On this day 250 years ago Loyalist John Malcolm was tarred and feathered by a Patriot mob in Boston. Malcolm was a customs official and outspoken supporter of British authority who was despised in Massachusetts and across New England for his arrogant behavior. He was threatening to strike with his cane a young boy sledding on the street in front of his house in Boston when Patriot George Robert Twelves Hewes intervened to defend the boy. Instead of striking the boy Malcolm instead struck Hewes in the head witth his cane, knocking Hewes out and leaving a bloody gash on his head.

Following the altercation a large crowd stormed his house and seized Malcolm. The mob stripped off Malcolm’s shirt, poured hot tar on his bare skin (tarring and feathering usually occurred when the victim was fully clothed, limiting the physical harm) and covered him with feathers, then paraded him through the streets of Boston for several hours in a cart as the crowd stoned Malcolm. He survived this very painful ordeal but was scarred for life.

Although the tarring and feathering of Malcolm served as a very effective threat to other Loyalists who defended the British government, Patriot leaders in Boston believed the mob’s torture ofMalcolm went too far and discouraged additional tarring and feathering. As feared by the Patriot leaders, the horrific treatment of Malcolm hardened the attitude of the British public and Government towards the Americans. The tarring and feathering of John Malcolm was cited, with the Boston Tea Party, as a cause for the Intolerable Acts that Parliament would soon enact.

Malcolm’s victim George Robert Twelves Hewes was a Patriot who should be remembered and celebrated by Americans today. In addition to his memorable name (in an age when almost everyone had only two names, he carried four including the unique “Twelves”), Hewes was a participant in all the great events in Boston that led to the Revolution. He was in the crowd at the Boston Massacre and one of its victims died in his arms. He was one of the “Indians” destroying the tea in the Boston Tea Party. And Hewes’s defense of a boy from assault by John Malcolm 250 years ago today also helped spark the Revolution.

Hewes was a common man, a shoemaker and in his later years, a farmer. He had very little formal education or wealth. He was born into poverty and died poor. He was not well-known to the public during his lifetime and commemorated for his contributions to the Patriot cause, as were John Hancock, Joseph Warren, Sam Adams, John Adams and Paul Revere. Yet he was one of the original members of the Sons of Liberty in Boston before the War, and fought for Liberty throughout the War. He escaped occupied Boston during the Siege of Boston, to carry supplies and three other Patriots to join the American forces and personally briefed General Washington on intelligence from the City. And he then served two tours on a privateer attacking British shipping, and four tours of duty as a member of the Massachusetts militia, despite having 15 children and a wife who needed his support.

On this day in 2024 I hope we all remember and celebrate the contributions of George Robert Twelves Hewes to America’s Independence.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Malcolm_(Loyalist); https://www.revwartalk.com/john-malcolm/;

https://georgehewes.com/