Killing George Washington

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of a long New York tradition, the plea bargain . In 1776, a man named Isaac Ketcham plea-bargained his way out of jail by blowing the whistle on his co-conspirators. Ketcham was in jail on a counterfeiting charge but the plot he revealed had nothing to do with that. The plot that Ketcham revealed was a conspiracy to kill George Washington…..led by none other than the commander of Washington's own bodyguard.

Washington was protected by an early form of the Secret Service, a crack team under the command of a charming, roguish Irishman named Thomas Hickey. Adding to his safety, Washington had a devoted housekeeper named Phoebe who was the daughter of his friend Sam Fraunces (owner of Fraunces Tavern). Add to that, the fact that George could count on Dave Matthews, the then Mayor of New York City.

Hickey was your typical Irishman, he liked a good drink (he was in debt to several tavern owners). He had a quick mind but couldn't resist a challenge (he had several gambling debts). He also had a glib tongue, could sing like an angel and could charm a dog off a meat wagon. Also he was easily bored, particularly by a revolution that was slow in starting.

So he applied his Celtic creativity to the area of design - with a specialization in the field of currency (folks with less soul would later call it counterfeiting).

When Washington started to catch on, Hickey decided to kill the man he was sworn to protect. He found support from the mayor who was really a Tory sympathizer. They engaged Fraunces daughter, Phoebe, to serve Washington a meal with poisoned peas.

Rather than kill her father's friend, she tipped Washington, who promptly tipped the plate out the window. Outside a couple of chickens promptly ate the poisoned peas and promptly tipped over and died. That raised Washington's suspicions but they could only pin a counterfeiting rap on Hickey. That is until Ketcham exposed the plot (and another one...to enlist 700 Tory sympathizers into the Continental Army…..who would then shoot Washington and most American troops at some key point of battle). Mayor Matthews later escaped to England, but Hickey was not so lucky. In less than a week he was hanged....the first American soldier executed for treason.

H/T Art Cashin

(If Sarah palin told this story, you can imagine the fun that the MSM would have.)