Thousands of Black men fought in George Washington’s army during the Revolutionary War, or American War of Independence, yet their contributions rarely appear in modern history books.

Harvard University professor Compatriot Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the Sons of the American Revolution are hoping to change that with an ambitious project to identify those soldiers and their descendants.

"My first goal with this project is to enhance the awareness of the American public of the role of African-Americans in the struggle for freedom in this country," said Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard.

"Plus, my concern is that there are many people walking around, like me, who had no idea that I had an ancestor who fought in the Revolution," he said.

Gates was inspired to begin the project after he learned he had a relative who fought in the Revolution during filming of a documentary series, "African American Lives," which used DNA testing and genealogical research to investigate the ancestry of notable Black Americans.

The project, funded by Harvard and the Sons of the American Revolution, will identify Blacks believed to have fought in the war and encourage their descendants to come forward.

Joseph W. Dooley, the chairman of the Sons of the American Revolution’s membership committee, said he wants to identify as many people as possible who contributed to the war. He envisions future projects tracking the contributions of women and Native Americans.

The descendants will be eligible to apply for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Revolution - organizations devoted to service and genealogy for people who can trace their lineage to soldiers who fought in the war.

Of nearly 27,000 members of Sons of the American Revolution, fewer than 30 are Black, said Jim Randall, executive director and chief executive of the organization. Of 165,000 Daughters of the American Revolution members, only about 30 are Black, Dooley said.

An estimated 5,000 Blacks fought for independence during the Revolutionary War.

"It’s not recognized by most Americans that perhaps as much as 10 percent of George Washington’s troops were Black," Dooley said. "It’s reasonable to say that the contribution of Blacks in the American Revolution was indispensable."

Genealogist Jane Ailes, who also traced Gates’ ancestry, plans to look over 80,000 pension applications for Revolutionary War soldiers and compare the names against federal census records, which often contained information on race.

Ailes said she has already identified more than 20 people who may have served in the Revolutionary War, including an escaped slave.

Gates was inducted into the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 2006, and several other members of his family have joined similar organizations as well.

By Peter Oliver, in Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, 1781
   Appendix based on events compiled in The Boston Weekly News-Letter, 23 Feb. 1775

The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, British print, 1774 (detail). Exhibiting a few, out of the many, very innocent Frolics of Rebellion,¹ especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

From the beginning of the revolutionary period in the 1760s, British supporters (Tories and later called Loyalists) were harassed, intimidated, and often attacked by Patriot mobs. As war approached in the 1770s, the victims of Patriot wrath expanded to include lukewarm supporters and the vocally undecided, and the threats and injuries they received escalated in severity. One victim was the Loyalist judge Peter Oliver, who was forced from his judgeship and left America for Britain in 1776. In 1781 he wrote an angry history of the prewar period entitled Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, in which he printed, almost verbatim, a list of violent acts upon Loyalists perpetrated over a six-month period (August 1774 through February 1775), which had been printed in a 1775 Boston newspaper. What kinds of intimidation and injury were inflicted on Loyalists? What did the attackers hope to accomplish? How does Oliver judge the Patriot perpetrators?

August 1774

A Mob in Berkshire assembled & forced the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas from their Seats on the Bench and shut up the Court House, preventing any Proceedings at Law. At the same Time driving one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace from his Dwelling House so that he was obliged to repair² to Boston for Protection by the King’s Troops.

At Taunton also, about 40 Miles from Boston, the Mob attacked the House of Daniel Leonard, Esqr.,³ one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace; & a Barrister at Law. They fired Bullets into the House & obliged him to fly from it to save his Life.

A Col. Gilbert, a Man of Distinction & a firm Loyalist, living at Freetown, about 50 Miles from Boston, being absent [away] about 20 Miles from his Home, was attacked by a Mob of above an 100 Men at Midnight. But being a Man of great Bravery & Strength, he, by his single Arm [weapon], beat them all off. And on the same Night & at the same Place, Brigadier Ruggles, a distinguished Friend of Government⁴ & for many Years a Member of the general Assembly, was attacked by the same Mob; but by his firm Resolution he routed them all. They, in Revenge, cut his Horse’s Tail off & painted him all over. The Mob found that Paint was cheaper than Tar and Feathers.⁵

September 1774

The Attorney General, Mr. Sewall, living at Cambridge, was obliged to repair to Boston under the Protection of the King’s Troops. His House at Cambridge was attacked by a Mob, his Windows broke & other Damage done; but by the Intrepidity of some young Gentlemen of the Family, the Mob were dispersed.

About the same Time, Thomas Oliver Esqr.,⁶ the Lieut. Govr. of Massachusetts Province, was attacked in his House at Cambridge by a Mob of 4000 Men; & as he had lately been appointed by his Majesty one of the new Council, they forced him to resign that Office; but this Resignation did not pacify the Mob . he was soon forced to fly to Boston for Protection. This Mob was not mixed with tag, rag & Bobtail⁷ only. Persons of Distinction in the Country were in the Mass, & as the Lieut. Governor was a Man of Distinction, he surely ought to be waited upon by a large Cavalcade & by Persons of Note.

In this Month, also, a Mob of 5000 collected at Worcester, about 50 Miles from Boston, a thousand of whom were armed. It being at the Time when the Court of Common Pleas was about sitting, the Mob made a lane & compelled the Judges, Sheriff, & Gentlemen of the Bar [other judicial officials] to pass & repass them, Cap in Hand, in the most ignominious Manner & read their Disavowal of holding Courts under the new Acts of Parliament⁸ no less than Thirty Times in the Procession.

Brigadier Ruggles’s House at Hardwicke, about 70 Miles from Boston, was also plundered of his Guns, & one of his fine Horses poisoned.

Col. Phips, the high Sheriff of Middlesex, was obliged to promise not to serve any Processes of Courts, & retired to Boston for Protection.

A Committee, with a Justice Aikin at their Head & a large Mob at their Heels, met at Taunton aforesaid, at Term Time, & forbade the Court of Common Pleas to sit.

Peter Oliver Esqr.,⁹ a Justice of the Peace at Middleborough, was obliged by the Mob to sign an Obligation not to execute his Office under the new Acts. At the same Place, a Mr. Silas Wood, who had signed a Paper to disavow the riotous Proceedings of the Times, was dragged by a Mob of 2 or 300 Men about a Mile to a River in Order to drown him, but, one of his Children hanging around him with Cries & Tears, he was induced to recant, though, even then, very reluctantly.

The Mob at Concord, about 20 Miles from Boston, abused a Deputy Sheriff of Middlesex & compelled him, on Pain of Death, not to execute the Precepts for a new Assembly . they making him pass through a Lane of them, sometimes walking backwards & sometimes forward, Cap in Hand, & they beating him.

Rev. Mr. Peters, of Hebron in Connecticut, an Episcopalian Clergyman, after having his House broke into by a Mob & being most barbarously treated in it, was stripped of his Canonicals [minister’s robe] & carried to one of their Liberty Poles, & afterwards drove from his Parish. He had applied to Governor Trumble & to some of the Magistrates for Redress, but they were as relentless as the Mob, & he was obliged to go to England incognito,¹⁰ having been hunted after to the Danger of his Life

Peter Oliver Esqr.ca 1780s, a Justice of the Peace at Middleborough, was obliged by the Mob to sign an Obligation not to execute his Office under the new Acts.

Peter Oliver Esqr.ca 1780s, a Justice of the Peace at Middleborough, was obliged by the Mob to sign an Obligation not to execute his Office under the new Acts.

William Vassall Esqr., a Man of Fortune, and quite inoffensive in his public Conduct, tho’ a Loyalist, was traveling with his Lady from Boston to his Seat at Bristol, in Rhode Island Government, about 60 Miles from Boston, & were pelted by the Mob in Bristol, to the endangering of their Lives.

All the Plymouth Protestors against Riots, as also all the military Officers, were compelled by a Mob of 2000 Men collected from that County & the County of Barnstable to recant & resign their military Commissions. Although the Justices of the Peace were then sitting in the Town of Plymouth, yet the Mob ransacked the House of a Mr. Foster, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, a Man of 70 Years of Age, which obliged him to fly into the Woods to secrete himself, where he was lost for some Time and was very near to the losing of his Life. Afterwards, they deprived him of his Business & would not suffer [permit] him to take the Acknowledgment of a Deed.

A Son of one of the [British] East India Companies Agents being at Plymouth collecting Debts, a Mob roused him in the Night, & he was obliged to fly out of the Town; but the Midnight favored his Escape.

December 1774

A Jesse Dunbar, of Halifax in the County of Plymouth, an honest Drover,¹¹ had bought a fat Ox of one of his Majesty’s new Council & carried it to Plymouth for sale. The Ox was hung up & skinned. He was just upon quartering it when the Town’s Committee [Patriot] came to the Slaughter House, & finding that the Ox was bought of one of the new [British] Councilors, they ordered it into a Cart, & then put Dunbar into the Belly of the Ox and carted him 4 Miles, with a Mob around him, when they made him pay a Dollar after taking three other Cattle & a Horse from him. They then delivered him to another Mob, who carted him 4 Miles further & forced another Dollar from him. The second Mob delivered him to a third Mob, who abused him by throwing Dirt at him, as also throwing the Offals [innards] in his Face & endeavoring to cover him with it, to the endangering his Life, & after other Abuses, & carrying him 4 Miles further, made him pay another Sum of Money. They urged the Councilor’s Lady, at whose House they stopped, to take the Ox; but she being a Lady of a firm Mind refused; upon which they tipped the Cart up & the Ox down into the Highway, & left it to take Care of it self. And in the Month of February following, this same Dunbar was selling Provisions at Plymouth when the Mob seized him, tied him to his Horse’s Tail, & in that Manner drove him through Dirt & mire out of the Town, & he falling down, his Horse hurt him. "take refuge in Boston"

In November 1774, David Dunbar of Halifax aforesaid, being an Ensign in the Militia, a Mob headed by some of the Select Men of the Town, demand[ed] his Colors [flags] of him. He refused, saying, that if his commanding Officer demanded them he should obey, otherwise he would not part with them: upon which they broke into his House by Force & dragged him out. They had prepared a sharp Rail to set him upon;¹² & in resisting them they seized him (by his private parts) & fixed him upon the Rail, & was held on it by his Legs & Arms, & tossed up with Violence & greatly bruised so that he did not recover for some Time. They beat him, & after abusing him about two Hours he was obliged, in Order to save his Life, to give up his Colors.

Quære [query] . Whether it would not have been as strictly legal to have stolen the Colors from his House without all this Parade?

The Mob Committee, of the County of York where Sir William Pepperell’s large Estate lay, ordered that no Person should hire any of his Estates of him, nor buy any Wood of him, nor pay any Debts to him that were due to him.

One of the Constables of Hardwick, for refusing to pay the Provincial Collection of Taxes which he had gathered to the new Receiver General of the rebel Government, was confined & bound for 36 Hours, & not suffered to lie in a Bed, & threatened to be sent to Simsbury Mines in Connecticut. [see illustration at right]. These Mines being converted into a Prison, 50 Feet under Ground, where it is said that many Loyalists have suffered. The Officer’s Wife being dangerously ill, they suffered [permitted] him to see her after he had complied.

The aforementioned Col. Gilbert was so obnoxious for his Attachment to [the royal] Government that the Mobs, being sometimes afraid to attack him openly, some of them secretly fired Balls at him in the Woods. And as he was driving a Number of Sheep to his Farm, he was attacked by 30 or 40 of them who robbed him of part of the Flock, but he beat the Mob off. And this same Col. Gilbert was, some Time after, traveling on his Business when he stopped at an Inn to bait his Horse. Whilst he was in the House, some Person lift up the Saddle from his Horse & put a Piece of a broken Glass Bottle under the Saddle; & when the Col. mounted, the Pressure run the Glass into the Horse’s back, which made him frantic. The Horse threw his rider, who was so much hurt as not to recover his Senses ’till he was carried & arrived at his own House, at 3 Miles distance.

In September 1774, when the Court of Common Pleas was assembled for the Business of the Term at Springfield, a large Mob collected & prevented the sitting of the Court. They would not suffer Bench or Bar to enter the Court House but obliged [forced] Bench, Sheriffs & Bar, with their Hats off, in a most humiliating Manner, to desist.

February 1775

A Number of Ladies at Plymouth attempted to divert [entertain] themselves at the public Assembly Room; but not being connected with the rebel Faction, the Committee Men met and the Mob collected, who flung Stones & broke the Windows & Shutters of the Room, endangering the Lives of the Company, who were obliged to break up & were abused to their Homes. Soon after this, the Ladies diverted themselves by riding out of Town, but were followed & pelted by the Mob, & abused with the most indecent Language.

The Honble. Israel Williams Esqr., who was appointed one of his Majesty’s new Council, but had refused the Office by Reason of bodily Infirmities, was taken from his House by a Mob in the Night & carried several Miles, then carried home again after being forced to sign a Paper which they drafted, & a guard set over him to prevent his going from Home.¹³

A Parish Clerk of an Episcopal Church at East Haddum in Connecticut, a Man of 70 Years of Age, was taken out of his Bed in a Cold Night & beat against his Hearth by Men who held him by his Arms & Legs. He was then laid across his Horse without his Clothes & drove to a considerable Distance in that naked Condition. His Nephew Dr. Abner Beebe, a Physician, complained of the bad Usage of his Uncle & spoke very freely in Favor of [the royal] Government, for which he was assaulted by a Mob, stripped naked, & hot Pitch was poured upon him, which blistered his Skin. He was then carried to an Hog Sty & rubbed over with Hog’s Dung. They threw the Hog’s Dung in his Face & rammed some of it down his Throat; & in that Condition exposed to a Company of Women. His House was attacked, his Windows broke, when one of his Children was sick, & a Child of his went into Distraction upon this Treatment. His Grist-mill was broke, & Persons prevented from grinding at it & from having any Connections with him.

All the foregoing Transactions were before the Battle of Lexington, when the Rebels say that the War began.

A Map of forty miles north, thirty miles west, and twenty five miles south of Boston, 1775 (?), detail; note Lexington and Concord to the northwest.

Footnotes

Note: From the National Humanities Center, 2010 Douglass Adair & John A. Schutz, eds. Peter Oliver’s Origin & Progress of the American Rebellion: A Tory View (San Marino, California: The Huntington Library, 1961); permission pending. Spelling and punctuation modernized by NHC for clarity. Complete image credits given here.

1. Oliver’s tone is one of sardonic bitterness, throughout.
2. Repair, i.e., move, resettle.
3. Esquire: title of respect for members of the English or American elite.
4. i.e., Loyalist, a supporter of Britain and its colonial administration.
5. Tarring and feathering was a common form of intimidation and revenge in colonial America, used against royal officials and offending citizens, and, in the pre-revolutionary period, used to threaten Loyalists or others who did not fully support the Patriot cause. The crowd would strip the victim, pour hot tar over his/her body, and then roll the person in feathers that would adhere to the tar. Usually the person was paraded about the area on a cart before being released and perhaps threatened with further violence. Occasionally the victim would die.
6. British-born Thomas Oliver was not related to Peter Oliver. An earlier lieutenant governor, however, was Oliver’s brother Andrew. During the Stamp Act crisis of 1765, Andrew served as a stamp tax collector, for which he was hanged in effigy by a mob and his house ransacked, for which Peter Oliver was forever enraged.
7. i.e., common people, scoundrels.
8. The Coercive Acts, passed in March to assert firmer control over the colonies and, specifically, to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party and New York for its refusal to comply with the Quartering Act.
9. The author of Origin & Progress of the American Rebellion.
10. Incognito: In secret or disguise, with one’s identity concealed.
11. Drover: herder.
12. "Riding the rail" was another common act of intimidation and harassment in colonial America. Usually the rail was a fence rail, upon which the victim would be forced to straddle while it was carried about in public.
13. "The honorable Israel Williams, Esq. one who was appointed of his Majesty’s new council but had declined the office through infirmity of body, was taken from his house by a mob in the night, carried several miles, put into a room with a fire, the chimney at the top, and doors of the room being closed, and kept there for many hours in the smoke, ’till his life was in danger; then carried home after being forced to sign what they ordered, and a guard over him to prevent his coming from home." The Boston News-Letter, 23 February 1775; see p. 3.

Our interview with Senator Richard Lugar was completed on May 23, 2011. The members of the Congressional and Government Relations Committee who participated were Timothy R. Bennett, Dennis J. Hickey lv and Andrew M. Johnson, Recorder. Senator Lugar is a fifth-generation Hoosier and is the U.S. Senate’s most senior Republican member. He currently serves as Republican leader of the Foreign Relations Committee and is a member and former chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. He was elected to the Senate in 1976 and entered his sixth term in 2006 with 87 percent of the votes cast. He is a graduate of Denison College and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He served in the U.S. Navy beginning in 1957 on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations.

Flow did you get interested in politics?

I was interested because my parents were involved in Republican politics, never as candidates but as interested citizens. I was at the Monument Circle in Indiana pohs when Wendell Wilkie came to campaign in 1940. I became involved in politics after I returned from naval service and I was working with my brother man aging farm and factory interests. I was asked to run for school board and they added, ‘You ’re far too young but you are all we got.’ Our four sons were headed into the public schools and we thought that this would be an important thing to do. I was elected and in 1967, I became the mayor of Indianapolis. I was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and this is my 35th year in the Senate.

As the Republican leader on the Foreign Relations Committee, do you fed that our country is continuing to make progress with other nations regarding nuclear, chemical’ and biological’ weapons?

Yes, we are. We had successful ratification of the new START treaty last December; which continues a strategic arms relationship with Russia. Month by month, I get Pentagon reports on the numbers of nuclear weapons destroyed under the treaty.

This has led Russia and the United States to be very interested in the nuclear weapons of every other country. Specifically, we are interested in dissuading countries such as Iran and North Korea from further nuclear development. We have also been active in working with other nuclear nations to make certain that we are all working together to contain potential loss of nuclear materials to terrorists.

Sen. Lugar, with regard to the Agriculture Committee, of which you have been the chairman, what do you think will happen to those Missouri farmers whose land was under water after the levee destruction? Will they be fairly compensated?

Federal crop insurance programs are avail able to those farmers. I don’ specifically know about those farmers whose lands were flooded by the deliberate levee destruction by the Corps of Engineers but a large section of the farm bill involves crop insurance, which has very largely replaced other subsidy programs. The loss of crops this year will be especially difficult for those Missouri farmers since they could have anticipated high prices for their crops. This is just my best first estimate and I have asked the staff to look at other provisions since this was a deliberate act by the Corps of Engineers to protect property farther downstream. Farming is an uncertain and precarious process, which is why I have advised all Indiana farmers to avail themselves of the crop insurance program.

Would you explain the Lugar Energy Initiative?

When the Congress debated the so- called "cap and trade" carbon tax proposals, it became clear that no legislation would be passed because of a wide division of interests between states with gas and coal production and those which did not. It became apparent to us that there was value in improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings and transportation sectors. The question became should those efficiencies come about by mandate of the federal government or through the process of personal choice. We chose the latter and we looked at the Empire State Building because it is a building most people will recognize. The owners borrowed money and renovated that great building to save about 32 percent of their energy use each year. The same can be done in government buildings at state, federal and local levels. Some credits have been offered in recent years to homeowners. In the area of petroleum, our emphasis is on the automobile and how to bring about higher mileage in ways that people will choose. it did not pass but we will offer another version this year.

How did you obtain membership in the SARI Are members of your family in the SAR, DAR or CAR?

That question stymied me! I believe that my mother was a member of DAR and she encouraged me to become a member of the SAR. We took our family heritage very seriously.

Back in about I983, we were at a critical point in American foreign policy. Since I979, NATO thought we had a deal with the Russians that there would be no missile movement closer to our allies. The Russians began forward missile deployment. Many of our allies were unwilling to confront the Russians at this point and President Reagan sent me to Germany during that period to see if we could warm up our allies to the acceptance of Pershing missiles to oppose the Soviet missile deployments. Ambassador Arthur Burns advised me that I really ought to check out my German heritage since I was about to do this public relations effort in southern Germany. I did and found that Adam Lugar, on whom I base my membership in the SAR, came as a Hessian soldier. He and many others had the good sense to desert and become Americans. He fought as a patriot at Guilford Courthouse and was given farmland in Virginia after the war. His son came to Indiana in I82I-23 where the Lugars lived in Grant County. My father moved to Marion County near Indianapolis, where he established farm interests and where my family continues to live.

As the U.S. Senate’s most senior Republican and longest-serving member of Congress in Indiana history, have you considered running for higher office? If not, what are you likely to do upon retirement?

I was a candidate in 1995-96 for the Republican presidential nomination. i was very active in those two years but Bob Dole was ultimately the nominee. I thought he would choose to remain as majority leader of the Senate rather than run for the presidency, but I was wrong. I do not plan to run for other offices. I am a candidate for Senate in 2012 and am hopeful that Twill be successful.

The Sons of the American Revolution supports many youth programs. As a public servant and SAR member, what should we do to encourage young people to make public service a part of their lives? We attempt in this office to invite students, usually at the college level, to become interns for periods of time. We presently have I6 interns working in this office and in our Senate Foreign Relations Committee office. I meet with them to respond to their questions and to point out things I think they should be looking for. I try to establish a relationship so they feel they might call back to this office or inform us of things we need to know. I try to expand beyond these very personal relationships with a whole series of events in Indiana. In December, I invite two junior students from each of the high schools in Indiana. Then, we have 10 panels of experts with whom the students meet throughout the afternoon. We have another program in the University of Indianapolis in a center named for me at which we invite leaders from each of the colleges in Indiana to come to the university for a day. This allows me to meet the campus leaders and to respond to their questions, perhaps offer advice. Then, I respond to a large number of invitations from Indiana high schools and even elementary schools. I continue to serve on the board of trustees of my alma mater, Denison University, and have for the last 45 years. I am also a member of the advisory board for Pembroke College, Oxford, which I attended as a Rhodes Scholar. In all these ways, I try to influence young persons as they head into graduate school or employment.

Another concern of the SAR, Sen. Lugar, is the limited amount of education taught about American Revolutionary history and its importance in the founding of this great country. Have you any suggestions on how we can improve in this area?

I think that the most basic suggestion is working with local school boards. There are debates all over our country over what is I really important to teach in the schools. It is not just Amen can Revolutionary history that has been bypassed but history altogether. People in the press will from time to time ask questions on some very basic parts of our history and a small percentage of respondents come up with the right answer. This may be forgetfulness over the course of years, but at the same time, there is some appearance that this is not an area in which people have been adequately taught."

What can we do as SAR members to promote, educate and "grow" our organization?

I think, first of all, to make known the opportunity to identify with those who were American patriots in our Revolution. While this is an exciting quest, SAR must give guidance on how one goes about the ancestral search. The computer opens a lot of possibilities that were not there when we were young. The SAR should indicate some places that Americans can go on the Web to find some of the information and tools that they may need to find their ancestors. Given the curiosity of young people and their facility with computer technology, it offers an especially nice avenue for young people.

We salute you for your contributions and long service to our country. Have you any additional comments or questions?

My first trip outside the U.S. was as a student to Oxford and I discovered how big the world was and how many talented people there are. I also gained an appreciation of the uniqueness of the United States. My understanding was greatly increased by the experience of being outside the U.S. and noting how important our country was.

When I left England, I volunteered for the Navy OCS, I came back to the United States and married and reported for duty in Newport, R. I. it came about that Admiral Burke, then chief of naval operations, was looking for young officers to work in his briefing theater at the Pentagon. I went to Naval intelligence School and then came on board as a briefing officer preparing intelligence briefings and representing the Navy with CIA, NSA and other agencies, it was a mentor relationship that was really incredible. When later I was elected to the Senate, Admiral Holloway invited Admiral Burke to a lunch at which we had a chance to reminisce. Those three years ,four months on active duty were a very important part of my life.

Again, this year, we are pleased to have an exceptional speaker, Benjamin L. Carp, Professor of History at Tuffs University. Professor Carp's work specializes on Colonial, Revolutionary and early-American history. Carp teaches classes to introduce students to the Republic and antebellum America as well as courses that focus on the history of Revolutionary Massachusetts and the Revolutionary experience in American cities. He will address some important moments in the history of early America and look inside the heads of some of America’s most important leaders in shaping American politics.

Professor Carp will draw from his new book Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America to explore how, on the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of Bostonians disguised as Indians boarded three merchant ships and dumped more than forty-six tons of the East India Company's tea into Boston Harbor. Why did the Tea Party happen? Whom did it involve? What was its significance?

There also will be opportunity to choose among a range of activities this day, including a meeting of the Color Guard, Ladies Auxiliary, and the Board of Managers Meeting. Our Annual Meeting provides a forum for members from across the state to meet each other and to see what is happening throughout the organization. You will come to appreciate the many members of the society that reviewed and assembled the presentations and publications for this event.

• 8:30-9:00 AM - Morning Reception - Coffee and Pastries
• 9:00 AM - Board of Managers Meeting - Aesculapian Room
• 10:00 AM - Annual Meeting (Members Only) - Aesculapian Room
• 10:30 AM - Ladies Auxiliary Program - Gardner Room, 2nd Floor
• 11:30 AM - Reception - Members & Guests - Foyer 2nd Floor
• 12:30 PM - Luncheon Program: Massachusetts Hall, 2nd Floor

Our Annual Meetings typically include over one hundred participants including applicants-in-progress, members, representatives from affiliated societies, compatriots, and guests. The Meeting reflects tremendous efforts from the all parts of our organization. Come and see a magnificent program!

Information on registering for the event is available here.

The Germany Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is leading an SAR delegation to Germany to honor the service of the Germans who assisted in the American Revolution, specifically the regiment from the Duchy of Zweibrücken. That regiment served in the French Army under Rochambeau as the ­at the decisive Battle of Yorktown. The regiment was commanded by two of the Duke of Zweibrüken’s children from his morganatic marriage to Marie Anne Camasse. The King of France later granted her the title of Countess de Forbach (the French city where she was born), allowing her children (who could not inherit the Duchy of Zweibrücken) to become Counts de Forbach. The regiment was under the command of the Duke’s son, Christian de Deux-Ponts, and his brother Wilhelm de Deux-Ponts was the colonel-en-sec­ond. The regiment con­sisted of Germans, and German-speaking sub­jects of the King of France – they were from Zweibrücken, the Holy Roman Empire, Alsace, Lorraine, France, Switzerland, the Low Countries, and a few from Savoy, Ireland and Sweden. The regiment came to America in 1780, arriving in Newport, Rhode Island, and they marched with Rochambeau through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to engage the British at Yorktown. The Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts heroically stormed Redoubt No. 9 at Yorktown with the French Regiment Gâtinais, capturing two mortars from the British. General George Washington awarded the two captured mortars to the two regiments to honor their daring assault on the redoubt. We hope to locate descendants of the Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts to apply for membership in the Germany Society, as well as current SAR members living in Germany.

The planned itinerary is as follows: participants will arrive at Frankfurt International Airport, where they will be met by travel staff. If you choose to arrive in Europe before the start of the SAR trip, you may arrange to meet us at the Frankfurt airport. Our bus will depart once everyone has arrived on April 24, 2012. When we arrive at Zweibrücken, we will check into our hotel. We are planning a ceremony honoring the Zweibrücken regiment, as well as an evening walking tour of the town fortifications. We will take a short trip to the French town of Forbach, where we plan to have a wine and cheese reception with compatriots from the SAR France Society, and view Forbach castle.

On April 26, 2012, we will travel to Heidelberg, where we will tour the castle and the Old Town. After lunch, we will con­tinue to the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and check into our hotel. In the evening, there is an optional night watchman tour of Rothenburg. On April 27, we will tour and have lunch in Rothenburg’s Old Town. We will contin­ue on the Romantic Road to the 1,100-year-old town of Nördlingen. We will visit the tower of the Saint Georg’s Church, which is made of shocked quartz from a meteorite impact that created the crater within which the town was built. We will then continue to Munich, where we will check in to our final hotel.

On April 28, there is a morning tour of Munich. In the after­noon we will conduct a wreath-laying ceremony at the Old South Cemetery, where Counts Christian and Wilhelm de Forbach are buried. We will be joined by Baron von Cetto and Baron von Gravenreuth, who are related to Counts Christian and Wilhelm de Forbach. On April 29, we will make a day trip to Neuschwanstein to tour King Ludwig’s Castle. We will then visit the passion play city of Oberammergau before returning to Munich. On April 30, we will make a day trip to the Austrian city of Salzburg. We will tour the Old Town, and then have lunch there. After returning to Munich, we will have a farewell dinner at the famed Hofbrauhaus Beerhall.

On May 1, we will be transported to the Munich International Airport for our return flight to the United States, or you can extend your trip on your own. This itin­erary requires a minimum of 40 participants.

Special extras that we are trying to arrange include a reception with the Lord Mayor of Zweibrücken, a visit to Baron von Cetto’s castle near Augsburg, and a tour of the Bavarian Parliament, which has a life-size painting of the Surrender at Yorktown. We also hope to arrange an evening reception with Barbara Stamm, the President of the Bavarian Parliament. Please contact Stephen Renouf at Usina@aol.com or (510) 276-8946 if you are interested in attending the Germany Society Trip in April 2012. ]]> http://www.massar.org/leads/german-society-of-the-sons-of-the-american-revolution/feed/ 0 http://www.massar.org/news/jl-bell-to-speak-at-boston-chapter-meeting-2/ http://www.massar.org/news/jl-bell-to-speak-at-boston-chapter-meeting-2/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:45:34 +0000 admin http://www.massar.org/?p=1066 [continue reading...]]]> Special Meeting with our Board of Managers

The Boston Old Colony Chapter invites all members and those interested in membership to the society to a special state-wide meeting with our Board of Managers on Saturday, January 14th, at Maggiano’s Restaurant in Boston. This local gathering is an opportunity for you to better know the society and our work. It is also a way for us to share information, make decisions, coordinate and plan our activities together.

At 8:30am, we welcome you to a session of the Board in the Columbus-Florentine Room at Maggiano's at 4 Columbus Avenue near the Park Plaza Hotel. Directions to the restaurant appear at here. (It is near the Arlington Street Station on the Green Line and Tufts Medical Center on the Orange line.) Validated parking is available in the lot above the restaurant for up to five hours for $12.00 per vehicle.

Following the meeting, at 10:30am, please join us at a reception and brunch for members and guests with the delicious food and superb service of the restaurant. A full listing of all options available may be found on their website.

Our speaker for the event is J. L. Bell, a well-known authority on the history of the American Revolution, will discuss "General Washington's Very First Spies.". John maintains the website Boston1775.net, which is updated daily with "history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in New England." Much of his work has been published in magazines and journals. His work has been featured on the television show History Detectives and in the creation of a new display at Minute Man National Historical Park.

John has also spoken on the Revolution at Bunker Hill Museum, Old South Meeting House, the Paul Revere House, Boston’s Old State House, Washington’s Cambridge Headquarters, and at meetings of Organization of American Historians. He recently completed a book-length study of General George Washington during the siege of Boston for the National Park Service as well as a chapter on how Boston’s youth became politicized for Children in Colonial America.

Please confirm a reservation to the banquet by sending a $30.50 check payable to our Treasurer at the address below by January 10th or by ordering tickets on line. If you are a member of Boston Old Colony who has not yet paid their dues for 2012, kindly include an additional $15 with your payment as well.

We very much look forward to seeing you on January 14th!

Best Regards,

James M. Mitchell President, Boston Old Colony Chapter

Michael E. Fishbein President, The Massachusetts Society

For reservations by mail, please send your reservations to:

Mr. James Lundy
jlundy@massar.org
Treasurer, Boston Old Colony Chapter
398 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 450-9428

By Anthony J. Connors

After serving as the first Apothecary General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Andrew Craigie made a fortune in land and securities speculation in New York. Returning to his native Massachusetts, he purchased one of the most elegant homes in Cambridge, built the bridge connecting Boston to Lechmere Point, and developed East Cambridge. Yet years before his death, Craigie had become a ghostly figure, self-confined to his mansion to avoid arrest. Cambridge boys, including future physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, would knock on his shuttered windows and then run, as if from a haunted house. How had "Doctor" Craigie fallen so low?

The son of a Scottish ship captain and his Nantucket wife, Craigie attended Boston Latin, and by April 1775 had gained sufficient pharmaceutical experience to be appointed apothecary of the Massachusetts army. After tending the wounded at Bunker Hill, he was introduced to Samuel Adams as “a very clever fellow,” and his name came to the attention of General George Washington; he was commissioned Apothecary General in 1777. For the duration of the war he traveled widely to obtain medical supplies for the army and produced the medicine chests used to treat sick and wounded soldiers at Valley Forge and elsewhere. His loyalty was recognized by Washington, although they never met.

The revolutionary cause was good for Craigie, providing business connections in the pharmaceutical trade. But even before the war ended, he had set his sights higher: a Boston Latin classmate asked in 1782 whether he had "a mind to speculate?" He did, and was soon among the growing circle of financiers and speculators surrounding Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Craigie engaged in legitimate transactions, but also partnered with the nefarious William Duer, a Hamilton assistant. In one particularly egregious case, Duer illegally directed Treasury business to Craigie in exchange for an $8,000 bribe. The men in Hamilton's circle had insider knowledge of his plan for the new federal government to assume the war debts of the states, thereby making state debt certificates a better bet. Craigie bought up large amounts of discounted South Carolina paper and made a tidy profit.

This was the sort of cozy insider relationship that Hadton's critics Jefferson and Madison warned would concentrate the nation's wealth in the hands of a few powerful speculators. Exhibiting no such qualms, Craigie brashly wrote that his speculative strategy was to associate with "people who from their official situation know all the present & can aid future arrangements either for or against the funds." Many congressmen were also up to their ears in insider deals: Congress delayed acting on Hamilton's financial plan, Craigie observed, "because their private arrangements are not in readiness for speculation." He had so insinuated himself with legislators that one of his partners quipped, "Should a bill of sale be given of Congress, Andrew would certainly pass as appurtenant."

Craigie also played a part in Duer's audacious deal to purchase and resell five million acres of Ohio land. But by the time that fiasco landed Duer in debtor's prison, Craige had moved to Cambridge where, early in 1791, he purchased the Brattle Street mansion that had served as Washington's headquarters during the siege of Boston. After renovating it into a "princely bachelor's establishment: he looked for a suitable wife. Although described as "a huge man, heavy and dull," he had money, connections, and big plans, enough to win the hand of Elizabeth Shaw of Nantucket. The marriage was soon blighted, it was said, by her receiving letters from a former suitor - and Craigie had his own secret: an Illegitimate daughter. Nevertheless, their house became a center of society, with a dozen servants, a well-stocked wine cellar, and sumptuous parties, especially during Commencement season. Queen Victoria's father and the French diplomat Talleyrand were guests. The couple cemented their Harvard connection by donating portraits of George Washington and John Adams by John Trumbull, and three acres of land for the Harvard Botanic Garden.

Craigie's development of East Cambridge left an indelible mark. With partners, he secretly bought up 300 acres around Lechmere Point: farms and marshland became a vibrant residential and industrial area, especially after Craigie persuaded Middlesex County authorities to relocate the county court from Harvard Square to a new Charles Bulfinch building in East Cambridge. In 1809, he and his associates completed construction of Craigie Bridge, connecting Cambridge to Boston. His rerouting of roads to steer traffic toward his toll bridge did not enhance his popularity.

The result of all this speculation and extravagant living was a greatly overextended empire. Unable to pay his many creditors, Craigie confined himself to his Cambridge estate to dodge debtor's prison. After he died of a stroke, his wife was forced to rent rooms to Harvard faculty members, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who later owned the house. (It became the Longfellow National Historic Site.) Craigie Bridge now props up the Museum of Science and Craigie's Pond, once a favorite skating spot, has been drained. Locally, only Craigie Street recalls this paradoxical character from the earliest years of the American Republic. But his patriotic service is still recognized as an outstanding federal government pharmacist each year receives the Andrew Craigie Award.

Source: Harvard Magazine, November-December 2011. Independent historian Anthony J. Connors, A.L.M.'93, most recently edited Volume One of the documentary encyclopedia "Conflicts in American History".