Overview of SYMHC Classics: Sarah Bradlee Fulton
This Stuff You Missed in History Class classic revisits Sarah Bradley Fulton — sometimes called the “mother of the Boston Tea Party” — and separates the family lore from the harder historical evidence. The episode uses the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party as a springboard to explore Fulton’s alleged role in Revolutionary-era resistance, her later wartime service in Medford, Massachusetts, and how her story became part of local and DAR memory in the 19th century.
Main Topics Discussed
Sarah Bradley Fulton’s background
- Born Sarah Bradley in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1740.
- Married John Fulton in 1762 and later moved to Medford.
- Had a large family, with sources differing slightly on the exact number of children who survived to adulthood.
The Daughters of Liberty and colonial resistance
- The episode explains the broader context of the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts.
- It describes how the Daughters of Liberty supported the protest movement through:
- boycotts,
- letter writing and petitioning,
- promoting homespun cloth,
- and “spinning bees.”
- These activities contrasted with the more public and dramatic actions of the Sons of Liberty.
Fulton and the Boston Tea Party
- Local tradition says Fulton helped prepare men involved in the Boston Tea Party.
- According to later accounts, she may have:
- helped make disguises,
- kept water hot so men could remove face paint after the raid,
- or otherwise assisted from the Bradley home.
- Her brother Nathaniel Bradley’s house in Boston is described as a meeting place for patriots.
- The episode also explains the broader Tea Party context:
- the Tea Act of 1773,
- colonial opposition to taxed tea,
- the arrival of the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver,
- and the destruction of the tea on December 16, 1773.
- It notes the later symbolic use of Indigenous dress, while emphasizing that the exact appearance and purpose of those disguises are not firmly documented.
Revolutionary War-era stories
- After the Tea Party, the episode says Fulton was involved in wartime support work in Medford.
- Stories connected to her include:
- hearing Paul Revere’s ride,
- organizing women to care for wounded soldiers after Bunker Hill,
- allegedly removing a bullet from a soldier’s cheek,
- delivering a message to George Washington,
- and a dramatic confrontation with British soldiers during the siege of Boston involving confiscated firewood.
- The episode treats these as compelling but not always well-corroborated stories.
Historical Uncertainty and Source Problems
A major theme of the episode is that much of Sarah Bradley Fulton’s story comes from late 19th-century retellings rather than contemporaneous records.
- The main sources discussed are:
- Eliza M. Gill’s 1873 letter,
- Helen T. Wilde’s 1897 account,
- and a Boston Globe profile of Fulton’s grandson.
- These sources:
- sometimes disagree with each other,
- rely on family memory,
- and do not have strong independent verification.
- The hosts emphasize that:
- Fulton was a real person,
- but many of the dramatic stories about her are best understood as local tradition or family lore.
- The episode also points out a few “plot hole”-style inconsistencies in the accounts, such as how a supposed spy could have been observed if he allegedly went unnoticed.
Later Life and Legacy
- John Fulton died in 1790; Sarah Bradley Fulton died in 1835 at age 95.
- After her death:
- a road in Medford was renamed Fulton Street,
- the Medford DAR chapter was named for her,
- and a memorial marker was placed at her burial site in 1900.
- Her home became known as the Tea Party House before it was torn down in 1898.
- Her story continued to be celebrated in civic and patriotic memory, including a 1919 play titled Sarah Bradley Fulton, Patriot.
- The episode closes by connecting her story to broader Revolutionary-era history, including slavery and the later significance of Medford’s Royal House and Belinda Sutton’s petitions.
Key Takeaways
- Sarah Bradley Fulton is a figure whose reputation was built largely through later local history and family storytelling.
- The episode’s main value is not proving every anecdote, but showing how Revolutionary War memory gets constructed.
- It places Fulton within the wider world of colonial protest, women’s political labor, and the mythology around the Boston Tea Party.
- The hosts repeatedly stress the difference between:
- what is documented,
- what is likely,
- and what became patriotic legend.