How a Quaker Grandmother Saved George Washington and the Colonial Army

One of the mothers of the American Revolution

A photograph of a Quaker bonnet, circa 1809. Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society.

Philadelphia, 1777.

Lydia Darragh seemed an unlikely revolutionary. First, she was a Quaker, sworn to a life of pacifism. Second, she was in her fifties — a very old woman for the time. Finally, her next-door neighbor was General Howe, leader of the British forces in Philadelphia.

One thing outweighed all of those, however. She was a mother.

Her eldest son had given up the Quaker faith and enlisted with the colonial army. Like most mothers, she wanted to keep her child safe, and would do whatever it took to protect him.

Drawing of Lydia Darragh’s house, from The Spirit of ’76, Issue 35, July 1897. Public Domain.

The British army moves in

As the number of British soldiers in Philadelphia increased, General Howe needed more space for his officers. He thought it would be very convenient if they could be housed in the home next to his.

Normally, when the army took over a house, they evicted the original owner. However, Lydia Darragh pleaded with the General to let her and her husband stay on, in the home which…