Born and Raised in Philadelphia, This Loyalist Fled to England During the American Revolution. In His Absence, the Patriots Declared Him a Traitor and Seized His Property

Add as preferred source A Benjamin West painting of the reception of American loyalists by Great Britain in 1783 Public domain via Wikimedia Commons On the eve of the American Revolution, Matthias Aspden made a decision that would change the trajectory of his life. A wealthy merchant from Philadelphia, Aspden carefully prepared to leave his home in March 1776 as rumors of war circulated. He drafted a will and appointed trusted friends to manage his property while he traveled to England. As someone who wanted to remain loyal to the crown and the British Empire, Aspden hoped that the war would be brief. Historians estimate that at the beginning of the conflict, as many as one-third of all American colonists identified as loyalists. Aspden believed his departure would be temporary. Order would be restored, he assumed, and he would permanently return within a few years. But that didn’t turn out to be the case. The American Revolution is often told as a triumphant story of democracy and freedom. But this narrative leaves out a significant group: the loyalist men and women who remained faithful to Britain and, as a result, lost their homes, property and sometimes their sense of belonging. As a historian of the American Revolution who studies Philadelphia loyalists, I believe Aspden’s story offers a glimpse into an overlooked experience of the war. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Aspden was not a marginal figure. He was a Quaker merchant with extensive property holdings, including a home on Water Street, in what is now the Old City neighborhood, and land in Chester County outside Philadelphia. Did you know? Quakers during the American Revolution When Aspden left in 1776, he abandoned nearly everything he owned, believing he would soon return. As others celebrated independence that summer, Aspden quietly slipped away to London. In England, reality set in. Exile was not just physical; it was deeply social and emotional. In Philadelphia, Aspden had been established. In London, he was one of thousands of displaced loyalists trying to rebuild a life. He gravitated toward communities of fellow exiles. These networks offered some stability, but they could not replace what he had left behind. Aspden’s letters to friends and family from this period reveal a man caught between hope and anxiety. He followed news from Philadelphia obsessively, requesting newspapers and updates from friends and business contacts. At one point, he described himself as “an idle man until I can return to America.” His words suggest both longing and uncertainty, as if his life were on pause. By 1780, however, that uncertainty had turned into fear. Aspden began hearing about laws in Pennsylvania aimed at confiscating loyalist property. These laws required individuals accused of treason to appear in court and defend themselves. Aspden, still in England, could not do so. As a result, he was tried in absentia, declared a traitor and subjected to the state’s harshest penalties. The consequences were devastating. In 1782, Aspden learned that all of his property had been confiscated and would be sold to aid the patriots in the American Revolution. An official commissioner of confiscation seized his Philadelphia home and wharf, which were worth thousands of pounds, along with his land in Chester County. Aspden, facing financial ruin, decided to return to Philadelphia to defend his name and his property. Two years after the Revolution ended, in 1785, Aspden crossed the Atlantic after nearly a decade abroad, hoping the new United States would restore his property under the terms of the peace treaty with Britain. Instead, he was met with rejection. Pennsylvania officials informed him that individuals in his position were not protected. He had no legal claim to his property and, more shockingly, no rights as a citizen. While the peace treaty prevented further confiscation of loyalist property, his property was not restored. The message was clear: Philadelphia was no longer his home. Aspden left again, traveling through New Jersey and New York before securing passage back to England. Reflecting on his departure, he wrote of the pain of being “forced from my native country.” In the years that followed, Aspden sought compensation wherever he could. The American government offered nothing, so he turned to Britain. The American Loyalist Claims Commission, established to reimburse those who had lost property during the war, eventually awarded him just over £1,100—a fraction of his estimated losses. Aspden made one final visit to America in the early 1790s. By then, he had received a legal pardon and could travel without fear of arrest. But he still could not recover his property or successfully pursue compensation in American courts. Once again, he left—this time for good. Aspden died in England in 1824, having spent nearly 50 years in exile from the city he always considered home. Decades after his death, his heirs pursued a legal claim in the

Born and Raised in Philadelphia, This Loyalist Fled to England During the American Revolution. In His Absence, the Patriots Declared Him a Traitor and Seized His Property

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