Eliphalet Newell

(August 22, 1735 – July 11, 1813) 

Eliphalet Newell was a native of Charlestown, Massachusetts, located across the Charles River from Boston, and worked as a baker.   

Newell’s participation in the “destruction of the tea” at Griffin’s Wharf on the night of December 16, 1773, propelled him toward the Revolutionary events that followed. He participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill, alongside his friend and Son of Liberty leader Dr. Joseph Warren, who perished during the battle. The simultaneous burning of Charlestown by the British army was devastating to its residents. Newell suffered an estimated £480 in damage.  

Eliphalet Newell was one of the first to erect a new structure from the ashes of Charlestown, building a tavern named after his friend Dr. Joseph Warren. The Warren Tavern still stands as a working tavern to this day. In 1778, Newell joined the Freemasons of the Lodge of St. Andrew in Boston’s North End, known for its more revolutionary members. 

Eliphalet Newell died on July 11, 1813, and is buried in Phipps Street Burying Ground in Charlestown, Massachusetts.