Nathaniel Bradley, Patriot of the Boston Tea Party

Daughters of American Revolution Ancestor #: A013538

Service: MASSACHUSETTS Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE, PATRIOTIC SERVICE

Birth: 2-17-1746 DORCHESTER SUFFOLK CO MASSACHUSETTS

Death: 5-8-1813 BOSTON SUFFOLK CO MASSACHUSETTS

Service Source: DRAKE, TEA LEAVES: BEING A COLL OF LETTERS AND DOCS, P XC VI- XCVII; A REPORT OF THE RECORD COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF BOSTON 1778-1783 P 5

Service Description: 1) BOSTON TEA PARTY; FENCE VIEWER

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Nathaniel Bradlee was 27 years old at the time when he joined the patriots who destroyed British tea in Boston Harbor. He was born on Feb 16, 1745 and was a native of Dorchester, MA.

According to the list of participants published by Benjamin Thatcher in 1835 *Traints of the Tea Party Mr. Bradlee was a member of the group of merchants and craftsmen called Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. Many other participants also belonged to this group with Paul Revere being the most famous “mechanic”.

• Traint, from 'Treinen, is an archaic term for a group or gang of animals or people

According to an article in Appleseeds, a publication by Gail Hennessey referenced by Encyclopedia Britannica, Nathaniel Bradlee had a sister, Sarah Bradlee who has been called the "Mother of the Boston Tea Party". She was given this name for helping patriots to disguise themselves as Indians for the Tea Party when they gathered in her house before heading to the Griffin’s Wharf. The same source also mentions that patriots had meeting in her house on other occasions. Mrs. Bradlee is credited for being the one who came up with the idea for patriots dressing up as Mohawks. She was also one of the prominent members of a women-patriots organization called “The Daughters of Liberty”

Nathaniel Bradlee (Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts; 16 Feb 1745 - 8 May 1813) was a prostester of of the King George's Townsend Act and became a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association; which was a skilled group of merchants that were dedicated to their occupation and promoted benevolence. Members of this associaton also including men such as Paul Revere. Bradlee was also a supporter of the Daughter of Liberty: "A groupe of inluential women who sought to decrease the need for British goods and prove that female presences and responsibility was needed in the American communities. Nathanile not only sponsord some of the meetins for this organization but he also supprted the descision making of the Continental Congress "to boycott all British imports."