Historical U.S. newspapers preserve many stories that would otherwise be lost forever, especially the stories of ordinary men and women throughout American history. Here is an example, an 1837 newspaper article in which John Wyeth tells what it was like to participate in the Boston Tea Party.

John Wyeth was 85 when he sat down in 1837 to share his reminiscence of the defiant American colonists throwing tea off three British ships into Boston Harbor back in 1773. His story was published by the Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 4 November 1837, page 1:


Where else but a first-hand account do you get such details as this:


Or this:


Wyeth concludes his account with this:


In searching for information about your ancestors' lives, or the times they lived in, you can't do better than digging into an archive of historical newspapers.

Let us all join John Wyeth and his friends in raising our glasses and giving a rousing toast to "the hearty boys of America for ever!"