John Malcolm (Loyalist)

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The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, 1774 British propaganda print referring to Malcolm's tarring and feathering. The men also poured hot tea down Malcolm's throat as can be seen. Note the noose hanging on the Liberty Tree, and the Stamp Act posted upside-down

John Malcolm, a Bostonian who worked for the British customs service, was the victim of one of the most publicized tarring and feathering incidents during the unrest leading up to the American Revolutionary War. Malcolm was known as a hard-line Loyalist, a staunch supporter of royal authority. As a Loyalist, he often faced abuse and provocation from Boston's Patriot, the critics of British authority. One such verbal confrontation with Patriot shoemaker George Hewes thrust Malcolm into the spotlight. Hewes had often provoked Malcolm by “hooting at him in the streets.” On January 25, 1774, according to the account in the Massachusetts Gazette , Hewes saw Malcolm threatening to strike a boy with his cane. When Hewes intervened to stop Malcolm, the two began insulting each other, after which Malcolm struck Hewes hard on the forehead with the cane. After receiving treatment from the well-known Patriot doctor, Joseph Warren, Hewes went to a magistrate’s office to get a warrant for John Malcolm’s arrest.

That night, a mob seized Malcolm in his house and dragged him into King Street, where, over the objections of Hewes, he was covered with tar and feathers. They then took him to the Liberty Tree, where they first threatened to hang him and then threatened cut off his ears if he did not apologize for his behavior and renounce his customs commission. Malcolm relented and was sent home. The event was reported in newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic.