Henry Purkitt/Purkett

(March 18, 1755 – March 3, 1846) 

At the time of the Boston Tea Party, Henry Purkitt was a cooper’s apprentice to fellow tea party participant Samuel Peck.     

On the evening of December 16, 1773, Purkitt disobeyed his master’s wishes to stay at the shop and followed Peck to Griffin’s Wharf to participate in the “destruction of the tea”. Like several other apprentices, Purkitt was tasked with breaking up the mounds of tea that piled up alongside the ship’s hull in the low tide of Boston Harbor.   

Henry Purkitt was a member of the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, known for its revolutionary activities. During the Revolutionary War, Purkitt enlisted in the Massachusetts Militia under the command of fellow Boston Tea Party participant James Swan. Purkitt also held several civic offices, such as Culler of Staves and Hoops. He served on a committee formed to prepare the Massachusetts militia for the War of 1812.

Purkitt was also one of the few Boston Tea Party participants to publicly announce his involvement, having joined fellow participant George Robert Twelves Hewes on an 1828 tour of Boston for the 4th of July celebration. 

Henry Purkitt died in Boston on March 3, 1846, and is buried in Boston’s Central Burying Ground.