BOSTON — Boston and the people living in and around the city played a central role in the American Revolution. Of course, one of the iconic moments was the Boston Tea Party. To this day, the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is working to dig up the secrets surrounding that event — and it created a descendant’s program to learn more.
“The Boston Tea Party, in our opinion, was a catalyst that led to the American Revolution,” said Evan O’Brien, the creative manager at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.
December 16, 1773 — members of the Sons of Liberty dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor in an act of protest that was considered treason. The iconic event is written in every American history book, but O’Brien says it’s also one of the most misunderstood.
“Because the roughly 50 to 70 individuals swore an oath of secrecy, in some respects, it’s almost impossible to get the full story,” said O’Brien. ”And it’s a major challenge for us, as a museum, to be able to tell that accurate story reflective of the truth that happened that night on December 16, 1773. But of course, we do the best that we can.”
Since it wasn’t spoken about for years, the term “Boston Tea Party” wasn’t even coined until 1826. But as time went on, people began to talk about who was there that night.
“Those lists began to be compiled,” said O’Brien. ”And from those previous lists, we were able to create what is now the first fully vetted and fully researched list of Boston Tea Party participants anywhere.”
In a partnership with American Ancestors, the museum recently created the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program and compiled the first fully vetted list of Boston Tea Party participants.
“I am a member of the descendants program through William Breck, who is my fifth great-grandfather,” said Jonathan Lane, who is also the executive director of Revolution 250 in Massachusetts.
Lane learned Breck was a merchant in Boston who worked with John Hancock and Paul Revere.
“And that to me is remarkable,” said Lane. ”You learn these names in school through your American history programs, and yet your family is interacting with these people. It’s remarkable to think about all of these people living — and unknowingly living on the edge of history.”
While Lane hasn’t been able to determine if his fifth-generation family member was on a boat dumping the tea or just involved with the planning operation, he was there that night — and taught Lane a lesson.
“The Founding Fathers and their families didn’t give us a complete system,” said Lane. ”They gave us a start. They gave us hope for something better in the future, and it’s up to us to carry that legacy forward.”
Descendants and the museum continue to dig deeper into history to learn more about our past — and carry those lessons into the future.
“We had no idea that the Boston Tea Party was the single most important event leading up to the American Revolution — that catalyst that propelled us down the road to revolution," said O’Brien. “We also had no idea that ordinary people took part, and that those people are similar to us today, and that we can really affect change in our community and our world.”
Members of the descendants program have access to a digital portal that allows them to upload family papers, personal documents and historical records. It serves as a growing resource to help connect people to their shared history.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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