On the night of December 22, 1774 — almost exactly one year after the Boston Tea Party — a group of men in Cumberland County, New Jersey, dressed as Native Americans, broke into a cellar, seized a shipment of British tea, and burned it in an open field. Richard Howell was among them.
This act of defiance is known as the Greenwich Tea Burning.
Greenwich and the Cohansey River#
Greenwich (pronounced Green-wich) was one of the largest towns in Cumberland County at the time, situated along the Cohansey River. It was at these docks that the English merchant brig Greyhound (Captain J. Allen, master) arrived on December 12–14, 1774, carrying a cargo of tea bound originally for Philadelphia.
Captain Allen, likely anticipating trouble in Philadelphia — where colonial resistance to the Tea Act was fierce — diverted to Greenwich and arranged to store his cargo in the cellar of one Dan Bowen.
The Burning#
Word of the tea sitting in Bowen’s cellar spread quickly among the local Whig community. Richard Howell and his brother Lewis Howell were among those who drew up plans for its destruction. After meeting at the Howell residence, the group advanced to Greenwich, broke into Bowen’s cellar, removed the entire shipment, and burned it in an adjoining field.
The event drew many spectators — some opposed to the burners’ actions, most sympathetic. A trial followed months later, in which Richard and Lewis Howell were among those named. But by then the Revolution had already begun at Lexington and Concord, and there were not enough Loyalists remaining in Greenwich to secure an indictment.
The Tea Burners#
The following men are known to have participated in the burning:
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Ebenezer Elmer | Later Surgeon’s Mate, 2nd NJ Regiment |
| Timothy Elmer | |
| James Ewing | |
| Dr. Thomas Ewing | |
| Joel Fithian | |
| Philip Vickers Fithian | Noted diarist; died 1776 as a military chaplain |
| Lewis Howell | Brother of Richard; later Surgeon, 2nd NJ Regiment |
| Richard Howell | Later Major, 2nd NJ Regiment; Governor of NJ |
| James Booth Hunt | |
| John Hunt | |
| Andrew Hunter, Jr. | |
| Joel Miller | |
| Alexander Moore, Jr. | |
| Ephraim Newcomb | (original source spells “Ephriam Nemcomb” — likely error) |
| Silas Newcomb | |
| Clarence Parvin | |
| David Pierson | (also spelled Pearson in some sources) |
| Stephen Pierson | (also spelled Pearson in some sources) |
| Henry Seeley | |
| Josiah Seeley | |
| Abraham Sheppard | |
| Henry Stacks | |
| Silas Whitcar | (original source spells “Whitekar” — likely error) |
The 1908 Memorial#
In 1908 — the 134th anniversary of the burning — a memorial was dedicated in Greenwich to the Tea Burners, with the participants’ names inscribed on its sides.
That same year, Frank D. Andrews published The Tea-Burners of Cumberland County, which chronicles the burning, its participants, and the memorial dedication. A copy is preserved in the site’s Documents section.
The centennial of the memorial (1908–2008) was celebrated in September 2008 and covered in the Cumberland Patriot newsletter (Spring 2009).
Sources#
- Andrews, Frank D. The Tea-Burners of Cumberland County. 1908. PDF available in Documents
- New Jersey State Archives — SENPA001
- Cumberland County Historical Society
- Revolutionary War New Jersey — Greenwich