March 28

Richard Smith wrote in his diary for March 28, 1776 that Thomas McKean "informed Congress that the Tory Prisoners in Philada. Goal [Jail] have attempted an Escape & have provided Implements and a Ladder to escape this Night whereupon Mr. McKean is to direct the Sheriff to confine Conolly, Smith and Kirkland seperately & get a sufficient Guard from the Barracks."  Paul H. Smith, et al., eds, Letters of Delegates to Congress: Vol. 3: January 1, 1776-May 15, 1776 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1978), 248-59.

Smith mentions the prisoners Dr. John Connolly, Moses Kirkland and John Smith.  In 1775, Smith hoped to recruit Native Americans to fight for the Loyalists against Americans opposed to Crown authority.  Walter Scott Dunn, Choosing Sides on the Frontier in the American Revolution (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2007), 81.