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| Colonial Letters Found in Shipwreck
by Nemanja |
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March 28, 1770
My Dearest Mother,
Not to cause you undo concern, but my life
here is a very difficult challenge. Mother, my choice to
come to the colonies, came at a price. To pay back Master Adams
for my traveling expenses over here, I have to serve him for five
years. I work all day in the bitter cold. I get beaten and
whipped and I get food like I’m a dog. Right now I’m in Boston,
well Northern Boston. It is with a heavy heart that I
write. I learned that one of my fellow Patriots has died.
My dear friend Thomas overheard our master talking. He said
that hundreds of Patriot school children gathered in front of a
merchant’s shop. They put up a sign that said “Importer” on
it. Right along at that same time, a Loyalist named Ebenezer
Richardson was walking around the corner. When he saw the sign he
attempted to tear it down. The schoolchildren threw rocks at him.
All of a sudden he was hit in the head.
There was a gash in his head. Ebenezer ran out to the second
floor of his shop where he got his musket and took two shots.
Just as young Christopher Seider was going to pick up a rock he was
shot in the eye once, and shot in the chest once. Later that day
he died on the curb. I wish that I could have been more involved
. I told that to my master and surprisingly he took half a year
off of my servitude to him. After that I figured out that I now only
have three years to go. Thomas told me I had to go back to my duties
cutting wood for the fire, and clearing the road for my master’s cart.
A few days later, Thomas returned to tell me that Richardson was found
not guilty. But, he was tarred and feathered by a mob.
Personally, I think he deserves to die for shooting an eleven year old
boy.
I dare say my master is unfair. He does not feed us enough,
and I am vexed by the cold, damp,sleeping quarters he has for us.
It is not a house. It is a hut which is like a small round
house
and when it rains or snows it comes right in.
I miss your cooking, and look forward to you writing soon.
Your loving
son,
Matthew Jones
March 27,1770
Dear Mother,
Today my dear friend Thomas told me that the master went to the
funeral of Christopher Seider, because you see my master is a Patriot
too, just like most of the servants. The master said that he was
overwhelmed at all of the people that came to the
funeral Hundreds of schoolchildren came and most of them
didn’t
even know Christopher. There were a few hundred adults that came to the
funeral. The funeral procession went past the Customs House,
Faneuil Hall, around the Liberty Tree and past the Great Common.
I think that Ebenezer should be found guilty and be executed and die
like the boy that he had killed a couple days ago.
Later that day after I finished cutting the fire wood for master.
I
learned that Thomas got caught for spying on the master. You see
the master thought that Thomas was a spy for the British government
. He was lucky that he wasn’t killed. He had to be
whipped 20 times on the back. Thomas is the second person
to be whipped today. After he got whipped his injury was
infected. Poor Thomas was, and still is, very ill. Even
though he was hurt he even with all the pain still told me that the
funeral was about 1600 rode long.
There were bells ringing when the master was coming back from the
funeral of the people that died at the Boston massacre. He wasn’t to
happy when he got back.
Well I miss you very much I miss the way that you laugh at my jokes
when others don’t. love,
Matthew
December 7,1770
Dear Mother,
I have learned recently of another tragedy involving five
Patriots. It all started when a boy named Edward
Garrick thought about the death of Christopher Seider. He
started to taunt the sentry. The sentry hit him down then even more
people came and more and more. Soon the sentry was facing
hundreds of blood thirsty Patriots. The crowd was
shouting
fire!!
They were throwing rocks and ice and snow. The lonely soldier
called for help. Then Captain Preston and eight other British
soldiers came. There was a lot of confusion and chaos, then
all of a sudden there were church bells ringing and people were
pouring out of their houses. The people continued to yell out
“fire
damn you”. Then the soldiers started to shoot at the
people, shot after shot. When the smoke cleared there were three
people dead and two severely wounded men. I was very vexed at the
soldiers because they killed unarmed people.
The Funeral of the people that died in the massacre was even a
more impressive site. There were thousands of people. They
went around all the same places that the funeral of Christopher Seider,
The Customs House, Faneuil Hall, around and past the old liberty
tree,
past the common where the soldiers were in camped. Then they were
at the South Granary Burying Ground. After two major
events, people of Boston are against the King and his royal subjects.
The soldiers that shot into the crowd were all under arrest. The
captain was let go because he was found not guilty because no evidence
that he did anything. After a while the other soldiers were let
go, all except two, Hugh Montgomery, and Matthew
Killroy. Personally I think that they should be in prison for a
long while. All that happened to them is that they got an 'M'
branded on their fingers for manslaughter. They can never come
back to Boston. If they do come back, anyone can kill them right
on the spot.
A couple days later My dear friend Thomas died . Nobody really
cared they just threw them in a ditch in a graveyard. Well, dear
mother has . Now I need to go back to work. Please Write
back to me soon.
Your dearest son,
Matthew ,
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Historical References:
Allison, J Rudent , A
Short History Of Boston. 2004, Beverly Hills, California.
Hakims, Joy. From Colonies
to Countries, 2003, New York.
Hoose, Phillup. We Were
There, Too! 19 Union Square West. 2004. New York.
Hakim, Phillup. Making the
Thirteen Colonies, Oxford University
2004, England.
Lee,E Robert Google
Encyclopedia, , 2002. http://www. stractfor servent.htm?
EducationEd.
Massacre Change Upon
Boston, 2006. The Boston Globe.
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