Edmund Dolbeare

(March 5, 1757 – April 27, 1796) 

Edmund Dolbeare was a cooper’s apprentice to Samuel Peck in Boston, Massachusetts, when he participated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.

Dolbeare and fellow apprentice, Henry Purkitt, were at work when a loud whistle interrupted their labors. Following the sound to Boston Harbor, the two were put to work to “…jump on to the flats by the side of one of the vessels and break up with others the fragments of boxes and masses of tea which were thrown over in too great haste”. 

Dolbeare enlisted as a private in the Revolutionary War on July 1, 1775, under Captain Luke Drury in Colonel Jonathan Ward’s regiment, where he served one month and three days. 

Edmund Dolbeare died in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 27, 1796.