The deadline for the first tea ship to clear customs and avoid seizure was December 17th. On December 16, 1773 the Old South Meeting House was the site of a climactic gathering of the Body of the People.
“There is nothing else this meeting can do to save the country.”
- Samuel Adams, December 16, 1773
”Mission to Milton
A decisive meeting opened at 10:00 a.m. Young Francis Rotch was instructed to travel to Governor Hutchinson’s Milton home to seek a pass allowing his ship Dartmouth to return the tea to England. Hutchinson refused. Returning at 5:45 p.m. the meeting house was nearly dark, dimly lit by a few candles. At the news of Hutchison’s refusal, a voice shouted “Boston Harbor, a tea kettle tonight.” Samuel Adams rose to proclaim. “There is nothing else this meeting can do to save the country.”
- Commonwealth Museum photo
- Commonwealth Museum photo
It is believed that part of Governor Hutchinson’s Milton home was incorporated into a larger home during the Victorian period. Nearby, Governor Hutchinson’s Field overlooks the Neponset River Valley, diagonally across from the birthplace of President George Herbert Walker Bush, a Hutchinson relative.
On to Griffin’s Warf
“Whoops” were heard in the gallery, answered by similar sounds near the exits. Leaders including Samuel Adams and John Hancock stayed behind as the building emptied. It would be difficult to prove their involvement in what was to follow. As many as sixty men, dressed as Mohawk Indians, were ready to march to Griffin’s Warf. Some wore more elaborate costumes and leaders spoke in an unintelligible dialect. Others had simple disguises with blankets and blackened cork or soot to cover their faces.
- National Park Service