Indiana's Only Known Boston Tea Party Participant Finally Honored

Published Jul 30, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT

Commemorative marker placed at the grave of William Tufts, courtesy of Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

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Published Jul 30, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT

An honor more than two centuries later for the only known Indiana man who took part in the Boston Tea Party protest. William Tufts is buried at Bonneville Cemetery in Elkhart County, Ind. A graveside ceremony held on July 25, attended by state and local dignitaries, as well as representatives from the Daughters of the American Revolution, saw a commemorative marker placed at Tufts' grave, courtesy of the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum. "William Tufts was a participant in the Boston Tea Party protest. He was an innkeeper's apprentice at the time," Evan O'Brien, creative manager of the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, said in an interview with Military.com. "As his biographical account goes, he was responsible for hauling some of the heavy tea chests out of the cargo hold of one of the three Boston Tea Party ships."