SAFEHOUSE FOR A TRAITOR

To get the real story of an old house around here, a jewel-like source is Facebook Group Page: “Rediscovering Rural Unionville-Chadds Ford”.  In it we found an article authored by Phil Maggitti about the now ‘lost’ log cabin that was according to longtime local resident Martha Walls-Brown the home of Sandy Flash’s mother.  So, who was Sandy Flash and why was this ‘safehouse’ historic?

From Maggitti we learn that a man named James Fitzpatrick a.k.a. “Sandy Flash” was a notorious “handsome, bold, courtly, and courageous highwayman” (e.g., thief).  He preferred to be called Captain Fitz because of the title he earned working for the British as a guide during the Battle of the Brandywine.  Captain Fitz knew “the unprotected fords above the Colonials’ right wing” that allowed the British troops under General Howe to reach unexpected strategic positions on the battlefield.

After the war Fitzpatrick stayed local but could not re-enter civilian life as the local sentiment was now decidedly anti-British. No one would support a traitor, nor would they offer him shelter, except for his mother, and if Fitzpatrick was caught, he would be doomed. The story of Fitzpatrick’s final criminal escapade ended on September 15, 1778, when he was ingeniously caught and sentenced to hang. 

Be sure to read Maggitti’s article to learn the rest of the story at eastmarlboroughhistorical.org. Also, Fitzpatrick was memorialized as the colonial anti-hero of Bayard Taylor’s still-readable romance, ‘The Story of Kennett’ (1869). 

We have a township steeped in history.  The log cabin ’safe house’ was a tenant dwelling connected to what is today the Glenelg Farm on Newhall Road.  It was located to the north-west of the Marlborough Friends Meeting house. The photograph shows how it appeared in 1952.

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