East Falls NOW – 2025
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ANOTHER SIDE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR: OCCUPIED EAST FALLS
By Donna Husted Levy for the East Falls Historical Society
Last month’s issue of East Falls NOW included a long article about the sale and likely redevelopment of a property that was once part of the Garret farm, arguably the earliest European settlement in this area. This same property figured in a little-remembered occupation that occurred during the Revolutionary War.
Remember the Hessians? They are the German mercenaries who were routed by Washington’s troops in Trenton after the famous “Washington’s Crossing” on Christmas night, 1776. With the current Christmas season winding down, perhaps someone might wonder what became of the Hessians after 1776.
Very simply, they didn’t go away. Just nine months after their rout in Trenton, they were part of the British force that captured the city of Philadelphia on September 26, 1777. Most of the Hessians moved on to Falls of Schuylkill, living in huts that stretched along School House Lane, then called Bensell’s Lane, beginning at the Schuylkill and reaching all the way to Germantown. As the Hessians settled down in East Falls, Washington’s army kept moving, eventually setting up camp on December 19, 1777, the start of their miserable winter there.
The Hessians were not good or welcome visitors to Falls of Schuylkill. For instance, one battalion of Hessians encamped near the Garrett cabin (around modern-day Tilden and Vaux Streets), where Hessian Colonel Von Donop, it is told by family lore, made his headquarters. A handwritten ledger containing estimates of damage done by the enemy forces includes losses incurred on Garrett’s land, a farm that also included established orchards, livestock, and a cider mill. These losses are listed at 497 pounds, 9 shillings, 6 pence (roughly $89,000 at 2024 currency levels.)
British Major John Andre kept a diary account of the Hessians’ plunder: This quote appears in the book The Life of Major Andre: “With the English privates, the Hessians did not get along pleasantly; arrogant, full of the idea of immediate allotments of land, and of living in free quarters with unlimited license to plunder. They incensed the inhabitants to such a degree that many a farmer thought little…when they had the opportunity to shoot a Hessian as a hawk.”
All around the Falls, there was damage done by the troops. The beloved fishing club, Fort Saint David’s, was empty during the occupation of Philadelphia, with many members involved with the war. By 1778, the club was a pile of ruins, the Hessians having used its materials for their winter huts. They then burned the rest of the building to the ground. This may have been the first time a building of historic significance would be destroyed in East Falls, but certainly not the last.
The Hessians were ruthless, but within the group one Major Burmeister found honor in the American fighter. He writes in his letters, “The American’s are bold, unyielding and fearless. They have an abundance of something which urges them on and cannot be stopped. Then their indomitable ideas of liberty, the mainsprings of which are held and guided by every hand in Congress. With little show the Americans will exert themselves to the utmost to gain complete freedom and they are by no means conquered.”
Roughly four years after the Hessians occupied East Falls, Cornwallis surrendered following the Battle of Yorktown, and the colonies were truly independent – a reminder that determined people can achieve great victories in four years.
About the author: The family lineage of Donna Husted Levy traces back to a Swedish family named Garrettson, later Garrett, who were among the first European settlers of East Falls.
By coincidence, some 300 years after Donna’s ancestors were granted this land, she and her husband purchased their first home on the 3400 block of Queen Lane, less than a thousand steps from where the Garrett cabin once stood. Donna is a member of the Swedish Colonial Forefathers and the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she and her husband currently reside in Wynnewood.
Do you have questions about East Falls history, or want to know more? See our growing website at www.eastfallshistoricalsociety.org or contact us at eastfallshistory@gmail.com. And join! You can do so on our website, eastfallshistoricalsociety.org.
