Stephen Bruce

(1746 – November 1, 1806) 

Stephen Bruce was a merchant and victualer from Boston, Massachusetts, when he participated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.

One month prior to the “destruction of the tea”, Bruce and others petitioned tea importers and consignees Richard Clarke & Sons, calling for clarification as to whether the merchants would protest the Tea Act. He served in the volunteer guard aboard the ship Dartmouth when it arrived in Boston Harbor with its cargo of East India Company tea. Following the “destruction of the tea” on December 16, Bruce and James Foster Condy escorted Joseph Pearse Palmer to his home, at which point he announced to his frightened wife, “Don’t be frightened, Betsey, it is I. We have only been making a little salt-water tea”.   

Bruce was initiated as a member of St. Andrew’s Masonic Lodge in 1767, where he mingled with fellow revolutionary-minded tradesmen and future Boston Tea Party participants, including Paul Revere and Thomas Crafts Jr., as well as one of the key planners of the event, Dr. Joseph Warren. 

Stephen Bruce donated “one bbl. of salt beef” in March 1775 to ease the suffering of Bostonians because of the blockade of the town, which went into effect on June 1, 1774, under the Boston Port Bill. 

During the Revolutionary War, Stephen Bruce was a member of the Boston Independent Company, which was formed solely for the purpose of defending the town. The company’s first appearance was on September 9, 1776. He was appointed inspector of beef by the State of Massachusetts in April 1800.  

Stephen Bruce died on November 1, 1806.