Morton Pennypacker: Long Island Spy Hunter
Frank Knox Morton Pennypacker was many things: author, printer, collector, antiquarian, and…godfather of AMC’s hit Long Island historical drama Turn? It was, after all, Pennypacker’s diligent research into (and just as diligent promotion of) the Culper Spy Ring in the 1930s that led to a resurgence and new understanding of George Washington’s spy ring on Long Island and in New York City. To learn the true depth of the story, however, we need to visit the East Hampton Free Library.
East Hampton is where Morton Pennypacker deposited his vast Long Island history collection. He stayed to oversee the use of the collection in the library and to marry head librarian Ettie Hedges. Today that collection is overseen by Gina Piastuck along with archivists Steve Boerner and Andrea Meyer.
On this episode we take a closer look at Pennypacker, his methods, and his discoveries which include not only the unmasking of Robert Townsend as the spy code-named Culper, Jr., but also a potential pre-Betsy Ross American flag designed by Bridgehampton’s John Hulbert.
How does Pennypacker’s research hold up today? What effect has Turn had on interest in Long Island history? What other secrets does the East Hampton Library hold? And how did Andrea get in to see George Washington’s papers at the Library of Congress after being turned away as a child? All this and more on this episode of the Long Island History Project.
Further Research
- East Hampton Public Library Long Island Collection
- Works by Morton Pennypacker (via WorldCat)
- Raynham Hall Museum
- TURN Washington’s Spies (AMC)
- The Culper Spy Ring and Benedict Arnold
- Henry Clinton Papers (U of Michigan)
- “Capt. John Hulbert and his Flag of 1775” (via JSTOR)
- Capt. Kidd’s Cloth of Gold
- Freesound
- TV Static (CC 0)
- Revolutionary War Re-enactment (CC 0)