Eustis Estate
Resistance
Resistance took many forms in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Colonists, from farmers and artisans to dockworkers and ministers, made their voices heard amid the brewing conflict with England.
New Englanders resisted taxation laws passed by British Parliament by boycotting imported goods like tea and silk, holding public protests, and forming a Provincial Congress to oppose the Crown-appointed government.
Some colonists documented their thoughts in diaries and sermons while the deeds of others are associated with objects they left behind or made for their commemoration.
This gallery highlights such belongings, preserved by later generations as memorials to large and small acts of rebellion during the American Revolution.
Image: A View of the Town of Concord, April 19, 1775, Timothy Minot (1757-1837), probably Concord, ca. 1825. Concord Museum Collection, Bequest of Mrs. Stedman Buttrick, Sr.
Behind the Exhibition
In Search of Crispus AttucksOne of the most important and intriguing objects in Historic New England’s collection is a pewter teapot with a broken base and a replaced handle. Unremarkable from the perspective of a connoisseur or collector, its true value comes from its association with Crispus Attucks (1723-1770), the first casualty of the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.
According to historical accounts, this teapot and accompanying pewter cup belonged to Attucks. Preserved by the family of his former enslavers, these objects transformed from humble household goods to relics of the American Revolution over the course of 250 years, mirroring the evolution of Crispus Attucks from slain protestor to martyr to symbol.
Coroner’s Report
Coroner’s Report, 1770
Courtesy of Revolutionary Spaces
Teapot
Boston, 1750-70
Pewter, wood
Gift of Miss S. E. Kimball
By its history, this pewter teapot and cup belonged to Crispus Attucks (1723-1770), a sailor of African and Indigenous ancestry. Attucks was among the group of colonists who clashed with British soldiers on March 5, 1770, a conflict later called the Boston Massacre. Eyewitnesses described Attucks as the first to die, “killed instantly” by British musket fire. Immediately following the event, the Sons of Liberty condemned the attack, galvanizing support for the revolutionary cause.
Originally donated to the Bostonian Society (now Revolutionary Spaces) by a descendant of the family who had once enslaved Attucks, the teapot was later given to Historic New England. The cup was separately donated by another member of the same family.
Cup
Boston, ca. 1770
Pewter
Bequest of Eleanor Fayerweather
The Many Lives of Crispus Attucks
Historians use primary source documents to learn more about historical figures. However, those sources may be secondhand or disagree with each other.
From left to right:
(1) Advertisement, Boston Gazette, October 2, 1750. MyHeritage, Boston Public Library.
In 1750, Deacon William Brown placed a runaway ad in the Boston Gazette for “a Molatto Fellow, about 27 years of Age, named Crispas, 6 Feet two Inches high, short curl’d Hair, his Knees nearer together than common.”
(2) Coroner’s Report, 1770. Courtesy of Revolutionary Spaces.
Crispus Attucks was identified as “Michael Johnson” in this coroner’s report, a name he possibly used to keep from being discovered by his enslavers. Newspapers soon after published his real identity.
(3) The Boston Massacre, Paul Revere, Boston, 1770. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Paul Revere included Crispus Attucks in his iconic engraving of the Boston Massacre, immortalizing his role in the American Revolution.
Samuel Pierce
Recording the RevolutionSamuel Pierce used his journal from 1762 to 1797 to keep track of the daily activities of his family, farm, and community in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Between harvests and house raisings, Pierce recorded events like the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Siege of Boston, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. As a colonel in the Massachusetts militia, Pierce took part in the fortification of Dorchester Heights, a strategic military operation that led to the evacuation of the British from Boston in 1776.
Preserved in family hands for more than 200 years, Samuel Pierce’s journal provides a glimpse into the lives of everyday New Englanders who witnessed and participated in the American Revolution.
In His Own Words
Journal
Samuel Pierce (1739 – 1815)
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Paper, ink
Pierce Family Papers,
Library and Archives Purchase
Commissioned by the Governor
Commission: Captain Samuel Pierce (1739-1815),
Dorchester militia, signed by Governor Thomas Hutchinson (1711-1780),
October 21, 1772.
Revolutionary Correspondence
Orders from Paul Revere to Samuel Pierce,
Castle Island, April 3, 1778.
Pierce Farm
Pierce Farm, Courtesy of Judy Pierce
From the Townspeople
This warming pan was commissioned by the townspeople of Danvers, Massachusetts, to honor Francis Symonds (1719-1775). The brass lid and pan are engraved with the inscription:
“Francis Symonds Esq.
Innkeeper and Poet
Patriot and Friend
of Gen. Washington
From the Townspeople”
Francis Symonds owned the Bell Tavern, a popular meeting place in South Danvers (now Peabody), Massachusetts, and a site of revolutionary activity.
In 1770, the Sons of Liberty brought an accused seller of boycotted tea to the tavern and made him sign a confession and apology. The morning of April 19, 1775, local militia companies gathered at the Bell Tavern before marching to Menotomy (now Arlington) to intercept British Regulars returning to Boston. Symonds himself took part in the Battle of Menotomy, the bloodiest engagement of the day.
Noted collector and scholar Nina Fletcher Little acquired the warming pan from a dealer in the 1960s. By its history, the pan was made in the 1780s and presented to Symonds in recognition of his deeds for the town. However, an obituary in the Essex Gazette confirms Symonds died of sickness in September 1775. The warming pan was therefore likely made around 1835 when the town of Danvers celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord by erecting a monument in front of Bell Tavern. The inscription bolstered the legacy of Symonds as a prominent local citizen.
Warming Pan
Warming Pan
Boston, early 1800s
Brass, wood
Gift of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little
Window image: Ticket for the Boston Tea Party Centennial,
Faneuil Hall, Boston, December 1873.
Gift of Edward C. Tolman and Richard C. Tolman
Warming Pan Engraving
Behind the Exhibition
Francis Symonds' Warming PanTucked away in the parlor at Historic New England’s Cogswell’s Grant in Essex, Massachusetts, is a warming pan with a turned wooden handle and a brass container pierced with holes and engraved with scrolling vines and flowerheads. Also referred to as bed warmers, warming pans were a common household tool in colonial and post-revolutionary America, filled with embers and placed under the sheets of a bed to warm it before use.
This particular warming pan had more than just decorative motifs adorning its metallic surface. Engraved on its lid are the words: From the Townspeople / Patriot and Friend of Gen. Washington / Bell Tavern, Danvers, Massachusetts / Francis Symonds Esq. Innkeeper and Poet. On the pan’s sides, inside the incised outline of a bell: I’ll toll you / if you have need / and feed you well/ and bid you speed. On the other side: Francis Symonds / makes and sells / the best of chocolate / also shells.
Tea Boxes
Tea Boxes
Boston, 1873
Paper, tea
Gift of Miss Anne F. Caryl
Estate of Miss Frances Greely Stevenson
Gift of Miss Mary Eustis
At the centennial celebration of the Boston Tea Party in 1873, Boston’s Oriental Tea Company sold souvenir boxes of tea. The company urged purchasers to preserve the box and “present it in person, or through your descendants, at the next Centennial Anniversary of the day.” Historic New England received multiple donations of these boxes over the next several decades.
Tea Table
Table
Boston, 1755-65
Pine, maple
Bequest of Caroline Barr Wade
From their home in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Charles Barrett (1740-1809) and his wife, Rebecca Minott (1744-1838), used this elegant table to participate in the genteel ritual of taking tea. As revolutionary sentiments spread across the state, Barrett was among a handful of prominent townspeople accused of being a Loyalist. He marched to Concord, Massachusetts, with the New Ipswich militia on April 20, 1775, but he only spent one day in service.
Eli Forbes
Reverend Eli Forbes
Christian Gullager (1759-1826)
Massachusetts, 1785-87
Oil on canvas
Gift of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little
Eli Forbes (1726-1804) served as minister for Brookfield, Massachusetts. In a controversial sermon delivered in 1771, Forbes condemned tyranny but defended the British military occupation of Boston as “necessary to the preservation of the public peace.” Facing harassment from his fellow colonists, Forbes and his family left their parish in 1775. Christian Gullager painted this portrait of Eli Forbes after he fled to Gloucester, Massachusetts, and became minister of its First Church.
John Austin Desk
Desk
John Austin (1722-1798)
Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1780-86
Mahogany, cherry, white pine, brass
Bequest of Eleanor Clarke Bowser
In the weeks leading up to to the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, John Austin (1722-1798) was in Concord, Massachusetts, preparing stores of military supplies and rolling musket cartridges for the Provincial Congress. A carver by trade, Austin left behind his livelihood to support the revolutionary cause and was later appointed conductor for the Massachusetts artillery regiment. He continued working for the military throughout the war, guaranteeing a source of income for his family.
By 1780, John Austin was back in his Charlestown, Massachusetts, shop. He likely carved the feet, brackets, and drop finial on this desk, which descended in the family of his son, merchant Thomas Austin (1762-1816). The desk remained with Thomas Austin and his wife Martha Frost at Historic New England’s Cooper-Frost-Austin House in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
John Austin Desk Drawer Detail
Letter to Stephen Little
Letter to Stephen Little
July 15, 1776
Newbury, Massachusetts
Paper and ink
Little Family Papers,
Bequest of Agnes and Amelia W. Little
On the morning of April 19, 1775, Captain Moses Little (1724-1798) mustered a company of Minutemen and marched from Newbury, Massachusetts, to intercept British Regulars sent to seize a stockpile of military supplies in Concord, Massachusetts. Militia companies kept track of personnel on a list called a muster roll. This letter to Stephen Little (1719-1793), a Newbury town official and brother to Moses Little, is a receipt showing that Stephen Little paid twenty-two of the men on the muster roll the monies owed for their service, with officers receiving more than enlisted men. Even as revolution unfolded across New England, these bureaucratic tasks remained part of everyday life.
Silk Shoes
Shoes
Winthrop Gray (1740-1782)
Boston, 1765-75
Leather, silk, metallic thread
Gift of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Before the American Revolution, Winthrop Gray (1740-1782) used metallic thread and silk brocade to fashion elegant shoes for Boston’s colonial elite. Gray enlisted in the Continental Army and served from 1776 to 1779. He allegedly resigned his commission after a disagreement with Paul Revere and later opened a tavern in Boston.
Martha Stevens (1715-1785) purchased these shoes after her third marriage to Captain John Stevens (1715-1776), a Boston merchant who commanded a militia company stationed at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, during the war. After his death in 1776, Martha maintained her family inheritance, a vast tract of farmland in Ashford, Connecticut. She bequeathed these shoes to her relative Increase Sumner who donated them to the Massachusetts Historical Society, after which they came to Historic New England.
