Abraham Woodhull (October 7, 1750January 23, 1826) was a leading member of the Culper Spy Ring in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and Setauket, New York, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He used the alias "Samuel Culper" (later "Samuel Culper Sr."), which was a play on

Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is ...

, and was suggested by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. The Culper Ring was a successful operation that provided Washington with valuable information on the British Army headquartered in New York from October 1778 to the end of the war. After the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

gained independence, Woodhull served as a magistrate, as had his father before him, and served as a judge in

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its no ...

Background

Woodhull was a descendant of Richard Lawrence Woodhull, a wealthy settler of Setauket, and was also related to New York militia Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull. His parents were Judge Richard Woodhull 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. He was motivated by the murder of his cousin Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull of the New York militia, who was wounded by sword and bayonet cuts after he had been captured on August 29, 1776. According to some reports, he had been deprived of medical care and food and suffered an agonizing death on September 20, 1776, and Abraham Woodhull was inflamed against the British by that event. He did not immediately take up arms or begin spying, however, and was more placid than some of his friends, who joined the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

at the outset of the war. He was the only surviving son of aging parents, and he stayed on the family farm to attend to his family and their property.

Spy ring

Continental Army Major Benjamin Tallmadge was Woodhull's neighbor in Setauket and approached Woodhull in August 1778 about gathering

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

for the Patriot cause during the

. Woodhull had been caught smuggling contraband across

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

, and Tallmadge spoke with Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull and got him released. Tallmadge then set up a spy network in New York, with Woodhull as the lead agent. Woodhull began spying in October 1778 and sent his first "Samuel Culper" letter on October 29, 1778, after he had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Crown as cover. His plan was to travel to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, ostensibly to visit his married sister, Mary Underhill, and her husband, Amos, at their boarding house. In Manhattan, he collected information from various sources, including British officers staying at the Underhill boarding house and then return to Setauket, where he passed the information to the Continental Army lieutenant and whaleboat operator Caleb Brewster to take across Long Island Sound to Tallmadge. Tallmadge then sent the information to General

. Austin Roe became the main courier for the ring later after Woodhull stopped going to New York City to gather intelligence personally. He delivered messages via

dead drop A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals (e.g., a case officer and an agent, or two agents) via a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can ...

, burying them in a box in a pasture that he rented on Woodhull's property.

Later life

Woodhull married his friend Mary Smith in 1781 and had three children with her. He held a few minor political appointments, including magistrate in

, from 1799 to 1810. Mary died in 1806, and he married Lydia Terry in 1824. He died in Setauket on January 23, 1826, and is buried in the Setauket Presbyterian Church and Burial Ground.

In popular culture

Warren Walker suggested in 1956 that

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

's character Harvey Birch had been based upon the work of "Samuel Culper" as a spy. That would include both Woodhull as "Culper Sr." and Robert Townsend, who used the alias "Samuel Culper Jr." Woodhull was portrayed from 2014 to 2017 by Jamie Bell in

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's spy thriller and historical drama series '' Turn: Washington's Spies'', which was based on '' Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring'' (2007) by Alexander Rose. Other people from Woodhull's life are portrayed in the show as well.

References

Sources

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodhull, Abraham 1750 births 1826 deaths American magistrates American spies during the American Revolution People from Setauket, New York People from colonial New York People of New York (state) in the American Revolution Woodhull family