Other Revolutionary War patriots homes like Jonathan Mifflin’s have been saved
Jonathan Mifflin was also a prominent Revolutionary War patriot, even going contrary to his Quaker religion to become an officer and assistant Quartermaster General for the entire American army. He also became a friend of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette during the war.
(photo courtesy Harriton House)
Charles Thomson was a leading patriot during the Revolutionary War. He was quite a revolutionary activist at the time, although he is best known today for serving over 15 years as the only secretary to both the first and second Continental Congresses.
Besides their active participation, although in different ways, in the American Revolution, there are other similarities in the lives of Charles Thomson and Johnathan Mifflin. They both married into prominent Pennsylvania Quaker families. In fact, Mifflin’s first wife, Mary Harrison, and Thomson’s second, Hannah Harrison, were sisters. Both Thomson and Mifflin retired to sturdy stone farmstead mansions that came to them through their wives, Thomson to Harriton at Bryn Mawr and Mifflin to Hybla at Wrightsville on Wright settled land. (Mifflin married Susanna Wright after losing two young wives.)
The big difference: The public can learn about our young country’s struggle and way of life by touring Thomson’s Harriton, whereas Mifflin’s Hybla is in grave danger of being demolished as part of an industrial park. What is wrong with this picture?
Therefore, without even considering the extremely important role the Mifflins and their house later played in the Underground Railroad, I firmly believe that it deserves to be saved as the longtime home of an individual who played an important role in the creation of our nation.
Click here for my previous Universal York blog posts and column on Jonathan Mifflin and Hybla.
