{"id":56367,"date":"2020-02-19T11:35:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T16:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=56367"},"modified":"2024-05-29T12:04:47","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T16:04:47","slug":"second-boston-tea-party-held-in-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/second-boston-tea-party-held-in-1956.html","title":{"rendered":"Second Boston Tea Party Held \u2013 in 1956!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about a little-known episode in American history: a tongue-in-cheek \u201cSecond Boston Tea Party\u201d in 1956. <\/em>Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a><\/em>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, you\u2019ve heard about the Boston Tea Party, a protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston Harbor on 16 December 1773 against the British Tea Act. But did you know there was a Second Boston Tea Party in American history?<\/p>\n

And did you know they used tea from the original Boston Tea Party?<\/p>\n

In 1956, nine men gathered in Scituate, Massachusetts, for the Second Boston Tea Party. Colonel Charles Wellington Furlong (1898-1966) hosted the event at his home \u201cEight Gables\u201d on Old Oaken Bucket Road.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 17 October 1956<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The attendees, from potent pedigrees, included: William Avery Baker (1911-1981), designer of the second Mayflower<\/em>; Leonard Francis Cushing (1901-1962), naval architect on the Maintenance Committee, U.S. Frigate Constitution<\/em>; Alden Stoddard Cook (1889-1976), great grandson of Ichabod Cook who did cabinet work on the Constitution<\/em>; Commodore Frederic Abilgaard Fenger (1882-1970), yacht designer, navigator and author; Captain Alexander Forbes (1882-1965), physicist; Guiles \u201cGiles\u201d Melville Stuart Todd (1914-1995), who sailed around the \u201cHorn\u201d on one of the last square-rigged grain ships; Frank \u201cSmithy\u201d Vining Smith (1879-1967), noted painter of sailing ships and naval engagements; and Commodore William Marriott Welch (1878-1968), Scituate Yacht Club member who owned one of the largest collections of commemorative war medals in the world.<\/p>\n

At the 1956 gathering, Furlong served the original \u201cgun powder tea\u201d taken in the raid on the East India Company ship Beaver<\/em> in Boston Harbor on that December night in 1773. According to Furlong, the tea had been preserved for generations in the Danby-Larkin Estate in Boston, and he bequeathed it to Lawrence W. Jenkins (1872-1961), a former curator of the Peabody Essex Museum.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 17 October 1956<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tea was served in saucers just like it was back in the day, and Furlong gave the toast: \u201cTo the gentlemen who stood for no taxation without representation!\u201d<\/p>\n

Captain Hezekiah Coffin, a Quaker mariner, was in command of Beaver<\/em> the night of the original Boston Tea Party. After dropping off sperm whale oil to London, Captain Coffin was to transport the British East India Company tea to Boston. The Beaver<\/em> held 112 chests of tea when she arrived at Griffin\u2019s Wharf in Boston on Wednesday, 15 December 1773 \u2013 she was delayed as a result of a case of smallpox which broke out onboard and was held in quarantine for two weeks in Boston\u2019s outer harbor.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: replica of the \u201cBeaver\u201d in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Credit: Murgatroyd49; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The history behind the Brick Kiln Yard at Pembroke where Beaver<\/em> was built is detailed in the History of Shipbuilding on North River, Plymouth County, Massachusetts: With Genealogies of the Shipbuilders, Kent, and Accounts of the Industries Upon Its Tributaries. 1640 to 1872<\/em>, written by Lloyd Vernon Briggs. Many famous crafts, privateers, whalers, and merchant vessels were forged in the Brick Kiln Yard.<\/p>\n

Captain Ichabod Thomas SR (1733-1788) was the master builder for the Beaver<\/em>. He was commissioned by Quaker merchant William Rotch of Nantucket in 1772.<\/p>\n

During his time in the Brick Kiln Yard, Thomas built Bedford<\/em>, the first vessel to display the United States flag in foreign waters, off Trinity, England, 6 February 1783; and Neptune<\/em>, commanded by Captain Nathan Coffin, who was captured by the Brits on a voyage to London with a load of whale oil. The British Admiral said: \u201cCapt. Coffin, you can join His Majesty\u2019s service, or go into irons.\u201d Coffin replied: \u201cHang me, if you will, to your ship\u2019s yard-arm, but do not ask me to become a traitor to my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Weekly Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas), 14 May 1828, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another of Thomas\u2019 ships, Maria<\/em>, was depicted on Pembroke\u2019s town seal and put in at nearly every seaport of the globe, remaining in commission for 90 years. The Somerset<\/em>, under the command of Alexander Coffin, carried the papers of Benjamin Franklin announcing the Treaty with France.<\/p>\n

The master carpenters who worked on these ships were also skilled in cabinetmaking. During the American Revolution, the Corps of Artificers, or \u201cCompany of Carpenters\u201d \u2013 comprised of a select group of highly skilled craftsmen \u2013 were formed to produce necessary goods.<\/p>\n

I have been researching the list of carpenters who served in these corps, and many came out of the old shipyards in Plymouth County and other parts of New England. I have uncovered family history and business advertisements in GenealogyBank\u2019s historical newspapers, account books, and examples of their work in archival collections. Some of the surnames: Stetson, Cushing, Lincoln, Barker, Vassall, Colby, Humphries, Plummer, Briggs, Hatch, Jaques, Thaxter, Stone, Beal, Jackson, and Nichols.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Additional Reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n