Chester Town Resolves

May 21, 1774

I’ve lived in Virginia my entire life, and I haven’t given even a passing thought to Chester Town (Chestertown), Maryland in all of my 77 years.  It’s on Maryland’s Eastern Shore – across the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore and Annapolis.  The only times I’ve driven anywhere near it were on summer vacation trips from our home in Northern Virginia to the vacation towns of Bethany Beach, Delaware, and Ocean City, Maryland.  But once we got over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at Annapolis, we turned right to go to the beach; to get to Chestertown, you turn left and go about 30 miles.  It sits on the Chester River.  I had not heard of the Chester River either, but it was apparently the site of a significant port in the 18^th century.  I found several references to it being named one of the “Six Royal Ports of Entry” in Maryland; I couldn’t find anything that identified the other five. I’m guessing at least Baltimore and Annapolis, but beyond that, I got nothin’.

It appears that I’ve overlooked something significant, so I want to fill you in.  Today – May 21, 2023 – is the 250^th anniversary of the issuance of the Chestertown Resolves (factual). Two days later, on May 23, the residents of Chestertown also threw a shipload of tea into the harbor (conjectural).    

Say what now?  Yes, my friends, there was (possibly) a “tea party” in Chestertown, following the example of the more famous Boston Tea Party.  In this iteration, colonial patriots boarded the brigantine Geddes in broad daylight and threw its cargo of tea into the Chester River.  These patriots were steamed by the closing of the Port of Boston after the Tea Party there, and the local chapter of the Sons of Liberty put forth a list of grievances called the Chestertown Resolves, calling, among other things, for a boycott of British tea.  These resolves are a matter of historic record, duly reported in the Maryland Gazette.  But there is no contemporary evidence of a tea-tossing; the earliest record dates to the end of the 19^th century.  The story was apparently made up by a newspaper publisher who wanted to snaz up the image of his town so that more visitors would come. 

There are hints that provide some points of accuracy.  The Geddes, which had been built in Chestertown, was in the area around the time of the legendary tea party.  It sometimes carried tea, although there is no evidence that it had tea on board at the time of the “tea party.”

But Chestertown is not about to let a little detail like that get in the way of the fun.  The town is celebrating its Tea Party on Thursday, May 23, as the newest iteration of a celebration that has occurred every Memorial Day Weekend since the Bicentennial year of 1976.  This year’s event will showcase a large colonial parade down High Street, along with loads of street food, craftsmen, and entertainment throughout the day.  The day culminates with throngs gathering on the banks of the Chester River to cheer for the historic reenactment of the storming of the Geddes.  Colonial re-enactors will storm a replica of the 1768 schooner Sultana (similar to the Geddes)and toss some chests of “tea” overboard.  One article I read teased that the re-enactors are then thrown overboard with the tea.  Those wild and crazy Chestertown-ites!