First things first: no Virginia, there was no Sandy Flash. However, that fictitious character was modeled on an actual bandit, James Fitzpatrick, the self-styled Captain Fitz. He was a strong and handsome local boy from southern Chester County who lived during the American Revolution. He joined the American army, but like many boys raised on the frontier, he did not take well to military discipline and apparently was whipped for some minor infraction. That was enough army life for him; he deserted and went home to work on the local farms again. Later on, two soldiers were dispatched to bring back the deserter and found him working in the fields near his mother’s house. He asked if he could go to the house to say goodbye before going with his captors, went in the door, grabbed his gun, and then confronted the two and ran them off his land.
No longer safe at home, he went on the lam and began his short career as a highwayman during the time of the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777-78. He is reported to have given them local information which let the British surprise and defeat Washington’s army at Brandywine. He robbed, whipped and humiliated local travelers on the roads – and was partial to tax collectors. He stored his stolen goods in the cave that formerly existed at Castle Rock.
When the British left Philadelphia in June of 1778, Fitzpatrick lost his protection. A warrant was issued for his arrest, together with a substantial reward offer of £1000; and at a farmhouse in Edgmont (now the Edgmont Shopping Center), Captain McFee and his maidservant, Rachel Walker, tackled Fitz, tied him up and turned him over to the authorities. He was promptly tried, convicted, and “hung by the neck until dead” in Chester.
In 1866, Bayard Taylor of Kennett Square wrote “The Story of Kennett”, weaving a story that included some of the exploits of Captain Fitz, but it was assigned to a fictional Sandy Flash. In 1922, local author, Captain Clifton Lisle, took Taylor’s villain, and devoted a whole book to him with his “Sandy Flash, the Highwayman of Castle Rock”. All of the larger-than-life stories that had grown up around Captain Fitz were re-told in detail in the Lisle book. The real Fitz merged with the fictitious Flash, and in the 21st century, who knows the difference? Just you and me.
For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and membership information, please visit our website at nshistory.org.
