Abraham Woodhull
| Abraham Woodhull | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service | Continental Army |
| Codename(s) | Samuel Culper, Sr. |
|
|
|
| Born | October 7, 1750 |
| Died | January 23, 1826 (aged 75) Setauket, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Mary Smith (1781–1806) Lydia Terry (1824–1826) |
Abraham Woodhull (October 7, 1750 – January 23, 1826) was a leading member of the American Culper Spy Ring in New York City and Setauket, New York during the American Revolution. He used the alias "Samuel Culper", later "Samuel Culper, Sr.," a play on Culpeper County, Virginia suggested by George Washington. The Culper Ring was a successful operation which provided Washington with valuable information on the British Army headquartered in and operating out of New York, from October 1778 until the end of the American Revolutionary War. After the United States gained independence, Woodhull served as a magistrate and a judge in Suffolk County, New York.
Woodhull was a descendant of Richard Lawrence Woodhull, Esq., a wealthy settler of Setauket and a relative of New York militia Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull. His parents were Judge Richard Woodhull (1712–1788) and Mary Woodhull (née Smith).
Woodhull served as a lieutenant in the Suffolk County, New York militia in the fall of 1775 but resigned after a few months. Woodhull was motivated by the murder of his older cousin, Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull of the New York militia, who was wounded by sword and bayonet cuts after being captured on August 29, 1776. According to some reports, General Woodhull was deprived of medical care and food and suffered an agonizing death on September 20, 1776. Though he was inflamed against the British by this event, Abraham Woodhull did not immediately take up arms or begin spying. Not only was he more placid than some of his friends who joined the Continental Army at the outset of the war, but as the only surviving son of aging parents and brother of a sister still at home, the unmarried Woodhull stayed on the family farm to attend to his family and their property.
In August 1778, Continental Army Major Benjamin Tallmadge approached his neighbor from Setauket, Abraham Woodhull, about spying for the Patriot cause in the American Revolutionary War. Tallmadge had just talked with Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, who then released Woodhull after he had been caught smuggling across Long Island Sound. Woodhull soon agreed. In September 1778, a traditional spy operation in New York City authorized by Continental chief of intelligence General Charles Scott lost three officers. Washington then permitted Tallmadge to go ahead with his operation to set up a spy network in New York with Woodhull as the lead agent. Tallmadge became chief of intelligence in October 1778.
...
Wikipedia