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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — On the 250th anniversary year of the Boston Tea Party, descendants of the event will be able to join an exclusive club honoring their ancestors.
The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum announced the launch of the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program on Saturday. The program will allow anyone with a family tree connection to an ancestor that took part in the Boston Tea Party to join the new lineage-based society, which will be vetted by professional genealogists at American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Members will help build a digital portal through their contributions in the form of family documents and documents from other genealogical organizations, in order to create an online resource for descendants, their families, researchers, and organizations.
"We are thrilled to create this first-ever Boston Tea Party descendant online portal of America’s first patriots in partnership with the American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society in this 250th anniversary year of the Boston Tea Party," said Shawn P. Ford, Executive Director for the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. "It is our hope to educate, inspire, and make genealogical connections to those who participated in the Boston Tea Party. American families – new and old – can benefit from knowing about their heritage in the context of this pivotal moment in history."
The initial fee for applying to the program is $400 which includes processing and vetting. Once accepted, based on the qualifying ancestor, members can join one of the following tiers:
- Lineage Member ($125 annual fee): Includes any documented descendants from the following groups: Boston Tea Party Participants, Loyal Nine, Boston Sons of Liberty, North End Caucus, St. Andrew’s Lodge, Ship guard volunteers, or Signers of November 1773 petitions to town selectmen.
- Eyewitness to History ($100 annual fee): Includes any documented descendants from inhabitants of Boston in 1773, or any eyewitnesses to the Boston Tea Party.
- Co-conspirator ($75 annual fee): Those who do not have Boston Tea Party ancestry, but are interested in the program, such as researchers, educators, or members of the public who wish to support the program. This tier waives the $400 vetting fee.
Anyone interested in applying to the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program can go here. The process for acceptance and vetting of application and lineage materials will take approximately six to eight weeks.
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