Elizabeth Burgin

Elizabeth Burgin (before 1760 – January 1801 or after) was an American patriot during the American Revolutionary War who helped over 200 prisoners of war escape British prison ships. She worked with George Higday of the Culper Spy Ring, and after he was caught by the British, Major General James Pattison ordered her capture. Burgin went into hiding and did not see her children for weeks. She lost her home and possessions and struggled until she was awarded an annuity with George Washington's assistance. In a letter to the Continental Congress, he stated those who attest to her service include "many of our own officers who have returned from captivity" due to her missions.

Background

When the British and the American forces fought during the American Revolutionary War, each side took prisoners and housed them in inhumane circumstances on ships, in jails, or wherever they could house them. Men starved due to lack of food, suffered from disease due to unsanitary conditions, and did not improve without medical care. The soldiers were held captive so that they were not able to fight again. Prisoners were not given any supplies, like clothing, blankets, and medicine. There was no recordkeeping of who was held captive on the ships.

There were an estimated 10,000 patriot prisoners of war in New York City. (On November 21, 1780, Franklin and his wife were banished from the city for their efforts to help colonial prisoners.)

Life Not much is known of Elizabeth Burgin's early life. She was a mother of three and probably a war widow who lived in New York. John Franklin, a wine merchant, and his wife, Deborah, were Burgin's neighbors. They lived near the "New Slip" in the shipyards (New York Harbor). Only women were allowed to visit the prison ships, anchored at Wallabout Bay. Burgin rowed a boat to the ships to deliver clothing, medicine, blankets, and food to the prisoners. In a letter to James Caldwell written on November 19, 1777 from Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth, New Jersey), Burgin admitted her guilt and her need to hide.

In October 1779, Burgin received a flag of truce from the Board of War in order for her to get her children from New York back to Philadelphia. She went to Elizabethtown by November where she was told to make arrangements to collect her children from New York, which she was able to do under a flag of truce within a month of her arrival in Elizabethtown. However, she was not allowed to take her clothes or furniture. Since she was left with essentially nothing, Burgin petitioned to Washington in November 1779 for assistance. While she was in Elizabethtown, she learned that Colonel Silvanus Seely had traded illegally "with the enemy". The issue was brought before the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council on December 23, 1779, and the next day Joseph Reed corresponded with New Jersey governor William Livingston about the matter. Livingston responded on December 28 that due to his preliminary discussion with Seely, he finds an investigation is warranted.

Thomas Franklin, Jr., an agent for patriot prisoners, offered her a place to live in late 1779.

Popular culture Her story is one of many told in the three-part special American Revolution (2014). A play about Burgin, A History of Launching Ships, by Avi Glickstein, is performed at the Brooklyn Navy Yards. It is the site where the prison ships she visited were anchored in New York Harbor during the Revolutionary War.