Abraham Woodhull Tombstone

This is the grave site of Abraham Woodhull, America's first spy. George Washington came to Major Benjamin Tallmadge in November of 1778, asking him to create a ring of spies who would keep track of British movements. Major Talleyrand contacted his friends from Long Island to help with this task. He first contacted Abraham Woodhull making him the first American spy.

     In November 1778, Major Tallmadge created a spy ring within New York City. The spy ring came to be known as the Culper Spy Ring. At the head of this spy circle was Abraham Woodhull with the alias Samuel Culper Sr.. The Culper Spy Ring operated for 5 years successfully providing information to the Colonial Army. Through the five years of operations, not one spy was captured or revealed.
     Abraham Woodhull was born in Setauket, NY on Oct. 7, 1750. He was the son of a Magistrate. He was very involved in the community, from helping build the church to becoming Magistrate himself. He was Judge of Court of Common Pleas 1793-1799 and he was Magistrate and judge of Suffolk County, NY, from 1799-1810.
     Members of the the Culper Spy Ring includes: Austin Roe, Caleb Brewster, Abraham Woodhull, and Anna Strong. Each member used an allias along with a sophisticated number system which allowed the spies to communicate through code. The names of these spies were so secretive that General George Washington did not even know the real names of the spies.   

http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/culper-spy-ring/ http://www.woodhullgenealogy.com/culper-spy-ring.html