Boston Tea Party 250

04/23/2026

This week a statue of Sarah Bradlee Fulton was unveiled and dedicated in the town of Medford. Mrs. Fulton is known as the Mother of the Boston Tea Party. Family lore tells of Sarah helping to disguise her brothers the night of the destruction of the tea on December 16, 1773. We are thrilled that a statue now stands in her honor in Medford center, not far from her memorial stone and our dedicated medallion plaque as an honorary Boston Tea Party participant. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum was happy to sit with WCVB Channel 5 Boston and chat about this remarkable woman!

1 like. "New honor for the "Mother" of the Boston Tea Party"

04/17/2026

Patriots Day Weekend 2026!

04/08/2026

250 Years Ago, With the departure of British forces from Boston, the patriots were able to gain access to the graves upon Bunker Hill battlefield and provide proper burials 10 months following. The remains of General Dr. Joseph Warren were "dug up and carried into Town...and were interred with all the Honours of War. ...The Dr. was Buried with the Masons walking in procession from the State House, with the Military in uniforms and a large concourse of people attending. He was carried into the Chapel, and there a funeral Dirge was played. The amiable and heroic virtues of the deceased recent in the minds of the Audience, the noble cause to which he fell a Martyr, their own Sufferings and unparalleled injuries all fresh in their minds, must give weight and energy to whatever could be delivered upon the occasion, the Dead Body like that of Caesars before their Eyes, whilst each wound, ...like dumb mouths wounds did ope their ruby lips, and beg the voice and utterance of a Tongue."

03/31/2026

Today is the 250th Anniversary of Abigail Adams' most famous letter to her husband John at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. "I long to hear that you have declared an Independency -- and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation." This letter was written mere days following the British military evacuation of Boston. Mrs. Adams served as her husband's closest advisor, confidant, and "dearest friend" throughout their 54 years of marriage. Today we Remember Abigail Smith Adams.

03/29/2026

250 Years Ago Today...In the wake of the British forces evacuating Boston, Continental Congress delegate John Adams having heard the news while in Philadelphia writes to his wife Abigail regarding his joys, and his anxieties and desires for Boston's protection.
"I give you joy of Boston and Charlestown, once more the Habitations of Americans. Am waiting with great Impatience for Letters from you, which I know will contain many Particulars.
We are taking Precautions to defend every Place that is in [Danger] -- The Carolinas, Virginia, N. York, Canada. I can think of nothing but fortifying Boston Harbour. I want more Cannon than are to be had, I want a Fortification upon Point Alderton, one upon Lovells Island, one upon Georges Island, several upon Long Island, one upon the Moon, one upon Squantum. I want to hear of half a Dozen Fire ships and two or three hundred Fire Rafts prepared. I want to hear of Row Gallies, floating Batteries Built, and Booms laid across the Channell in the Narrows and Vesseauu de Frize, sunk in it. I wish to hear, that you are translating Braintree Commons into the Channell. No Efforts, No Expence are too extravagant for me to wish for to [fortify] that Harbour so as to make it impregnable. I hope every Body will join and work untill it is done."

03/27/2026

It's : Mary Parsons Cobean
Genealogy can seem daunting to those just beginning to dive into their family ancestry. Sometimes, it takes a passionate ancestor to be “the anchor” for a family to build upon. For the descendants of Tea Party participant John Hicks, that anchor would be Mary Parsons Cobean.
Born in Hoosick Falls, N.Y. in 1849, Mary Parsons lived a pretty average life. She was the youngest daughter of Hial and Harriett Parsons. She married Winfield Cobean on 28 March 1872.
Mary was interested in her family heritage, which proved to be a boon to her future descendants. She became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution later in life. Researching her descendants, led her to Samuel Robinson, a colonel in the American revolution. She would never know just how important this research was to her living descendants.
Branching off Mary’s research, the Robinson line connects with that of the Hicks family from Cambridge, MA. John Hicks, participant of the Boston Tea Party was also an ancestor to Mary Parsons Cobean, a fact later found by her current descendants. It was thanks to her work that they were able to unlock their own ancestry!
Want to learn more about the People who made history in 18th-century Boston and their descendants? Visit the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program here! https://bit.ly/3MiOrlC
📷:Mary Patience Parsons Cobean with her family members, 1888. (Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Collection).

03/25/2026

Who's Who Wednesday...
One of the Loyal Nine, predecessors to the Sons of Liberty, Henry Bass, was quite active in the lead-up to the tea's destruction. Bass was a prominent merchant in Boston, owning a shop on the South corner of Faneuil Hall Square and Merchants Row. As a member of the Loyal Nine, Bass helped other participants Thomas Crafts Jr., Thomas Chase, and Benjamin Edes in planning early opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765. Bass would also testify as a witness in the trial of British soldiers involved in the March 5, 1770, Boston Massacre. Bass would not be involved militarily during the American Revolution but continue his civic work, using his wealth and influence to further the Patriot cause in Boston. Pictured is a recreated advertisement from The Boston Evening-Post touting Bass's grindstones, alongside our Boston Tea Party Participant Grave Marker Medallion.

Want to learn more about the People who made history in 18th-century Boston? Visit the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program here! https://bit.ly/3MiOrlC

03/22/2026

Are you descended from a Boston Tea Party participant? Explore your connection to the single most important event that led to the American Revolution! Check out our Boston Tea Party Descendants program! Membership is available through a vetted genealogical application process in partnership with the American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society. Join the Party today! https://bit.ly/3MiOrlC

03/20/2026

Burn it down on the way out???
((SOUND ON)) 250 Years Ago, in the wake of the British military forces leaving Boston, the fleet of departing vessels and personnel destroyed the fort, barracks and battery on Castle Island, an island fortress just off of Dorchester neck. Merchant John Rowe recounts, "Mar. 20. They burnt the Barracks & Houses at the Castle this afternoon & destroyed everything they could on the Island & blew up the Fortifications all around it." The vessels take several days to leave the greater Boston Harbor.

03/18/2026

Who's Who Wednesday?
Boston Tea Party Participant Nathaniel Barber was born in 1728. Barber was a 45-year-old merchant and insurer living in Boston at the time of the Boston Tea Party in 1773. He was very active in the early revolutionary acts Boston witnessed prior to the tea hitting the water. He aided a man named Daniel Malcolm who had smuggled wine and liquor into Boston in 1766. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence in Boston, which played a crucial role in organizing resistance to the various taxes levied by England, including the tea tax. Barber's loyalty to the Patriot cause was so grand that his obituary read, “...friends of liberty could not but drop a tear over the grave of so known and tried a patriot...”
Want to learn more about the People who made history in 18th-century Boston? Visit the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program here!--> https://bit.ly/3MiOrlC
📷: Nathaniel Barber’s Grave, Copps Hill Burial Ground, Boston, MA., BTPSM Collection, 2018.

03/17/2026

((SOUND ON)) 250 Years Ago the British forces and scores of loyalists leave the town of Boston! Although a British colony, occupying forces had entered into the city seven and a half years prior in October 1768 with the intent to quell the colonists' riotous behavior and outward opposition to parliamentary taxation and over bearing regulations. Over the years of occupation tension led to the Boston Massacre on King Street, the Boston Tea Party at Griffin's Wharf, The closure of Boston's Port, Colonel Leslie's Retreat from Salem, and the start of the American Revolutionary War with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Following the colonist's defeat at Charlestown with the Battle of Breed's / Bunker's Hill, General George Washington was desperate to turn the tide on the British Siege of Boston. Several tons of artillery Cannon were trekked from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox and ultimately installed on Dorchester Heights just south of the city. The British plundered and ransacked the town in the days leading up to their departure! The colonists of Massachusetts and the recently formed Continental Army watched as they sailed away from the Boston.