CHESTERTOWN — On Thursday, May 23, Adam Goodheart, historian and director of the Starr Center at Washington College said history has all but confirmed there was no dumping of tea in 1774.
At least not in the Chester River.
According to Goodheart, a fourth source recently discovered, confirmed his claim.
Distinguished guests didn’t just meet to talk about uncovered aspects of history however.
They met to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Chestertown Tea Party and the inaugural program of the statewide Maryland 250 Commission, a group set up to plan Maryland’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, on July 4, 2026.
Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience hosted, co-sponsored by the Chestertown Tea Party Festival and the Maryland 250 Commission.
Thursday’s speakers included two members of the Maryland Governors’ Executive Council, Secretary of Planning Rebecca L. Flora and Secretary of Service & Civic Innovation D. Paul Montiero, Jr. Also Goodheart, who shared his findings.
The professor, dropped the timely announcement that tea was not dumped in the river close to the Chestertown Tea Party date.
“New evidence, new sources can always come to light,” he told his audience.
Intrigued by the story when he first moved to the area, he said he looked and could find no historic evidence tea was dumped. Just that the tea existed.
The first two sources Goodheart located were from newspaper articles. The other, an entry in a customs book.
He said then there wasn’t evidence suggesting it happened, but also there was not enough to presume it didn’t.
He had never thought to to look at any sources outside the U.S. at the time. He did so recently. At the Library of Congress he stumbled upon a document, the London Morning Chronicle dating August 20, 1774, in a letter to the editor from a landowner in Chestertown.
The last paragraph read: “The tea you shipped for H and K per aboard the Geddes was landed before the arrival of it and was publicly known; it is however stored and not allowed to be publicly sold.”
Not dumped in the drink.
Just stored away. Not to be sold.
Although the identity of H and K are unknown, the ship’s captain was John Harrison and the Chestertown merchant in charge of the cargo was James Nicholson.
“So there we are. It seems like that contraband leaf was sneakily unloaded before the colonists knew what was up and seized and locked away on shore. We can be pretty sure no tea was tossed in the Chester River in May of 1774,” Goodheart said to a chorus of playful boos following.
Goodheart, comfortable with breaking the news, even after being tossed in the muddy Chester in an event called “Toss the Tory,” during past Tea Party ceremonies said there’s a lot of pride to be felt in this place.
A published author and historian, as well, he used his storytelling skills to hearken back to those early days. Under their feet, he said, was a muddy commercial wharf area cluttered with cargo. And the waters, calm and serene, and almost untouched, was once full of activity, with at least a few big vessels from transatlantic voyages.
From some of those ocean-going ships, he said, slaves were delivered and some of them fought in the Revolutionary War within a generation or two.
He fast-forwarded to all the Revolutionary solders, “Striking a blow for liberty, shouting “To the River!”
And those slaves fought for the army even when some of their relatives were still in chains.
He moved forward in time, citing those female freedom fighters, like Josephine Carr, our own Rosa Parks, a Black school teacher who in 1872, refused to abandon a whites-only section aboard a steamboat. She sued the steamboat company and won creating a court order that desegregated all public transportation in the state.
Goodheart talked about the Armory at Cross Street, and the 115th Infantry regiment who drilled and trained there to fight at Normandy in 1944.
In this century, revolutions are still happening, he said.
For example, he said, in November 2012, when Marylanders voted in a statewide referendum to approve marriage equality.
“That too was a victory that many here helped to win. When we gather by the river, we don’t just honor 1774. We honor 1872, 1872 and 2012.”
Also honoring the area, now as a resident on the Eastern Shore, was Flora.
As the state’s Secretary of Planning, Flora said she’s proud that Maryland is leading the way, with the Maryland 250 commission. She challenged the audience to think about what does that national celebration mean to Marylanders?
To Governor Wes Moore, she said, it means leave no one behind, while reckoning with the past, while also being family and community focused.
Montiero spoke after her, adding to her words, promoting service and volunteerism.
“Service will save us,” he repeated.
Montiero, who’s been put in charge of the Department of Service and Civic Innovation says service acts as an equalizer. Whether someone is left, right or center, he said, it unites us.
The newest streams in his department are the Service Year Option and Maryland Corps. The Service Year Option is for more than 15,000 high school graduates every year who aren’t on a career path. This offers them a year of service to help them find their way.
Maryland Corps is a similar program but includes everyone from age 18 to 99 if needed.
The two programs are meant to bring everybody together, because Montiero said “when it comes to it, we all want the same things.”
Visiting town for the second time, he hopes that the inaugural event will be one of many more visits in the future.
“This is hello, not a goodbye.”
Washington College President Mike Sosulski thanked the speakers and joked he’d do his best to follow Goodheart’s storytelling. He said when he heard about the governor’s mission of service, he could identify with it.
“When Governor (Wes) Moore was elected and you all (the speakers) came forward with that tremendous mission, we felt deep resonance with that right away. We will be stalwart partners with you in that work.”
A letter from Moore, and another from Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen were read. Both letters thanked all who were involved for their service.
A plaque was then presented to Chestertown Mayor David Foster for the 250th Tea Party, followed by music courtesy of The High and Wides. While people enjoyed drinks, (even tea) and fresh strawberries, the Governor’s staff hung around to talk to the public.
This is one of many events planned ahead of the country’s Semiquincentennial by the Maryland 250 commission.
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