tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post7312324597244110874..comments2024-03-14T13:25:20.613-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Profile of Tea Party HistorianUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-21703367570868892972009-02-12T14:55:00.000-05:002009-02-12T14:55:00.000-05:00Richard Acklom Harrison was the son of Joseph Harr...Richard Acklom Harrison was the son of Joseph Harrison. I've done a lot of research on this family and would welcome any contributions.historianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11922746528891041071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-51375215740054890812009-01-25T17:13:00.000-05:002009-01-25T17:13:00.000-05:00Thanks for the additional detail. I was seeing the...Thanks for the additional detail. I was seeing the Customs Commissioners as (a) setting policy for the men under them, and (b) an element in the conflict that set Boston apart from other ports. And I suppose I also used them as a synedoche for the entire Customs apparatus.<BR/><BR/>So it sounds like once officials went to Castle William, they had little communication with the town. I’d always wondered about the extent of traffic between those places, and how isolated (as opposed to safe) the people in the Castle really were.<BR/><BR/>So was Richard Harrison related to Joseph Harrison, the former collector? I know Robert Hallowell was brother of Commissioner Benjamin Hallowell. No wonder the Whigs could complain about monopoly.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-69401438872741978662009-01-25T13:43:00.000-05:002009-01-25T13:43:00.000-05:00Thanks, J.L. Can I clarify one thing? The Board ...Thanks, J.L. Can I clarify one thing? The Board of Customs Commissioners definitely did want to see the tea landed, but by early December they had fled to Castle William (along with the consignees), so they were basically out of the picture.<BR/><BR/>It was the Port of Boston's collector (Richard Harrison, one of the victims of the 1768 Liberty riot) and comptroller (Robert Hallowell) who were there at the "moment of truth" on December 14-15: they, not the commissioners, were the ones who denied Francis Rotch a clearance for the <I>Dartmouth</I>. The Whigs then forced Rotch to ask Hutchinson for a permit to let his ship leave the port anyway, which Hutchinson denied. And the rest...<BR/><BR/>At the same time, it is true that the presence of the Board of Commissioners contributed to Boston's importation of more legal tea (between 1770 and 1773) than was the case in New York or Philadelphia. (The Boston Whigs actually had lots of excuses.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com