[ Robert N. Webb / We Were There at the Boston Tea Party ]
Robert Webb was an American reporter and novelist specializing in historically themed works for younger readers.
Illustrated by E. F. Ward.
First published 1956 (New York: Grossett & Dunlap)
Blurb: "New England is ripe for revolution in the fall of 1773, and young Jeremy and Deliverance Winthrop are eager to play their part. The brother-and-sister duo join the conspiracy against the red-coated British "lobsterbacks," carrying messages from Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and other patriots to set the stage for the famous event in Boston Harbor."
This is one of two novels featuring Samuel Adams and his Newfoundland, Queue (the other, Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? is also treated here at The Cultured Newf). Queue appears to have a prominent role in this book, given that one of the chapter titles identifies him by name, though I have not read this book.
The evidence that the real Samuel Adams, one of American's "Founding Fathers," really did own a Newfoundland is not very substantial. One historical blog points out that the only reference to Adams' Newfoundland comes from a relative of Adams, writing 60 years after Adams' death, and that there are no contemporaneous references to Adams owning a Newfoundland. (You can get the specifics here.)
It is worth pointing out that this novel for young readers (ages 8 - 14) is part of a series of 36 books, written in the 1950s and early 1960s, that sought to combine historical accuracy with engaging storytelling for younger readers; the works in this series were vetted by historical consultants, though whether that extended to verifying dog breeds is unknown to me.
