A previously unknown letter reveals the Founding Father’s powerful message to a fellow Patriot and his ties to the famous historical event, 250 years later
As Boston prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party on December 16th, we’re delving into a previously unknown and unpublished letter of John Hancock in our collection, one that touches upon the people and places involved in the famous historical event.
In this important letter, dated April 12, 1776, Hancock announces a major naval victory to his friend and colleague in Boston, Thomas Cushing, later the first lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. The threat of British arrest kept Hancock in virtual exile. He relays here how deeply he has missed his home while living in Philadelphia:
“You say nothing about Boston. I want to hear every little stirring. How pray are the bells taken from the steeples, I long to hear the Sound of those Bells.”
The Risks of the Revolution
In the years leading up to the Revolution, John Hancock held legislative positions in the colony of Massachusetts and became known as a ‘rabble-rouser,’ protesting British taxation and inspiring colonists to revolt. On the fateful night of Paul Revere’s famous ride, Revere had warned him that both he and Samuel Adams were in danger of imminent arrest. By the following day, April 19, 1775, when the British fired on Lexington and Concord – the ‘Shot Heard Round the World’ – Hancock and Adams had fled south to Philadelphia.
Hancock remained in Philadelphia for two years, serving as president of the Second Continental Congress, where he presided over the creation and signing of the Declaration of Independence. But he longed for the comforts of home, as this letter illustrates.
Still, he kept the faith, advising Cushing, “Persevere in doing all the good you can.” Perhaps he is alluding to the victory in Boston only the month before, when British forces had to flee following General George Washington’s successful fortification of Dorchester Heights. The city had persevered and would continue to do so.
Only in hindsight can we see the stunning historical import of these months in 1776. These men and women had risked their homes, their fortunes, and very nearly their lives to establish American independence.
John Hancock and the Sons of Liberty
Written more than two years after the Boston Tea Party but only months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Hancock’s remarkable letter also mentions the safety of John Avery, Cushing’s son-in-law. Avery was one of the “Loyal Nine,” the secret political organization that had planned the Boston Tea Party and formed the basis for the larger and more powerful Sons of Liberty, to which Hancock also belonged. Like Hancock, Avery was targeted by the British, which is why his security was a concern to his friends. Avery’s was a name well-known to Hancock, John Adams, and others involved in the Patriots’ cause.
In a marginal annotation on the letter, Cushing’s nephew added this description of Avery: “He was one of the most fearless, resolute, and active patriots of the day. And aided in the destruction of the tea. Many anecdotes of his daring conduct are related. Among others: his tearing down of the Royal flag staff and planting the Liberty Pole in Boston main street in defiance of British soldiers; and his seizing of a British sentinel by the throat when on duty and nearly shaking him with his black stocks, in consequence of his insolence to some ladies on the [walk] or publick walk.”
As a letter written by Hancock during the momentous year of 1776, this is a rarity. As one that is both personal and powerful, connecting him to Boston, to his network of fellow Patriots, and to the Revolutionary zeitgeist, it is almost unrivaled.
