BIOGRAPHY CARDS Lydia Darragh: Patriot Spy Lydia Darragh was living in Philadelphia when the war began. Lydia was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1729. She married her tutor, William Darragh, in 1753 and the couple emigrated to America. Lydia and William were Quakers. William continued to work as a tutor and Lydia took up the profession of nurse, midwife [someone who delivers babies], and mortician [someone who prepares bodies for burial]. The British, under the command of General William Howe, took the city of Philadelphia in September of 1777. A little more than two months later, in December, General Howe's adjutant came to Lydia's house and told her that the officers wished to use a room in her house for meetings. They even requested that she send her family to bed early in order to have privacy for their meetings. The American army was encamped sixteen miles away at Whitemarsh, north of Philadelphia. One night in December, as the Darragh family slept, General Howe's officers again used her home to plan a secret attack on the Americans. Little did they know that Lydia was not sleeping. Instead, she was outside of the door with her ear to the keyhole. As the meeting ended, Lydia crept back to bed but was unable to sleep because she knew that General Washington should be warned. The next day, without even telling her husband that she had secret information, she announced that the family needed more flour and that she would walk to the mill. Lydia went to General Howe's headquarters and got a pass to leave the city and set out on the five mile walk to Pearson's Mill in Frankford. She went to the mill and left her flour sack there and continued on foot to find the American lines. As Lydia walked toward Whitemarsh, she ran into one of General Washington's patrols. She revealed her knowledge of the British attack plan to an officer of the American army and was taken to a nearby house. Lydia ate and rested and then returned to the mill to pick up her flour. She walked with her sack of flour through the British lines and returned to her house. Lydia anxiously awaited the day set for the attack. Did General Washington have her information? Would he be ready for the British attack? She watched the British troops march out of town. After four anxious days, they returned looking dejected. She had been successful. The American army had been expecting the British attack. Unfortunately for Lydia, the British officers suspected a member of her family was the cause of their defeat. They took the terrified Lydia into a locked room and questioned her. Despite the pressure, Lydia remained calm and the adjutant accepted her stories. Lydia continued her help with the cause of independence by nursing the sick who were displaced by the warfare near Philadelphia. She gained a fine reputation during the war, but later in her life she was suspended from the monthly meeting of Friends [Quakers] for ignoring their warnings about participating in the war. She was able to rise above these conflicts and when she died in 1789 she was buried in a Friends' cemetery near her home.
Elizabeth Thompson: Loyalist Spy Elizabeth Thompson was born in England. She and her husband came to Charleston in the colony of South Carolina in 1769. Elizabeth was a mantua-maker. She made gowns for ladies. She and her husband opened a millinery shop [sells clothing and accessories] soon after arriving in the colony. Their business depended on trade with England. When the conflict with England became more severe, Elizabeth's husband was asked to support the patriots. They wanted him to take an oath of allegiance to the new government. His love for his mother country prevented him from making such a declaration and in 1776 he left America and returned to England. Elizabeth stayed behind to see to what was left of the business. She was threatened by the patriots, and her slaves were confiscated [taken away], but she remained unharmed. At the beginning of the war, patriot General Benjamin Lincoln was stationed in Charleston with a force of men. In 1776 the British forcibly attempted to take the city of Charleston, but they were unsuccessful. The prisons of the city of Charleston began to be used for captured British soldiers. Elizabeth Thompson allowed the officers of the British army who had been captured to be held at her house. She also began assisting the soldiers who were in the city's prisons. Eventually, she began to carry messages from the officers to men in the American army who were British spies. On one occasion she boldly traveled through the American camp to carry letters to the redcoats. Elizabeth disguised one of the British officers staying in her home and took him out for a ride in her carriage. She drove him past the American lines so that he could view their works and report to the British commander. In May of 1779 the city of Charleston was taken after a forty-five day siege by the British army. To English sympathizers, including Elizabeth, this was welcome relief. When the war ended, Elizabeth joined her husband in England and made an attempt to claim a British pension [money from the government as a reward for service]. After all, she had assisted the friends of the King in America.
Dicey Langston: Patriot Spy Dicey Langston was only sixteen when the revolution began. She was born in 1760 on her father's plantation in South Carolina. Dicey's mother died when she was a little girl. She was raised by her father and brothers and grew up a tomboy. She was skilled at riding a horse and shooting a rifle. When the fighting broke out, Dicey's brothers left the plantation to fight with the Continental Army. People in the area were very loyal to King George in England. Dicey regularly visited her loyalist relatives. Dicey's brothers camped in the forest near the plantation so that the plantation would not suffer the consequences of their patriotism. When Dicey visited her loyalist relatives, she listened very carefully to their conversations for any news of enemy movements. Later she would go and report her information to her brothers. Dicey's relatives soon became suspicious of her and they threatened her father with harm if he did not restrain her. Mr. Langston forbade Dicey from visiting her brother's camp in the future. Dicey reluctantly agreed. Only a few weeks passed before Dicey was again passing information. She had heard of a ruthless group of Loyalists called the Bloody Scouts operating in the area. This group planned to raid a village called Little Eden, which was near Dicey's brothers' camp. Fearing for her brothers' lives, Dicey knew she had to get word to them. She decided that she must travel by foot and at night in order to go undetected. She set off late one night when the entire household was asleep. She avoided the roads and kept to the fields and forest. She made steady progress until she came to a creek swollen with the spring rains. Dicey bravely waded into the creek but, as she got to the center of the creek, the swift water carried her downstream, turning her around and around. When she finally regained her footing, she was not sure which side of the creek was which. She chose to follow her instinct and stepped carefully through the creek in what she hoped was the right direction. After a great distance, she reached her brothers' camp and delivered her message. The men in the camp had just returned from an expedition and were hungry and exhausted. Dicey built them a fire and made hoecakes for them to eat. Each of them took some of the bread with them and set off to warn the settlers. Meanwhile, Dicey made the treacherous trip through the forest and creeks again and returned home just before dawn. When the Bloody Scouts rode into the village of Little Eden, there was not a soul to be found. When they found the camp cleared out, the Scouts were certain that Dicey had gotten a message to them and they were furious. They came to the Langston home with pistols aimed at Dicey's father. Dicey quickly jumped between her father and his attacker and the men left her home. Throughout the war, Dicey was the sole protector of the plantation. She continued her patriotic work by standing up to the bands of Loyalists who terrorized her home. When the war was over, Dicey married Thomas Springfield, a local patriot leader, and they both lived to advanced age.
Graphic Organizer: Female Spies of the Revolution Directions: Fill out the sections that apply to the individual your group examines. Fill out the other sections when your classmates present their findings. Female Spy Describe Actions Effect of Actions Personal Consequences of Actions Lydia Darragh Elizabeth Thompson
Graphic Organizer: Female Spies of the Revolution Answer Key Female Spies of the Revolutionary War Female Spy Describe Actions Effect of Actions Personal Consequences of Actions Lydia Darragh Listened at the keyhole Got a pass from General Howe to leave the city Walked to American lines Revealed her knowledge of the British attack to an officer of the American army American army expected the British attack and the British were defeated Questioned by British officers Good reputation during the war Later in her life she was suspended from the monthly meeting of the Friends for ignoring their warnings about participating in the war Stayed calm while questioned Nursed sick Elizabeth Thompson Ran business while husband was in Britain Allowed officers of captured British soldiers to be held at her house Helped soldiers in prison Traveled through American camp to carry letters to the British British spies received messages (inferred) Information about American works reported to British commander Imprisoned British soldiers were helped Threatened by patriots Slaves confiscated Had soldiers living in her house After the war ended she joined her husband in England and attempted to claim a British pension Disguised one of the British soldiers and took him out for a ride in her carriage so that he could view the American s work and report to the British
Dicey Langston Listened carefully to the conversations of her Loyalist relatives Reported the information to her brothers who were with the Continental Army Went out at night to report news of Bloody Scouts to brothers Cared for brothers in forest Saved the village of Little Eden Saved father s life Loyalists terrorized her family Loyalist relatives threatened her and her father Got swept away in river Protected her father from an attack by members of the Bloody Scouts Jumped between father and attacker Stood up to bands of loyalists