“Peggy Stewart” Bowl

Did you know that Annapolis had its own version of the Boston tea party? As we celebrate the Fourth of July this weekend it is important to remember Annapolis’ history in the years leading up to American Independence.

Growing tension with English taxation through the Tea Act of 1773 led to a boycott of imported tea in the colonies. Annapolis merchant Thomas Charles Williams, based in London, tried to circumvent the boycott. He tricked Richard Jackson, captain of the vessel Peggy Sewart, owned by fellow Annapolitan, Anthony Stewart into unknowingly carrying a shipment of tea along with the main cargo of 53 indentured servants. In fact, Stewart had no knowledge of the tea until the Peggy Stewart arrived in Annapolis and he was informed that his cargo had a tax associated with it. At that point Captain Jackson told Stewart of the ruse. Stewart went to Williams’ brothers, the merchants Joseph and James Williams. The pair informed Stewart they wanted no part in their brother’s scheme and sent him away.

Stewart paid the tax so the indentured servants could leave the ship. After a series of meetings, an Annapolis based committee decided that Anthony Stewart would burn the vessel with tea aboard. Stewart complied and the ship burned on October 19th, 1774. Matthias Hammond, a zealous patriot and original owner of the Hammond-Harwood House, pushed for the strongest punishment available.

The only item saved off the vessel was this bowl, which Captain Jackson delivered to its intended owner, Lloyd Dulany, who lived in an opulent mansion on Church Street, now Main Street. Dulany had ordered the bowl from a friend in London. He was a loyalist who fled back to England a few months after receiving the bowl. His home and property were confiscated by the state and sold to George Mann, hotelier, who married Mary Buckland, eldest daughter of English- born architect William Buckland, who designed the Hammond-Harwood House. The Manns kept the bowl at the tavern and it was brought out on festive occasions, including George Washington’s resignation. Williams later published an apology and blamed the ordeal on the instigation of rival Annapolis merchant firm of Wallace, Davidson, and Johnson, demonstrating the competitive and cutthroat nature of the import business.

The bowl bore the name of the ill-fated ship and stayed with the property as the building changed names and owners. The bowl was passed down through the family of hoteliers until it was donated to the museum in 2001. Portraits of Anthony Stewart and his wife Jean, by John Hesselius (American, 1728–1778), are now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. A painting by Francis Blackwell Mayer (1827-1899), although done in 1896 well after the event, helps us understand this historic event. It is now in the collection of the Maryland Commission on Artistic Property.

The “Peggy Stewart” bowl is the only known item of cargo to survive this tumultuous event in Annapolis history, and helps interpret this important story in the city’s past.