Robert Sessions

(March 4, 1752 – September 26, 1836) 

Originally from Pomfret, Connecticut, Robert Sessions was living with the family of a Mr. Davis in Boston and working as a laborer.            

He is one of the few who recounts his participation in the Boston Tea Party in his own words. According to Sessions, he was not present at the Meeting of the Body of the People on the evening of December 16, 1773, at the Old South Meeting House. Mr. Davis, who was in attendance, returned home and told Sessions of what was to transpire. Sessions received permission from Davis and joined in the “destruction of the tea” at Griffin’s Wharf. He noted how silent the wharf was during the event and that only the tea had been destroyed. 

During the Revolutionary War, Sessions served in several companies from 1775 to 1777. He moved to Wilbraham, Massachusetts, in 1781 and became deeply involved in civic life. He served as Town Clerk for a decade and was appointed Justice of the Peace. From 1814-1817 and again in 1827, Sessions was elected representative of Wilbraham to the General Court in Boston. 

Robert Sessions died in Wilbraham, MA, on September 26, 1836, and is buried in Old Hampden Cemetery in Hampden, MA.