Hercules Mulligan was born in Co. Antrim, Ireland in 1740 to Hugh and Sarah Mulligan. At that time the Irish people were victims of the Penal Laws that restricted their right to education, to hold office, to vote, to possess arms and to own property of any monetary value. This was the Ireland that the Mulligan family left in1746 to come to the American colonies in search of a better life. They settled in New York City where the family prospered and went on to own and operate their own accounting business.
After graduating from King's College (now Columbia University), Hercules worked in his father accounting business as a clerk. Being an ambitious young man he went on to open his own custom tailoring and haberdashery business that catered to wealthy clients including British Crown force officers stationed in the city. He married Elizabeth Sanders, daughter of John Sanders of NY and niece of Admiral Sanders of the British Navy.
Hercules was an active member of the Sons of Liberty, the Committee of Correspondence Observation and other Revolutionary Committees. He befriended Alexander Hamilton (who would go on to become a soldier, lawyer, statesman and founding father) after his arrival from his home in the West Indies in 1772. Hamilton's took up lodgings in the Mulligan household while …show more content…
Hugh provided Washington with vital information of British supplies and shipping schedules. Another member of the Mulligan network was a Polish born Jew named Haym Solomon who spoke a number of languages including German. He had access to vital British military intelligence in his role as an interpreter for the British and their Hessian soldiers of fortune. Another very important member of the network was Cato, Mulligan’s Afro-American servant who rowed across the Hudson, who in today’s parlance, to make make the