Introduction:

A Philadelphia woman, Elizabeth Drinker, resisted requests to quarter troops of the occupying British army. But anxious that if she resisted for too long something worse might happen to her, she finally gave in and agreed to house Major Crammond, whom she described as a “thoughtful, sober young man.” As it turned out, Crammond was not so thoughtful. He took over both of Mrs. Drinker’s front parlors, a room upstairs, part of the kitchen, and her barn (to shelter his animals).

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