Boston Tea Party participant who moved to Islesboro to be recognized

Mon, 10/05/2026 - 10:09am

Event Date

Wednesday, October 07, 2026 - 11:00 am to 11:45 am

Add to Calendar

Boston Tea Party Commemorative Grave Marker. (Photo courtesy Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum)

In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary year, members of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum will place commemorative markers at the gravesites of five Maine men confirmed as Boston Tea Party participants. Those five men are buried in Islesboro, Lubec, Lamoine, Bowdoin, and Portland. Their commemorations will take place on Oct, 5, 6, 7 and 8, 2026.

Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is dedicated to accurately reliving and representing a key time in history (1773-1775) through actors, tea throwing reenactments, high-tech interactive exhibits, and authentic replica ships; in partnership with Revolution 250, a coalition of organizations collaborating to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the historic events leading up to and during the American Revolution.

The museum provides the following schedule and biographies of the honorees:

LUBEC, ME – Major Trescott Cemetery – Patriot Lemuel Trescott – Mon., Oct. 5, 2026

Lemuel Trescott was born on March 23, 1750 and worked as a carpenter in Boston at the time he participated in the Boston Tea Party in 1773. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he enlisted in May 1775 and likely took part in the Siege of Boston, going on to serve several roles within the Continental Army. General George Washington promoted him to Major in 1778, and he continued serving until the war's end in 1783. Following the war, Trescott partnered with fellow Boston Tea Party participant John Crane on a lumber venture in Passamaquoddy Bay, ME. The business ultimately failed, but his name lives on in the town of Trescott, which was settled in 1785, incorporated in 1827, and named in his honor, as confirmed by the Trescott Historical Society. His role in the Boston Tea Party has been documented by two historians: Francis S. Drake named him in his 1884 book Tea Leaves, and Dr. Benjamin Carp referenced his involvement in Defiance of the Patriots (2010). Lemuel Trescott died on August 10, 1826, in Lubec, Maine, and is buried in Major Trescott Cemetery.

LAMOINE, ME – Forest Hill Cemetery – Patriot Elkanah Young – Tues., Oct. 6, 2026

Elkanah Young was born in 1745 and was a mariner from Eastham, MA when the Boston Tea Party took place. He died on December 4, 1832 and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Lamoine, ME. His connection to the Boston Tea Party comes from a descendant who cited his participation when joining the Sons of the American Revolution lineage society, and his gravestone in Forest Hill Cemetery also references his involvement. No contemporary accounts place Young at the "destruction of the tea"; the claim rests solely on descendants' assertions made generations later. Without further corroborating evidence, Elkanah Young is designated an "Eyewitness to History" rather than a confirmed participant.

ISLESBORO, ME – Old Burying Ground – Patriot Joseph Boardman – Wed., Oct. 7, 2026

Joseph Boardman was born in 1750 and is believed to have moved from Boston to Islesboro, ME, in the spring of 1774 the timing that would have placed him in Boston when the Boston Tea Party took place. He married Mary Pendleton, and together they had nine children. No known histories of the Boardman family or of Islesboro record whether Joseph Boardman served during the Revolution, and no historical records have yet surfaced to confirm any military service. At the Islesboro Town Meeting on November 5, 1798, Boardman was among several citizens appointed to a committee tasked with purchasing land for the town's meeting house. Boardman also played a role in bringing modern transportation to Islesboro. Around 1815, he was one of six residents who purchased the island's first horses, which they rode, with their wives seated behind them on pillions, to meeting and to visit neighbors. Joseph Boardman died in Islesboro on October 28, 1831, and is buried at the Old Burial Ground.

BOWDOIN, ME - Woodlawn Cemetery – Patriot Thomas Brimigion – Thurs., Oct. 8, 2026

Thomas Brimigion was born in 1754 and was a farmer from Philadelphia, PA. He married Ruth Jenson, and together they had five children. His published obituary states that he took part in the Boston Tea Party in 1773, though it remains unclear how he came to be in Massachusetts at the time. Considerably more evidence survives of his later military service. In an April 10, 1818 letter to the pension board, Brimigion gave a detailed account of his Revolutionary War service, describing how he enlisted as a drummer in January 1776 under Captain Elijah Van and Colonel Graten of the Massachusetts troops, serving until November 1776, when he reenlisted for the duration of the war under Captain Daniel Lane and Colonel Alden. He served until June 1783, receiving his discharge at Newburgh, NY. In his letter, Brimigion recounted fighting Indigenous forces under Major Sherburne at the Cedars above Montreal, taking part in both battles leading to Burgoyne's surrender, and serving in Indian Country under General Sullivan. Citing his "reduced circumstance," he requested placement on the pension list for the District of Maine. His obituary further states that he was present at the Battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, in addition to the Boston Tea Party. Thomas Brimigion died in Bowdoin, ME, on December 17, 1843, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

PORTLAND, ME - Western Cemetery – Patriot Richard Hunnewell, Jr. – Thurs, Oct. 8 2026

Patriot Richard Hunnewell, Jr. was born on February 13, 1757 and was 16 years old at the time of the Boston Tea Party. He is named in several early lists of participants, including Francis S. Drake's Tea Leaves, as well as a list compiled by Sarah Gammell, daughter of fellow participant John Gammell. He likely accompanied his father and his brother to Griffin's Wharf that night, as many apprentices followed their employers. He married Abigail (Nabby) Hall, and together they had three children. Hunnewell's Revolutionary War pension records state that he enlisted in Colonel Crane's artillery regiment on February 1, 1777, rising to the rank of Lieutenant and serving in the Rhode Island campaign before resigning from the Continental Army on November 25, 1778. Land records show Hunnewell had moved to Penobscot, ME, as a merchant by 1788. The land he settled on became the town of Castine in 1796. He and his family remained in Castine until relocating to Portland, Maine, in 1800, where he was appointed sheriff of Cumberland County in 1809. His tenure was brief, however, and he was removed from office prior to November 1811. Afterward, Hunnewell applied for a Revolutionary War pension, swearing in his declaration that he was infirm, owned no real property, was in debt, and was supporting his equally infirm wife along with her unmarried sister and his daughter and son-in-law. Following his death, his widow repeated much of this same information in her own sworn statements as she pursued her right to the pension. Richard Hunnewell, Jr. died in Portland ME, on May 14, 1823, and is buried in Western Cemetery.

WHEN &
WHERE: Press Conferences & Commemorative Marker Ceremonies to take place during the following dates/times in Maine - all are open for the public to attend:

MONDAY, OCT. 5, 2026 - 11:00am - 11:45am - Major Trescott Cemetery, 579 N. Lubec Rd., Lubec, ME - Honoring Patriot Lemuel Trescott
TUESDAY, OCT. 6, 2026 - 11:00am - 11:45am - Forest Hill Cemetery, 24 Lamoine Beach Rd., Lamoine, ME - Honoring Patriot Elkanah Young
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7, 2026 - 11:00am - 11:45am - Old Burying Ground, Pendleton Point Rd., Islesboro, ME - Honoring Patriot Joseph Boardman
THURSDAY, OCT. 8, 2026 - 11:00am - 11:45am - Woodlawn Cemetery, 221-229 W Rd., Bowdoin, ME - Honoring Patriot Thomas Brimigion
THURSDAY, OCT 8, 2026 - 3:00pm - 3:45 pm - Western Cemetery, Western Prom & Vaughan S, Portland, ME - Honoring Patriot Richard Hunnewell, Jr.

TIMELINES: Ceremonies will take place at the graves of Boston Tea Party participants. Ceremony in order of appearance:

Remarks by Evan O’Brien - Creative Director, Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
Comments by Jonathan Lane -Executive Director, Revolution 250
Ceremonial placement of commemorative gravestone marker by Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum costumed actor
Local officials will also be speaking for their respective towns at each ceremony

The commemorative plaques mark the final resting places of many of the brave people, including tradesmen and young adults, involved in the “single most important event leading up to the American Revolution,” according to a Museum news release. The image depicted on the commemorative marker is inspired by Nathaniel Currier’s The Destruction of the Tea at Boston Harbor lithograph created in 1846, a popular and often used artistic representation of The Boston Tea Party. The markers will be on display indefinitely.

The initiative to honor all known Boston Tea Party participants began in 2018 by the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. To date, more than 130 commemorative markers have been placed at graves of known Boston Tea Party participants buried within some of the United States’ oldest burying grounds and beyond. Commemorative plaques have been placed in cemeteries in Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, in addition to Kilkenny, Ireland and Paris, France.

In 2022, Boston Tea Party commemorative plaques were placed in Maine at the gravesites of nine other confirmed participants throughout Maine in Belfast, Bethel, Gorham, Jay, Moscow, Northport, Turner Warren and Whiting.

The Boston Tea Party grave marker program is an extension of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum's Boston Tea Party Descendants® Program, a lineage society in partnership with American Ancestors®, the nation’s first and leading center for family history research, dedicated to fostering interest in genealogical connections to the Boston Tea Party participants, their families, and those involved in the revolutionary Boston. Through access to historical documents, guidance from genealogists at the American Ancestors, lesson plans, secondary resources, oral histories, newsletters, and more, the program is a growing resource for descendants, researchers, and organizations. Currently there are no members in Maine. For more on the Boston Tea Party Descendants program, visit https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-party-descendants.

ABOUT REVOLUTION 250

Revolution 250 is a consortium of more than 70 organizations and individuals who are connected by the belief of the value in learning about, examining, and commemorating the history of the American Revolution. Revolution 250 commemorates the 250th anniversaries of significant people, places and events that led to the American Revolution and the creation of such founding documents as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These anniversaries are integral in engaging public interest and garnering public appreciation for the pivotal role the Thirteen Colonies played in securing the independence creation of the United States of America. For more information, visit https://www.revolution250.org/.

ABOUT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY SHIPS & MUSEUM

The Boston Tea Party, "the single most important event leading up to the American Revolution, occurred the night of Dec. 16, 1773. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, owned and operated by Historic Tours of America, is dedicated to accurately reliving and representing a key time in history (1773-1775) through actors, tea throwing reenactments, high-tech interactive exhibits, authentic replica ships: the Beaver and the Eleanor and an award-winning multisensory film, Let it Begin Here. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is open 7 day/week from 10 am-5 pm (Summer/Spring) and from 10 am-4 pm (Fall/Winter). Tours run every 30 minutes in the fall/winter and every 15 minutes in the spring/summer and last 1 hr. Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum was voted #1 ‘Best Patriotic Attraction’ in USA Today’s ‘10Best Readers' Choice Awards 2016’; voted ‘Best New Museum’ in 2012 by Yankee magazine and ‘Best of the New 2012’ by Boston Globe Magazine. To learn more visit www.bostonteapartyship.com or call 1-855-(TEA)-1773. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is located at 306 Congress St. on the Congress St. Bridge, Boston, MA 02210, over the same body of water where The Boston Tea Party took place.