On this day 250 years ago in Yorktown, Virginia,
THE Inhabitants of York having been informed that the Virginia, commanded by Howard Esten, had on Board two Half Chests of Tea, shipped by John Norton, Esq; and Sons, Merchants in London, by Order of Mess. Prentis and Company, Merchants in Williamsburg, assembled at 10 o’Clock this Morning, and went on Board the said Ship, where they waited some Time for the Determination of the Meeting of several Members of the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, who had taken this Matter under Consideration. A Messenger was then sent on Shore, to inquire for a letter from the Meeting; but returning without one, they immediately hoisted the Tea out of the Hold and threw it into the River, and then returned to the Shore without doing Damage to the Ship or any other Part of her Cargo.
On that same day across the York River from Yorktown in Gloucester County
twenty three members of the Committee of Gloucester County, with a Number of the other Inhabitants, assembled at Gloucester Town, to determine how the said Tea should be disposed of. Hearing that the Members of the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, at 8 o’Clock this Morning, had taken the Matter under their Consideration, we determined to wait the Result of their Deliberations. We accordingly waited till after twelve; but the Determinations from Williamsburg having not then come down, we repaired to the Ship, in Order to meet the Committee of York, which we supposed to be in the great Number of those we discerned on Board. On our Arrival, we found the Tea had met with its deserved Fate, for it had been committed to the Waves. We then returned, and after mature Deliberation came to the following Resolutions:
Resolved, that John Norton, Merchant in London, by sending over Tea in his Ship, has lent his little Aid to the Ministry for enslaving America, and been guilty of a daring Insult upon the People of this Colony, to whom he owes his ALL.
Resolved, that the Ship Virginia, in which the detestable Tea came, ought and shall return in twenty Days from the Date hereof.
On This Day In The Revolution 