Benjamin Loxley house

The Benjamin Loxley house was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania house owned by a major of that name who served in the Continental Army. The house is noted in history as the place where Lydia Darragh, a Quaker patriot, overheard secret British plans and passed them on the next day to General George Washington. Her efforts are believed to have saved the Continental Army from a surprise attack on December 4, 1777 from British General William Howe, who was occupying Philadelphia.

Benjamin Loxley house, 1828 watercolor
177 South Second Street, Old Philadelphia

Description

Benjamin Loxley constructed the wood frame house about 1760 and used it as a private residence.[1] His descendants continued to live there until 1851. It was at Second and Little Dock streets in old Philadelphia about two blocks west of the Delaware River. The house was a two-story structure with a balcony across the entire front on the second story that projected out over the low first story. The first story had two large windows with small panes of glass. The inverted "V" peaked roof projected out over the balcony, partly protecting it against the weather. The roof was supported by protruding bulky carved ornamental cantilever supports. The balcony represented prestige and wealth. It was one of the favorite places from where English evangelist George Whitefield preached to large crowds during his tours of the colonies in the Great Awakening.[2]

Loxley also owned the property behind this house, which consisted of a row of houses he built of red-and-black glazed brick. He imported this brick from England. These houses front on Spruce Street; the group is now known as Loxley Court. Loxley's children and their descendants lived in these houses until 1851. These houses had a group of fruit trees and grape vines that surrounded them. The property with the houses was fully landscaped. The yard's landscaping was destroyed by the British when they occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.[2]

Loxley's property was in an area known as Society Hill.[3] On this hill stood the city's main flagpole. It was the point from where guns of salute were fired in honor of distinguished visitors that arrived in ships on the Delaware River. This hill is where George Washington made camp with his Virginia troops on the retreat from Braddock's defeat in 1755.[2] Bathsheba Bowers had a spa nearby that was well known for its excellent water called Bathsheba's spring and bower.[4]

Notoriety

Ann, daughter of Lydia Darragh

Main article: Lydia Darragh

The house is noted in history because of Quaker Lydia Darragh, a patriot spy.[2] She overheard the British discussing secret war plans of a surprise attack at White Marsh, and she warned General George Washington, thus saving the Continental Army.[5] The story has various versions but generally is consistent in saying that she passed the secret plans to Washington in one way or another.[6][7] It has as its initial sequence of events of the British attack plans overheard at the Loxley house which she occupied at the time in early December 1777.[8][9] The house was selected as a meeting place by British officers where she overheard the secret attack war plans and passed them on to save the Continental Army.[10]

One version, which matches that told by her daughter Ann, is that the British army had possession of Philadelphia when the Darragh Quaker family were tenants at the Loxley house. British General Howe's headquarters and residence were in a house on Second street across from the Loxley house. It had previously been occupied by American General John Cadwalader. A high-ranking officer of the British army from General Howe's headquarters desired a private conference and took over part of the Loxley house for the evening, which British officers frequently did for meetings. On the second of December a British general told Darragh that certain officers would be taking over the parlor in their house at around seven o'clock and would be staying late.[11][12] He wanted the family to go to bed no later than 8 P.M. He would let Darragh know when they were done with the room, and she could then put out their fireplace and candles.[13]

General Howe house across the street

Darragh made sure all the family was to bed on time. Since the officer had been so adamant about all this, she became quite curious about the meeting. In her stocking feet, so as to not make any noise, she went to the bedroom door after the family was asleep and listened through the keyhole to the officers' conversation. It had to do with a secret plan. The British were to attack General Washington and his Continental Army on December 4.[14][15] When done with the meeting Major John André knocked on Darragh's bedroom door two different times, receiving no response. He knocked harder a third time and Darragh came to open the door, pretending she had just woke up. He told her they were done with the meeting and that she could return everything to its appropriate places.[16] In the early morning of December 3 she woke her family and told them that she needed to get flour for upcoming meals. She had to go to the mill several miles away at Frankford, Philadelphia. This was a common event for her. She obtained a pass from General Howe, who was in the house across the street, to go through the British lines, as they controlled all of Philadelphia at the time.[17][18]

Darragh took her flour bag for the flour she needed to get. When she got to the mill she left her bag there for filling and for later retrieval. She quickly proceeded on to White Marsh where General Washington was with his Continental army. Just before she arrived, she encountered American Captain Charles Craig of the Philadelphia City Cavalry light horsemen. He recognized Darragh and asked her where she was going; she told him of overhearing plans for the British surprise attack. Craig promised her he would not tell anyone of her part, but would pass the critical information directly to Washington. Darragh returned to the mill in Frankford to purchase her flour and carried it home in her bag.[19]

Another version is that Darragh's eldest son had already joined the Continental Army when she overheard the plans. She passed secret notes to him about the British plans of attack. He in turn then passed them onto his younger brother, who forwarded them to Washington.[20]

The end result was that on December 4, 1777, British General William Howe led an army of troops out of Philadelphia in a last attempt to destroy Washington and his Continental Army but was not successful; Washington was ready with his defenses. Howe called off the attack and returned to Philadelphia "like a parcel of fools"[21] without battling Washington.[22][23]

Although there were inquires to Darragh and her family, the British officers never found out who tipped off Washington.[2][24] They believed that Darragh and her family were sleeping while they held their meeting. [25][26]

Torn down

The Loxley House was at 177 South Second Street (old numbering system) near Little Dock Street. It was torn down sometime between 1851 and 1863.[27]

References

Citations

1. Westcott 1894, p. 191.
2. "The Spirit of '76". 3–4. Spirit of '76 Publishing Company. 1897. Retrieved July 30, 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. Watson 1898, p. 346.
4. Watson 1898, p. 411.
5. Ellet 2009, pp. 171–177.
6. "Lydia Darragh, of the Revolution". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 23 (1): 86–91. 1899. JSTOR 20085838.
7. Misencik 2013, pp. 68.
8. "Philadelphia History". US History. Independence Hall Association. 2013. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2015. On Second Street, in after years, where the waters of Little Dock Creek crossed Spruce Street in the direction of Society Hill, Captain Benjamin Loxley had his abode in what was long known as the Loxley House, and it was there that the Revolutionary legend of Lydia Darragh and the British officers and her journey of warning to the outposts of the Continental army near Whitemarsh had its initial scenario.
9. Misencik 2013, pp. 69.
10. "Elias Boudinot's account of the spying of Lydia Darragh in Autumn, 1777". PAhistory. WITF. 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
11. Misencik 2013, p. 66.
12. Rhoades 1900, p. 230.
13. Westcott 1894, pp. 192–193.
14. Ellet, Elizabeth Fries Lummis. The Women of The American Revolution. Library of Alexandria. p. 171. ISBN 1465603727.
15. Rhoades 1900, p. 231.
16. "Lydia Darragh". UShistory. Independence Hall Association. 2015. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
17. Westcott 1894, p. 193.
18. "The President's House in Philadelphia, Part I". ushistory.com. Independence Hall Association. 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
19. "To George Washington from William Dewees, Jr., 4 December 1777". National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 30, 2015. Beyond the lines she was met by an American officer, Lieutenant-Col. [Capt. Charles] Craig, of the Light Horse, who knew her. To him she disclosed her secret, after having obtained from him a solemn promise never to betray her individually, as her life might be at stake with the British. He conducted her to a house near at hand, directed something for her to eat, and hastened to headquarters, where he immediately acquainted General Washington with what he had heard.
20. "Lydia Barrington Darragh (1728–1789)". National Women's History Museum. 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015. As well-known Quakers, the Darraghs felt relatively safe remaining at their home even though the British General Sir William Howe set up his headquarters across the street. From her vantage point as neighbor to British headquarters, Lydia Darragh spied for General Washington’s army. Her eldest son William broke with their Quaker traditions and joined the army. With her fourteen-year old son John as the messenger, Darragh smuggled notes in code to her enlisted son about the British army’s activities.
21. Dobbs 1918, p. 759.
22. McGuire 2006, p. 254.
23. Carlisle 2015, p. 714.
24. Rhoades 1900, p. 234.
25. Lossing 1850, p. 96.
26. "Lydia Darrah, sometimes spelled Darrach". AmericanRevolution.org. JDN Group. 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
27. Rees 1866, p. 123.

Sources

• Carlisle, Rodney (2015). Encyclopedia of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. Routledge. ISBN 1317471776.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dobbs, Hugh Jackson (1918). History of Gage County, Nebraska: A Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time. Western Publishing and Engraving Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ellet, Elizabeth (2009). Women of the American Revolution. Applewood Books.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lossing, Benson John (1850). The Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution: Or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence, Volume 1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McGuire, Thomas J. (2006). The Philadelphia Campaign, Vol. II: Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0206-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Misencik, Paul R. (2013). The Original American Spies: Seven Covert Agents of the Revolutionary War. McFarland. ISBN 1476612919.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Rees, James (1866). Foot-prints of a Letter Carrier; Or, A History of the World's Correspondence: Containing Biographies, Tales, Sketches, Incidents, and Statistics Connected with Postal History. J.B. Lippincott & Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Rhoades, Lillian Ione (1900). The Story of Philadelphia. American book Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Watson, John Fanning (1898). Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the Olden Time: Being a Collection of Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Incidents of the City and Its Inhabitants, and of the Earliest Settlememts of the Inland Part of Pennsylvania, Volume 1. E. S. Stuart.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Westcott, Thompson (1894). The Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia: With Some Notice of Their Owners and Occupants. W. H. Barr. p. 192. She took off her shoes, put her ear to the keyhole of the conclave, and overheard an order read for all the British troops to march out late on the evening of the 4th and attack General Washington's army, then encamped at Whitemarsh. On hearing this she went to her chamber and lay down; soon after the officer knocked at the door, but she rose only at the third summons, having feigned herself asleep. Her mind was so much agitated that she could neither eat nor sleep, supposing it to be in her power to save the lives of thousands of her fellow-countrymen, but not knowing how she was to convey the information to General Washington, not daring to confide it to her husband.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)