to
be sent from thence. That upon the arrival of such tea in
Boston public notice shall be given thereof through the
Continent, and also that it is the intention of the East
India Company, if the sales of this cargo should be found to
answer, to repeat such consignments, in order to supply that
Continent with teas at least equal in price to what they
must pay for the same if obtained in a way of illicit trade.
That in order to conduct these sales in the most
advantageous manner, the parties to whom the cargoes shall
be entrusted shall act as one body; that the concurrence of
the majority shall be necessary for any act therein; that
each party shall be answerable for himself only, but that no
credit shall be given to bills received for paying without
the assent of at least three of the persons so appointed;
that it shall be the object of the person who may be
appointed to go with the cargo to obtain all possible
information respecting the actual consumption, mode of sale,
species of tea that may be introduced, & opportunity of
remittances at Boston, where it is proposed the first
consignment shall be made, as it is the only considerable
mart, where tea from England is at present received without
opposition, and having so done he shall visit such other
places on the Continent as may be thought proper, but
particularly New York and Philadelphia, in order to obtain
the same information at those several places, and learn,
from being on the spot, how far the New Yorkers, &c., will
hold their solemn engagements, when they find the advantages
they will probably reap by receiving tea from England. They
having obtained all such necessary information, he shall
return to England & report the same, from which time it is
presumed there will be full employ for such agent without
any additional expence to the Company in preparing such
assortments of tea as may from time to time be required for
this market, and can be best spared from the necessary
demand of Great Britain & Ireland, and also in negotiating
the remittances that may from time to time be received on
account of this concern.