Richard Hunnewell Jr.

(February 13, 1757 – May 14, 1823) 

Though he was 16 years old in 1773 at the time of the Boston Tea Party, Richard Hunnewell Jr. is mentioned in several early lists of Tea Party participants, including Francis S. Drake’s Tea Leaves, as well as a list written by Sarah Gammell, daughter of another Boston Tea Party participant, John Gammell.

It is likely that Richard Hunnewell Jr. accompanied his father, Richard Sr., and his brother Jonathan to Griffin’s Wharf that night, as many apprentices followed their employers.  

Hunnewell’s Revolutionary War pension states that he enlisted in Colonel Crane’s artillery regiment on February 1, 1777 and remained in service until his resignation from the Continental Army on November 25, 1778. During that time, he had been ranked as a Lieutenant and served in the Rhode Island campaign.   

Land records show Hunnewell moved to Penobscot, Maine, as a merchant by 1788. The land on which he lived became the town of Castine in 1796. He and his family lived in Castine until moving to Portland, Maine, in 1800. Richard was appointed sheriff of Cumberland County; the announcement was published on September 4, 1809, but his tenure was short, as he was removed from office prior to November 20, 1811. Following his loss of the sheriff’s position, Richard Hunnewell Jr. applied to claim a pension for his Revolutionary War service. Records show his income cut off; his sworn declaration stated he was infirm, owned no real property, was in debt, and was supporting his equally infirm wife as well as her unmarried sister and his daughter and son-in-law. Following his death, Richard’s widow, Nabby, repeated much of the same information in her sworn statements in pursuit of her right to the pension. 

Richard Hunnewell, Jr. Died in Portland, Maine on May 14, 1823. He is buried in Western Cemetery in Portland, Maine.