Lydia Darrah
| Lydia Darragh | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1729 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | December 28, 1789 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Religion | Quaker |
| Spouse | William Darrah |
| Children | Charles Darrah, Ann Darrah, John Darrah, William Darrah, and Susannah Darrah |
Lydia Barrington Darragh (also spelled Darrah[1] or Darrach[2]) (1728 – December 28, 1789) was an American woman said to have crossed British lines during the British occupation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War, delivering information to George Washington and the Continental Army that warned them of a pending British attack.[3] Contemporary sources claim Darragh's uncorroborated story is historically unsubstantiated.[4]
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[edit] Early life
Lydia Barrington Darragh was born in 1729 in Dublin, Ireland to John Barrington and his wife. On November 2, 1753, she married the family tutor, William Darragh, the son of a clergyman. After a few years of marriage, they immigrated to Philadelphia. William worked as a tutor and Lydia as a midwife. She gave birth to and raised five children, Charles (born 1755), Ann (born 1757), John (born 1763), William (born 1766), Susannah (born 1768), and four others that died in infancy.
[edit] American Revolutionary War
As Quakers, the Darraghs were pacifists. However, their eldest son Charles served with the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Army.
On September 26, 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia. General William Howe took up residence across the street from the Darrahs, in a house formerly belonging to John Cadwalader.[5] Darrah began regularly providing her son Charles with information regarding the enemy's plans, gathered by eavesdropping in her home and around town. She would often write this information in simple code on pieces of scrap paper, which she hid in large buttons that she and the messengers wore.[6]
In late fall of 1777, British troops (one of whom was a distant relative of the Darrahs from Ireland) requested use of the Darrahs' home for meetings. Lydia told them that they had already sent away their two youngest children to live with relatives in another city, but that they had nowhere else to go and would like to stay in their home. They were permitted to remain, as Quakers were known to be unsupportive of the war, even on the side of the colonies, therefore posed no apparent risk to the British army.[7]
On December 2, 1777, Lydia received the request that she and her family retire early, by 8 o'clock, and that she would be awakened when the soldiers were finished so she could let them out. Lydia pretended to go to sleep, but instead listened to the soldiers through the door. She learned that British troops were being ordered to leave the city on December 4, 1777, to make a surprise attack on the Continental army camped at Whitemarsh led by George Washington. Lydia sneaked back to bed and pretended to be asleep until the officer knocked three times at her door to awake her to follow them out and blow out the candles.
Lydia decided not to share this information with her husband or family so that it would not put them in a compromising situation. The following morning she received permission from General Howe to cross British lines in order to go to Frankford to get flour. Lydia dropped off her empty bag at the mill and then headed towards the American camp. Along the way she met an American officer, Colonel Craig of the Light Horse, and told him about the impending British attack so that he might warn Washington. After the warning, Lydia made her way back to the mill, picked up her flour and started her long journey home. After the British troops attempted their attack and realized that the Americans were waiting for them, the officer questioned Lydia and asked if anyone was awake on the night of the meeting, because it was obvious that someone had betrayed them. Lydia denied any knowledge of this and was no longer questioned.[8]
There are variations on this story; according to Elias Boudinot, Commissary of Prisoners, who was eating at Rising Sun Tavern, Lydia came in and gave him a “dirty old needle book, with various small pockets.” In one of the pockets he “found a piece of paper rolled into the form of a pipe shank. On unrolling it I found information that General Howe was coming out the next morning with 5000 men, 13 pieces of cannon, baggage wagons, and 11 boats on wheels.”[9] The information was then passed on to Washington and the troops were prepared.
[edit] Later life
In June 1778, British troops left Philadelphia, and Darrah's children returned to their family home. William Darrah died on June 8, 1783. Charles lost his membership to the Society of Friends on April 27, 1781. Lydia lost her membership on August 29, 1783. In 1786, Lydia and the children moved into a new house, and she ran a store until her death on December 28, 1789.
[edit] References
- ^ There are a number of variations in the spelling of the name "Lydia Darrah." According to her death notice, the name was spelled "Darragh." (Deceased: Mrs. Lydia Darragh; Article Type: Death Notices Paper: Independent Gazetteer, published as The Independent Gazetteer.; Date: 01-02-1790; Volume: IX; Issue: 1264; Page: [3]; Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.)
- ^ In John Fanning Watson's Historic Tales of Olden Time: Concerning the Early Settlement and Progress of Philadelphia Pennsylvania (published Philadelphia, 1833), there is an account of "Lydia Darrach" listed on page 294 under "MISCELLANEA."
- ^ Darrah's exploits were first documented in the article Lydia Darragh: One of the Heroines of the Revolution by Henry Darrach, published in 1915 by the City History Society of Philadelphia. A copy of this article is online here.
- ^ "CIA.gov: Intelligence in the War of Independence - Personalities". https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/intelligence/pers.html. Retrieved 13 January 2009. "Family legend contributes the colorful but uncorroborated story of Lydia Darragh and her listening post for eavesdropping on the British."
- ^ Melissa Lukeman Bohrer, Glory, Passion, and the Principle: The Story of Eight Remarkable Women at the Core of the American Revolution (New York: Atria Books, 2003), 127.
- ^ Elizabeth Leonard, All the Daring of the Soldier (New York: Penguin, 1999), 19-35.
- ^ Bohrer, Glory, Passion, and Principle, 128.
- ^ Lincoln Diamant, ed., Revolutionary Women in the War for American Independence (Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1998), 113-115.
- ^ Biography of Lydia Darragh.
[edit] Further reading
- Elizabeth F. Ellet, The Women of the American Revolution, Third Edition. New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849.
Glory, Passion, and Principle: The Story of Eight Remarkable Women at the Core of the American Revolution by Melissa Luke Bohrer
[edit] External links
- “Biography of Lydia Darragh”
- “Lydia Darrah Biography”
- “Lydia Darrah Biography”
- "Lydia Darrah's House", Muscatine Journal, Friday, January 6, 1854
- Lydia Darrah at AmericanRevolution.org
- Lydia Darrah at Find a Grave
