George Robert Twelves Hewes - Rediscovery

Rediscovery

The 1830s were a period when the American Revolution experienced a revival in the public memory. Battles and events from the revolution were being newly commemorated. During this period, in 1833, a writer named James Hawkes discovered Hewes in Richfield Springs and wrote a biography about him, A Retrospect of the Boston Tea-Party.

Hawkes's book became popular, and in 1835 Hewes toured New England as a celebrity. He sat for a portrait by Joseph Cole, called simply The Centenarian, which now hangs in the Old State House in Boston. Benjamin Bussey Thatcher wrote a second biography, Traits of the Tea Party. He was the guest of honor at an elaborate ceremony on the Fourth of July attended by the lieutenant governor and by other Revolutionary War veterans. All along his route he was adored by the public for his age, his health, his pleasant demeanor, and for his role in the seminal events of the Revolution.

Both Hawkes and Thatcher were amazed by Hewes's memory. Hewes remembered details of his stages of life clearly, and he could recall his memories smoothly. He could recall how things looked, how things tasted, and how he felt at that time even though he was in his nineties.

Although Hewes was not by any means a pivotal player in the Revolution or an important public figure, he helped to secure the American Revolution as an important event in American history. He was rediscovered at a time when the Boston Tea Party and other early events of the revolution were also being rediscovered. He continues to be notable today through his biographies, which give the impressions of a common person of the revolution reflecting on his participation at the end of his life.