e son, who knew the family tradition, was
eager to learn more. "Not now, Harry," said the major, "Come and see me,
and I will tell you all about it." Mr. May called repeatedly upon him,
but could never obtain any further satisfaction respecting the object of
his inquiry. Colonel May was a man of great energy and courage, an
ardent patriot, and one not likely to be overlooked in the making-up of
a company of picked men for such an enterprise. He was at one time
colonel of the Boston regiment, and was for many years a selectman, and
a firewarden of the town. He made a journey of exploration to the Ohio
region, in 1788 and 1789, an account of which has been published. Two
sons, Frederick and George Washington May, were skilful physicians, in
Washington, D.C. He has numerous grandchildren living, among them Prof.
Edward Tuckerman, of Amherst College, and Samuel P. Tuckerman, Mus.
Doc., resident in England.

I am indebted for the above facts to my friend, John Joseph
May, Esq., of Mayfield, Dorchester.

[Illustration: =The relic of the Tea=, destroyed in Boston, Dec. 16^th
1773. found on the following morning by Thomas Melville, in his shoes;
and put into this phial, for preservation.]

[Illustration: Signature, Thomas Melvill]

MAJOR THOMAS MELVILL

Was born in Boston, January 16, 1751, and died there September 16, 1832.
He was the grandson of Thomas, minister of Scoonie Parish, Fifeshire, a
cadet of the Scottish family of the Earls of Leven and Melvill. Allan,
his father, left Scotland, and established himself in business in
Boston, in 1743. Left an orphan at the age of ten, the care of his
education devolved upon his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Mary Cargill, a
relative of the celebrated surgeon, Dr. Abernethy. Young Melvill was
graduated at Princeton College, in 1769, with a view to the ministry,
but impaired health led him to make a visit to Scotland, in 1771.
Returning to Boston, in 1773, he established himself in business in that
town, just at the time when the tea excitement began, and being strongly
in sympathy with the "Sons of Liberty," and a member of the Long Room
Club, he took an active part in the event of December 16, 1773. Some of
the tea taken from his shoes, after his return home, was preserved, and
is now in the possession of Mrs. Thomas Melvill, of Galena, Illinois.
The picture here given is a fac-simile of the venerable relic itself. In
1773, he received the honorary degree of Master of Art