The Cohansey tea-fight

About The Cohansey tea-fight

The Cohansey tea-fight by Lucy Ellen Guernsey is a historical short story written in the late 19th century. Framed as a family reminiscence, it centers on colonial New Jersey and a local protest against British tea, culminating in a dramatic “tea-fight” on Cohansey Creek. During a rainy afternoon in Greenwich, two girls ask their great-grandmother to tell a story, and she recounts events from 1774. As a young woman, Sybilla lives with stern Aunt Betsy and her Tory nephew Abiram Haskins, who presses her to marry him though she loves the patriot Lewis Howell. Abiram secretly lands contraband tea from a brig at his shore; Sybilla discovers a spill of leaves, warns Lewis and his ally Stephen Whitecar, and that night a band of patriots disguised as Indians force Abiram to yield the hoard, then burn it solemnly in a meadow before the townspeople. Disgraced, Abiram leaves; Sybilla marries Lewis as soon as she comes of age, aided by the Whitecars and the local minister. The Revolution follows—Lewis rises to captain and later dies of wounds—while Aunt Betsy eventually reconciles and Abiram ends ruined. The tale closes as the present-day storm lifts and the girls prepare for their own mild “tea-fight,” a playful echo of the past.

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