William Molineux

(1717 – October 22, 1774) 

English-born Merchant William Molineux was a well-known supporter of the rebellious cause of the American colonies and a close friend of Samuel Adams. 

While Molineux’s pre-Revolutionary War political activism is well-documented, very little is known about his private life. Unlike many of his contemporaries who preferred to work behind the scenes to throw off British rule, Molineux made no secret of his intentions to shake off the bonds of colonialism. Unabashedly at the forefront of nearly every event leading up to the Boston Tea Party, Molineux was described as “first Leader of Dirty Matters.”  

Before becoming politically active, Molineux was involved with several other businessmen in establishing the “Manufactory House” around 1760. Through 1768, the building was used to teach spinning and weaving to unskilled residents, making them self-supporting. By the late 1760s, Molineux was taken up with overthrowing the British rule he despised. At a January 18, 1770, merchants’ meeting, he exhorted the crowd to march to Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s house to express their displeasure with the man’s rule. Hot-headed Molineux threatened to take his own life if the merchants would not follow him in the assault. Josiah Quincy calmed the situation, and it dispersed peacefully. 

The situation escalated the following month on February 22 of that year, when a confrontation between the Molineux- led rebels and tea importer Ebenezer Richardson grew so heated that when the crowd dogged Richardson to his house and continued their harassment, Richardson fired his musket from a window, injuring two men (including Boston Tea Party participant Samuel Gore) and killing eleven-year-old Christopher Seider. It was noted that when the mob rushed Richardson twice for his crime, Molineux insisted that he be officially arrested and tried. 

After the Boston Massacre in March 1770, Molineux became a go-between for the British officers accused in the fray, as no other Bostonian was trusted enough to lead the accused to Castle Island without further incident.  

Election Day in May 1773 saw Molineux among the crowd pelting the Customs Commissioners attending Governor Hutchinson’s annual dinner. On November 3rd of that year, Molineux and the Sons of Liberty demanded the resignations of the East India Company tea Consignees in Boston. When they did not comply, Molineux and the North End Caucus led a mob to the warehouse of tea importer and Consignee Richard Clarke, imploring him not to land the arriving shipments of tea or pay customs duties but to return the ships to England. Clarke refused. The mob stormed the building, forcing the tea merchants to barricade themselves on the second floor counting room. 

Later that month, when the first tea ship arrived in Boston, Molineux was delegated to persuade Francis Rotch, part-owner of the Dartmouth, to postpone the ship’s entry with the Customs House. The demand was unsuccessful. On December 16, 1773, William Molineux was one of the few men openly known to be part of the Boston Tea Party. Most participants kept their identities secret for decades.  

Less than a year after the Boston Tea Party, William Molineux died of a sudden illness on October 22, 1774, and was buried in the Granary Burying Ground. Fellow Son of Liberty Dr. Thomas Young proclaimed, “Gentlemen, if Mr. Molineux leaves us, we are forever undone! This day is the last dawn of liberty we ever shall see.” Molineux’s reported last words were, “O save my country, Heaven!”