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Date: 8/31/2022
BLANDFORD – Historical Society President Pliny “Chips” Norcross welcomed representatives of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum and Revolution 250, a group of organizations working together to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, to the gravestone of Boston Tea Party patriot Col. Samuel Sloper in the old Blandford Cemetery on Aug. 28.
Norcross said he was excited to kick off the White Church’s 200th anniversary week with the placing of the commemorative marker to honor Sloper, who was 26 years old on Dec. 16, 1773, when he participated in the Boston Tea Party, considered to be the single most important event leading up to the American Revolution.
The gravestone reads: “In memory of Col. Samuel Sloper who Died Dec. 4th 1802 in the 58 year of his age. By his side lies his Daughter Lucy who died May 2nd 1789 aged 14 months.”
Evan O’Brien, creative manager for the Boston Tea Party Museum, said there were 150 participants in the Boston Tea Party and to date 101 markers have been placed. He said the ultimate goal is to place markers at the graves of all known participants, who are buried from Maine and Canada to Virginia and Ohio.
O’Brien said while roughly 90 percent of the grave sites are known, 35 headstones are missing, in part because of the air of secrecy around who was involved in the action that was considered treasonous by the British authorities.
The effort to place the markers is in advance of a year’s worth of activities that will begin this Dec. 16, leading up to the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 2023. On that date, a grand-scale reenactment of the event is planned.
Information on all activities and on the reenactment may be found at www.BostonTeaParty250.com, which also describes the history of the action: “On this night, the Sons of Liberty dumped more than 300 crates of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor. To many who were still loyal to the crown, this was an act of sedition and treason by ‘ill designing men.’ But to those whose loyalty to King George III –and his taxes – had faltered, this was a galvanizing event. Bostonians from all statuses and walks of life came together, as equal citizens, to make a peaceful protest against tyranny and taxation without representation. It was their patriotism that sparked the American Revolution.”
O’Brien said Sloper is mentioned in two books about the Boston Tea Party, “Defiance of the Patriots” by Benjamin L. Carp, and “Tea Leaves” by Francis S. Drake. In the books, Sloper is credited as a ship’s carpenter, an innkeeper and later a tavern owner in Blandford in 1778. He served in the Revolutionary War as captain of the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment. After the war, he represented Blandford in the state Legislature, and served as a delegate in the county congress. The books describe him as getting into hot water more than once, O’Brien said.
Also speaking was Jonathan Lane, coordinator of Revolution 250, a consortium of organizations led by the Massachusetts Historical Society to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the events on the road to independence.
“We’re always looking for partners, there’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.
Lane said apart from observing the Tier I textbook events such as the Boston Tea Party, the closure of the Port of Boston, the Old North Church lighting, and the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the larger mission plays out in every community across Massachusetts.
Quoting John Adams, who Lane said is often quoted because of the sheer number of words he penned, “the revolution was in the minds and hearts of people,” long before a drop of blood was spilled in Concord.
“Every town was asked to vote on the cause of independence months before the Continental Congress. Many towns have written in their town records a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which is part of their town records for all time,” Lane said.
The commemorative marker which was placed at Sloper’s grave bears an image inspired by Nathaniel Currier’s “The Destruction of the Tea at Boston Harbor” lithograph created in 1846. The marker was placed next to the gravestone by reenactor Meghan Boehmer, portraying Hannah Stearns, who was married to Tea Party patriot Phinehas Stearns of Watertown.