Samuel Adams and the Vagabond Henry Tufts

BOOK REVIEW: Samuel Adams and the Vagabond Henry Tufts: Virtue Meets Vice in the Revolutionary Era by Nathaniel Parry (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2024. Paperback, $49.95)

In Samuel Adams and the Vagabond Henry Tufts: Virtue Meets Vice in the Revolutionary Era, Nathaniel Parry highlights the criminal undertones of society during the Revolution and early national period. The book focuses on the societal space inhabited by a previously overlooked minority and provides a glimpse into the lives of people who existed on the lower rungs of the social ladder who lived according to the principles of self-preservation. Parry explores this territory through the lives of two men, his ancestor Henry Tufts and Founding Father Samuel Adams. Tufts and Adams existed at very different levels of society, but their paths eventually crossed due to one of Tufts’ accused crimes.

Using Henry Tufts’ autobiography as his main source, Parry acknowledges the skepticism with which many have approached Tufts’ narrative but determines that it is a valuable source in two ways. First, the author suspects that the work may be more fact than fiction merely on the basis of how bad Tufts makes himself look. Second, whether or not all of the details of the autobiography are reliable, it performs the larger service of unveiling a portion of society that is at odds with the picture of the Revolutionary period that is most often presented (page 2).

Tufts’ autobiography provides a uniquely in-depth first-person account of the criminal lifestyle in the eighteenth century that is reflective of the rise in criminal activity as the fabric of society changed into a more mobile one. Rather than remaining rooted in small communities for life, increased movement allowed people to exist increasingly anonymously among those they did not know well. In conjunction with diminishing church and governmental authority, this enabled the activity of career criminals (p. 34). Through placing Tufts’ own words regarding his life in the context of crime in the colonial and Revolutionary era, Parry contends that Tufts led a lifestyle more common than previously acknowledged and argues that he is one example of many people who existed in this societal space and led villainous and unsavory lifestyles (p. 114).

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Comparing Tufts’ lifestyle with the Enlightenment principles embodied by the Founding Fathers, the author argues that in some ways the ideals overlapped significantly. Both Tufts and Adams embraced the pursuit of happiness. While driven by similar philosophies in some respects, however, this viewpoint manifested itself in different ways. Whereas Tufts emphasized pleasure to overcome suffering, Adams preferred zealously taking down tyranny. Although their individual perspectives seemingly contrast, Parry suggests that they really are two sides of the same coin. Tufts himself referenced Greco-Roman mythology and literature along with poetic and artistic displays in his autobiography. In addition to this evidence of embodying Enlightenment thinking, Tufts frequently provides warnings against his lifestyle throughout his memoir, almost seemingly an admission that his method of pursuing happiness is not the ideal one (p. 40-43).

Further emphasizing the similar underlying principles between this vagabond and a Founding Father, Parry contends that the Revolution witnessed widespread lawlessness. Many respected Revolutionaries routinely skirted the law. However, the reasoning behind the lawless acts ultimately marked the difference between the individual engaged in them being perceived as a hero or a menace to society (p. 47). Those who engaged in lawlessness as a protest to the British or in ways intended to bolster the American cause committed commendable acts. Meanwhile, men like Tufts who broke the law for reasons that did not directly support the Revolutionary cause existed on the fringes of society.

The incident that drives the narrative occurred when Tufts faced conviction in Ipswich, Massachusetts, for stealing six silver spoons. Tufts appealed directly to Governor Adams to avoid his scheduled hanging, increasing pressure on Adams through appeals to other friends and contacts as well. While Tufts admitted to a life of crime, he insisted upon his innocence in the particular crime for which he received the hanging sentence (p. 194). Adams did commute the sentence to life imprisonment. The author notes that during this time public opinion grew against capital punishment, rendering it difficult to gauge whether Adams responded to Tufts’ pleas or his own convictions (p. 204).

Overall, this book is an enjoyable read that explores an aspect of society during the Revolutionary period that is often overlooked. Parry offers a fresh perspective in considering the ways in which life philosophies can manifest themselves and how societal perception of actions determines the merit of the act and the individual in that society. While on the surface the connection of the two men based on an administrative incident may seem tenuous, Parry offers convincing evidence that the lives of these two men reflected the society in which they lived in ways that are very important to understanding the forces at play during the Revolution and the early days of the nation. Furthermore, ample evidence is provided that demonstrates that Tufts remained notorious in his own lifetime and decades afterwards, making this book an examination of two men who were noteworthy in and reflective of their respective social spheres.

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