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We are offering "The Diary of John Rowe, a Boston Merchant, 1764-1779 ".A Paper Read by Edward L. Pierce before The Massachusetts Historical Society, March 14, 1895. Inscribed and signed by Edward Pierce, July 26, 1895.[This "paper", as it was referred to, was published as a book by Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, University Press. 1895.] Obviously Pierce's "paper" was considered to be of great historical importance for it to be published, but we believe the printing of this publication may have been limited, as the only original copy we have found in our research appears to be in the Library of Congress.
The publication contains several hundred important exerpts from John Rowe's entries in his diaryfrom September 29, 1764 through July 18, 1779,each one dated with the month, day and year.Rowe's diary numbered 2,493 pages, so each of his entries must have been extremely lengthy, and obviously Pierce has taken only the most important exerpts from each of Rowe's entries to include in his paper. The diary was written during the time when the British were imposing unfair taxes on the American colonies - The Sugar Act which imposed duties on sugar and molasses; the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts which included a tax on tea; the Boston Massacre; throwing overboard of the tea at the Boston Tea Party; the fighting at Lexington and Concord; the siege of Boston; and beginning of the Revolutiony War. There are many diary entries about the war itself consisting of Rowe's personal experiences during the war, and little known details to the general public about the War. John Rowe witnessed major events that led up to Independence.
In the first half of the book, Edward Pierce writes extensively about Rowe's life in Boston - his interests, activities, businesses, important meetings, and dinners, etc. According to Pierce, John Rowe was a high-ranking member of the Masonic Society, and at the time of his death was the Grand Master of North America. Pierce makes countless references to Rowe's diary entries, while at the same time fleshing them out with background information, people who were present, and many details of interest. The second half of the book lists, chronologically, all of the excerpts from Rowe's diary entries.
**NOTE** John Rowe (1715-1787) was a merchant, smuggler, and member of the Boston Board of Selectmen, who owned stores, warehouses and Rowe's Wharf. **According to bostonteapartyship.com:Rowe was reputed to have been a planner of the Boston Tea Party and present at the event, which was organized as a protest of Britain's restrictions on colonial trade, and that he was willing to have his own cargo of tea, aboard his merchant ship, the Eleanor, destroyed in order to send a message to Britain. But then, he covered up his participation in the December 16, 1773 Boston Tea Party by recording false entries in his diary as to his whereabouts on December 16. Later, during the American Revolution, John Rowe remained neutral, refraining from taking sides in an effort to look out after his business interests [we assume in case the Brits won]** According to the New England Historical Society, Rowe made a large part of his fortune by smuggling.
His merchant ship, the Eleanor,was one of three American ships who had returned with British East India Company tea imported from Britain, which were raided, on December 16, 1773, by members of the Sons of Liberty who threw chests of tea overboard. According to the Massachusetts Historical Society website, Rowe had disdain for British taxes and the stranglehold the British were inflicting on American trade, but was also conflicted believing he needed to display a certain loyalty to the British. Rowe's diary entry of December 16, 1773 reads: "I being a little unwell staid at home all day and all the evening....." "A number of people appearing in Indian dress went on board the three ships Hall, Bruce, and Coffin;" [he stated the captains names of the 3 ships - the Dartmouth whose captain was Hall; the Eleanor whose captain was Bruce; and the Beaver whose captain was Coffin] "they opened the hatches, hoisted out the tea, and flung it overboard; this might, I believe, have been prevented. I am sincerely sorry for this event. Tis said near two thousand people were present at this event". HE MAKES NO MENTION OF HIS INVOLVEMENT. Obviously, Rowe's diary entries reflect many, many more events, which are way too many for us to write about.
CONDITION: Book is in a type of clamshell case (excellent condition) which was made especially for it, consisting of acid-free archival materials to protect the book from damage due to air, light and moisture. The pages of the book, which are bound tightly, are in Excellent Condition. Apparently, over the years the covers had gotten torn and had separated from the book, but were preserved. At some point, and we don't know when, a paper cover (which appears to be quite old) was wrapped around the book and glued at the spine; and the original covers, which had been torn and chipped, were glued on top of the new cover.
