Benjamin Edes (1732 - 1803)

Born 14 Oct 1732 in Charlestown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Starr) Edes — married 1754 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 11 Dec 1803 at age 71 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Lieutenant Benjamin Edes served with Massachusetts during the American Revolution.

Benjamin Edes performed Patriotic Service in Massachusetts in the American Revolution.

Benjamin Edes is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-153026
Rank: Lieutenant

Benjamin Edes is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A036002.

Benjamin Edes was born on October 14, 1732 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts. He was one of seven children born to Peter Edes and his wife Esther Hall. He was a journalist/printer and political agitator. Benjamin married Martha Starr, daughter of Joseph Starr and his wife Margaret Bulman in 1755. She was baptized on June 22, 1729 at Boston and died on May 28, 1806 at Augusta Kennebec, Maine. They had ten children:^[1]

1. Benjamin Edes Jr. b. 8 Nov 1755; d 23 May 1801; m. Lucy Allen 19 Oct 1783 at Boston.
2. Peter Edes b 17 Dec 1756; d 29 March 1840 at Bangor, Penobscot, ME; m. Elizabeth Walker 15 Nov 1781 at Boston.
3. Martha Edes b. 18 Aug 1758; d. died young at Boston.
4. Esther Edes b. 20 Jan 1761; d 7 Oct 1761 at Boston.
5. Martha Edes "Patty" b. 22 Jan 1762; d. 2 Oct 1783 at Boston.
6. Esther Edes b. 1 Sep 1763; d 20 Aug 1799 at Boston; m. Benjamin Calendar/Callender 17 May 1795 at Boston.
7. Abigail Edes b. 2 Aug 1766; d. 18 June 1808 at Augusta.
8. William Edes b. 29 Nov 1767. No record of marriage or death.
9. Elizabeth Edes b. 1 Jan 1771; d. died young at Boston.
10. Elizabeth Edes (Betsey) b. 3 June 1774; d. after 1806.

Edes was part of the Loyal Nine a well-organized Patriot political organization shrouded in secrecy, which was formed in 1765 to protest the passing of the Stamp Act. The Loyal Nine was the predecessor of the Sons of Liberty, a secret society of American patriots in Revolutionary America He is best known, along with John Gill, as the publisher of the Boston Gazette, a newspaper which sparked and financed the Boston Tea Party and was influential during the American Revolutionary War.

Benjamin Edes was a Boston Printer, printing the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, this newspaper stirring the populace with the injustices of the British with their various taxes on goods coming into Boston and the colonies. This would be the fuse for 'Taxation without Representation' and one of the triggers for open revolt in Boston, with incidents such as the Boston Massacre and later the Boston Tea Party on the 16th of December 1773.

The night of the Boston Tea Party, the room above the Gazette office was used by the participants to make their evening plans.^[1]

Benjamin was one of the Sons of Liberty and one of the Loyall Caucus of Nine,^[1] a compatriot of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere et al, all of whom were instrumental in the Boston Tea Party.

Benjamin Franklin served his apprenticeship in the same print shop under his brother, this same premises later becoming Edes and Gill, printing the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, that seditious newspaper that pushed the British to twice attempt to arrest him on grounds of sedition, to be taken back to Britain and probably being hung for his part in stirring this rebellion. Benjamin was to escape Boston with his printing press, his son Peter was arrested by the British on suspicion of possession of a firearm, was nearly hung but later imprisoned for 105 days, which he recorded in a diary, later reprinted as a pamphlet, and in the 1920's the De Burians, a literary society were to reprint this diary in a limited run of 120 copies, going in to detail of the daily activity in the prison.

Benjamin would see out his days virtually penniless, passing away in 1803, his final resting place unknown, supposedly Copp's HIll, but there are no records to document this, apart from a memorial stone with the name 'Edes' on it, on the edge of the path way on the Northern side of the Cemetery.

In 2004, the New England Newspaper Editor's Association posthumously awarded Benjamin Edes the Yankee Quill Award for 'Services to Journalism' and in 2005 I had the privilege to be in Boston to accept this award on his behalf. An amazing thing, for something that he had been instrumental all those years before. In more recent times, in Boston there is now a historic interpretative site, the 'Printing Office of Edes and Gill' located in the Clough House next door to the Old North Church, itself apart of this amazing history, with its lanterns to inform of the British coming.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2023.subscribers

Sons of the American Revolution Patriot #P-153026

"Benjamin Edes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 10 Jan. 2016 [1].

See also:

• Wikipedia: Benjamin Edes

Wikipedia: Sons of Liberty

Find A Grave Memorial# 100686375 This link directs to Memorial ID#9 for Samuel Adams?

Find A Grave link for Benjamin Edes memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100686375/benjamin-edes#clipboard Benjamin Edes Birth: 14 Oct 1732 Death: 11 Dec 1803 (aged 71) Burial: Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA Memorial #: 100686375 Bio: Journalist, political agitator, participant in Boston Tea Party Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts publisher of Boston GazetteAt Siege of Boston escaped to Watertown, Mass, where he continued to publish the Gazette until 1798Boston Tea Party George Handlin Pileswrote on June 8, 1956 that his grandmother, Rosa B. (Clark) Handlin told him that the "Indians" who poured the tea overboard in Boston Harbor assembled in the basement of the home of her ancestor. After investigation, the compiler finds that they did assemble on the afternoon of Dec 16, 1773 at the home of Benjamin Edes and later used his Gazette office at the corner of Court Street and Franklin Avenue to assume their Indian disguise. He had ten children by his wife, Martha Starr Family Members Children Peter Edes 1756-1840 Created by: civilwarbuff (47049540) Added: 14 Nov 2012 URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100686375/benjamin-edes Citation: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 August 2020), memorial page for Benjamin Edes (14 Oct 1732–11 Dec 1803), Find a Grave Memorial no. 100686375, citing Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by civilwarbuff (contributor 47049540) .

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/), "Record of Benjamin Edes", Ancestor # A036002.