Abraham Woodhull was a leading member of the Culper Spy Ring in New York City and Setauket, New York, during the American Revolutionary War.
13 Facts About Abraham Woodhull
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Abraham Woodhull's parents were Judge Richard Woodhull and Mary Woodhull.
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Abraham Woodhull served as a lieutenant in the Suffolk County, New York, militia in the fall of 1775 but resigned after a few months.
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Abraham Woodhull did not immediately take up arms or begin spying and was more placid than some of his friends, who joined the Continental Army at the outset of the war.
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Abraham Woodhull was the only surviving son of aging parents, and he stayed on the family farm to attend to his family and their property.
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Abraham Woodhull had been caught smuggling contraband across Long Island Sound, and Tallmadge spoke with Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull and got him released.
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Abraham Woodhull's plan was to travel to Manhattan, ostensibly to visit his married sister, Mary Underhill, and her husband, Amos, at their boarding house.
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Austin Roe became the main courier for the ring later after Abraham Woodhull stopped going to New York City to gather intelligence personally.
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Abraham Woodhull delivered messages via dead drop, burying them in a box in a pasture that he rented on Woodhull's property.
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Abraham Woodhull married his friend Mary Smith in 1781 and had three children with her.
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Abraham Woodhull held a few minor political appointments, including magistrate in Suffolk County, New York, from 1799 to 1810.
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Abraham Woodhull died in Setauket on January 23,1826, and is buried in the Setauket Presbyterian Church and Burial Ground.
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Abraham Woodhull was portrayed from 2014 to 2017 by Jamie Bell in AMC'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 by Alexander Rose.