Lippincott, Richard

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lippincott_(Loyalist)
  • Wiki profile notes:
    • Captain Richard Lippincott (January 2, 1745 – May 14, 1826) was an American-born military officer who served in the New Jersey Volunteersduring the American War of Independence. He is best known for his role in the Asgill Affair, in which Lippincott led a Loyalist mob which summarily executed Captain Joshua Huddy, a captive New Jersey Militia officer, in retaliation for similar murders of Loyalists, provoking an international incident. Lippincott was born on January 2, 1745 in Shrewsbury, New Jersey into a family which had resided in the Thirteen Colonies for generations. On March 4, 1770, he married Esther Borden, a woman from Bordentown, New Jersey.
    • In 1782, Lippincott’s brother-in-law, Philip White, was dragged from his home by a group of Patriots, who made him run a gauntlet before killing him. When White’s body was found, there were more signs of torture on his corpse along with signs of mutilation; his legs had been broken, one of his eyes had been gouged out, and one of his arms was missing. Enraged, Lippincott led a group of Loyalists which removed Huddy from British custody and hanged him, pinning a note to Huddy’s corpse which stated that his execution was in retaliation for White’s death. 
    • In response to Huddy’s death, General George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, demanded his British counterpart Sir Henry Clinton court-martial Lippincott. At Lippincott’s court-martial, his defence successfully argued that as an irregular, he was technically a civilian, and as such was subject to civilian law instead of military law. Chief Justice William Smith ruled that he did not have jurisdiction to try Lippincott since the incident occurred in an area outside effective British control.
    • During the British evacuation of New York in 1783, Lippincott went first to Nova Scotia and subsequently to Upper Canada, where he received a grant of 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) in Vaughn Township. In 1806 he went to live with his newly married daughter, Esther, and her husband George Taylor Denison in York, Upper Canada. On May 14, 1826 he died and was buried in modern-day Weston, Ontario. Lippincott Street in Toronto is named in his honor
  • Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4714
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104850904/richard-lippincott