Henry Bass, Boston Merchant, Loyal Nine member, and prominent Son of Liberty, participated in the “destruction of the tea” on December 16. 1773.
He, along with his fellow Sons of Liberty, served as guards of the tea ships at Griffin’s Wharf in the weeks leading up to the Boston Tea Party. Bass, known for selling Nova Scotia grindstones, owned a shop at the head of Greene’s Wharf, on the South corner of Faneuil Hall Square and Merchant’s Row in Boston, Massachusetts.
As a Loyal Nine member, Henry Bass planned early opposition to the Stamp Act in the summer of 1765, alongside other members such as Benjamin Edes, Thomas Crafts Jr., and Thomas Chase. The gatherings at the Liberty Tree devolved into large-scale rioting, in which the home of Lt. Gov. Thomas Hutchinson was destroyed. In a December 1765 letter to his future father-in-law, Samuel Savage, Bass expressed frustration with the Loyal Nine not receiving proper credit for their role in planning the Stamp Act Riots. He also later testified against the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre in 1770.
On December 7, 1774, Bass was elected for the “Committee of Inspection, and to carry the Resolutions of the Continental Congress into execution”. He was drafted by the Boston militia in December of 1776, but paid the required fine and opted not to enlist. Bass was appointed to the Committee of Correspondence in March of 1777. He served as fire warden for the town of Boston between 1785 and 1788.
Henry Bass died in Boston on June 5, 1813, at the age of 73 and is buried in the Granary Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sign up to receive special offers, discounts and news on upcoming events.
