GENEALOGICAL SEARCH YIELDS COLONIAL SPY.

Byline: Joan Hart

You never know what you're going to find when you trace your family tree.

Helene Drachman, a member of the Don Jose Verdugo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, found something rather surprising about one of her ancestors.

"One of my forefathers was a spy for General George Washington during the Revolutionary War," said Drachman, a former La Canada resident now living in South Pasadena.

About five years ago, Drachman decided to dig into her ancestry. She spent many hours at the Glendale Library researching her genealogy. Then two years ago she found a publication at the library, "Sons of the Revolution," which tied up the loose ends.

"I sent birthdays, names of marriages and deceased that I found related to me in the publication to genealogists in the DAR in Washington, D.C. They are real thorough," she said.

She learned she is a descendant of John Honeyman, who was born in 1729 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, and later served Washington as a spy.

Although "he bore no friendly feeling for the British," Honeyman served in the British army as a soldier under Maj. Gen. James Wolfe in 1758 during the French and Indian War, according to Drachman.

"James Wolfe tripped or stumbled while descending a stairway, and the story goes that this young conscript named Honeyman grabbed Wolfe and saved his life," Drachman said.

Wolfe was so appreciative that he made Honeyman a bodyguard.

After his discharge between 1760 and 1763, Honeyman moved to Philadelphia. He worked as a weaver - a trade he learned in Northern Ireland - a butcher and cattle dealer.

Because of his honorable discharge and a letter written by Wolfe asking him to be his bodyguard, Washington made him a secret agent.

Early in November 1776, Washington and Honeyman met at Fort Lee, N.J., where they designed plans for Honeyman's mission as a spy.

As a spy, Honeyman praised the British, engaged in business with them and ranted about the colonial cause to those he knew. Because the British liked and trusted him, he was able to travel in and out of their lines.

Honeyman got to hear information that was important to Washington, Drachman said.

As a result, his hometown believed he was a traitor and they called him, "British spy, traitor and cutthroat," Drachman said.

In 1777, the government of New Jersey arrested Honeyman and indicted him for high treason. He was locked in jail but at his trial he was exonerated.

When the war was over, Honeyman became the local hero and Washington lifted the veil of Honeyman's covert activities.

"He was neither soldier nor an officer, but the small emblem reserved for veterans of the Revolution now graces his humble headstone," Drachman said. "But I have a great deal of pride and admiration for his willingness to pose as a spy and take the criticism that he received."