JOSHUA WYETH AND THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

Young Joshua Wyeth awoke early on this cold December 16, 1773 day in Boston.
He was too excited to sleep until the light of dawn. He hurriedly dressed and broke
the ice in the water basin [bowl for washing] to wash his face and hurried down
stairs to a breakfast of bread and cold meat from last night. He then quietly slipped
from the house into the freezing weather.
Joshua was a lad [boy] of just 16 years of age working as an apprentice [a person
working with another to learn a trade] to a blacksmith learning a skill that would
keep him and his family throughout his life time. But, at the present, he was too
excited to think of the future. Today, he was on his way to become part of the
history of his country.

By Lyla Dove
At this time in America, most of the populous [Colonists] drank tea as a staple
drink. Water was too easily turned impure, carrying disease and coffee was scarce
and expensive. Tea was one of the few pleasures the Colonists had in their hard
lives.
The English government had just passed the Tea Act, one of many such taxes that
the Colonists felt were unfair. The soon-to-be Americans felt they should not pay
taxes if they had no say about their lives and also money was scant [not much] in
their pockets. There was discontent [anger] brewing among the people.
1

The British did not understand or comprehend the anger of the Colonists as the law
had lowered the price on tea of the East India Company so it was cheap. In fact, it
was cheaper than the other tea companies. The Colonists, rather than viewing this
as a concession [giving in] to the tea company, felt it was another example of
taxation without representation. They were angry at the taxes being voted on by
the British Parliament [government] thousands of miles away with no way to
influence or speak out against them while parliament was debating these issues.
There was to be a meeting later in the morning for one last try to resolve this
matter peacefully without violence. It was a very tense time and, for a young boy,
also a very exciting time.

By Lyla Dove

From May 1, 1773 to December 16, 1773, a group of citizens organized into the
Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock. By
December 16, there were three ships containing cargos of tea in the Boston Harbor
the Eleanor, the Beaver and the Darmouth. The pot of rebellion was beginning
to boil over. A popular song called Revolutionary Tea was sung by many
people.

There was an old lady lived over the sea,

And she was an Island Queen; (England)
Her daughter lived off in a new country, (Colonists)
With an ocean of water between.
The old ladys pockets were full of gold,
But never contented was she,
So she called on her daughter to pay her a tax [demanded]
Of three pence a pound on her tea,
Of three pence a pound on her tea.
On December 16, 1773, thousands of Colonists met at the Old South Meeting
House for a final meeting. More than a third of Bostons residents were present. It
was requested that a final plea be made to the British governor to leave the harbor
with the tea on the ships. The request was denied and all the peaceful, legal
methods at resolving the matter had failed. Samuel Adams [known as Firebrand]
was a rabble rouser who said that the meeting could do nothing more to save the
country, which was a pre-arranged signal to the Sons of Liberty for what was to
follow.
On the 16th of December, men and boys dressed like Mohawk Indians with
hatchets [like tomahawk], boarded the ships and dumped 45 tons (or about 90,000
pounds) of tea in the Harbor. The tax was due to be paid that day. The men wore
ragged clothes and smeared their faces with soot, coal dust or lamp black. The
majority of the participants were unknown to the area, making detection more
difficult. It was said they looked like devils from the bottomless pit. After the
tea was disbursed into the Harbor, the men and boys became part of the crowd on
the shore.
Joshua told of his work to a journalist in Cincinnati in about1826, 53 years after
the event occurred.
I had but a few hours warning of what was intended to be doneTo prevent
discovery we agreed to wear ragged clothes and disfigure ourselves, dressing to
resemble IndiansOur most intimate friends among the spectators had not the
least knowledge of us...At the appointed hours, we met in an old building atthe
wharf, and fell in one after another, as if by accident, as not to excite suspicion.
3

We placed a sentry at the end of the wharf, another in the middle, and one on the
bow of each ship as we took possession. We boarded the ship moored by the
wharf, and ordered the captain and crew to open the hatchways and hand us the
hoisting tackle and rope, assuring them that no harm was intended them. Some of
our members then jumped into the hold, and passed the chests to the tackle. As
they were hauled on deck others knocked them open with axes, and others raised
them to the railings and discharged their contents overboard. All who were not
needed on this ship went on board the other where the same ceremonies were
repeated. We were merry, in an undertone, at the idea of making so large a cup of
tea for the fishes but we used not more words than absolutely necessary. I never
worked harder in my life. While we were unloading, the people collected in great
numbers about the wharf to see what was going on. They crowded around us. Our
sentries were not armed, and could not stop any who insisted on passing.

From internet pictures of Boston Tea Party

The seeds of the Revolution were being sown to begin in earnest a few years in the
future.
4

Epilog:
Joshua Wyeth was born October 6, 1748, Middlesex, Cambridge, Massachusetts
and died February 22, 1832, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio. He was the son of
Ebenezer Wyeth and Mary Winship. He served seven years in the Revolutionary
War.
Joshua was a blacksmith by trade, married three times and fathered approximately
20 children. The family lived at various times in Massachusetts, the lake region of
New York, Towanda, Pennsylvania and Cincinnati, Ohio.
One of his daughters, Fanny Wyeth, married my great-great-great uncle, James
Bayley and lived in Ohio.