Daniel Malcolm

Captain Daniel Malcolm[1] (c. 1725 – October 23, 1769) was an American merchant, sea captain, and smuggler.[2] Malcolm was known for resisting the British authorities in the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War.[3][4] He was the brother of John Malcolm, a minor British customs officer who was violently tarred and feathered by a Boston mob.[5]

When the Townshend Acts were passed, Malcolm instigated a boycott on British imports. He led a group of Boston merchants to stop importing products for a year in 1769.[6] He was particularly noted for smuggling sixty casks of wine without paying any dues.[7] When British customs men showed up to confiscate the contraband stowed in his cellar, he refused. Malcolm was able to muster four hundred men and boys to block British reinforcements.[2] This episode is said to have contributed to the Liberty Affair involving John Hancock.[8][9] Malcolm publicized the illegal seizure of a vessel owned by Hancock, who was also a known smuggler.[10] It is said that he took risk in providing this eye witness account, which was published in the Boston Chronicle's January 9, 1769, issue.[10] The Liberty Affair led to a riot that was one of the main factors in the British government's decision to send troops to Boston, a move that would culminate in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.[11]

Capt. Daniel Malcolm, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston, Mass., ca. 1920-1960. Leon Abdalian Collection, Boston Public Library

Malcolm died on October 23, 1769, and was buried in Boston's Copp's Hill Burying Ground.[7] He is said to have asked to be buried in the location, ten feet deep "safe from British bullets".[7] His body was left alone but his tombstone was singled out for target practice by the Red Coats.[12]