Printer and co-proprietor of the patriot newspaper, The Boston Gazette and Country Journal, Benjamin Edes was a well-known political agitator in Boston’s late 18th Century.
Along with business partner John Gill, Edes played a vital role in the dissemination of news and patriot propaganda in Boston, Massachusetts, often serving as a mouthpiece for the Sons of Liberty narrative. The Gazette was often instrumental in swaying the opinions of Boston’s populace in favor of its growing “radical” faction.
In 1765, following the British Parliament’s passing of the Stamp Act, Edes, along with eight other like-minded businessmen, formed the predeceasing group to the Sons of Liberty called the Loyal Nine. Together, the men helped rally and organize what became the Boston Stamp Act Riots, which ultimately led to the utter destruction of the Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s mansion. Over the next few years, Edes and Gill covered and published the text of and the opposition to the Townshend Acts, the occupation of Boston by Redcoat soldiers, which led to the Boston Massacre, the following massacre trials, a political scandal involving Governor Hutchinson, as well as the Tea Act of 1773.
On the night of December 16, according to Edes’ son Peter, participants in the Tea Party used the room above the Boston Gazette office on Queen Street to prepare for the evening, where Peter recalled refilling a bowl of punch for his father and associates, before following them all down to Griffin’s Wharf to witness the destruction of the tea.
Benjamin Edes died in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 11, 1803, and is buried in Boston’s Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.
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