Thaddeus Kosciuszko

Thaddeus Kosciuszko lived in a second floor room of Ann Relf's boarding house from November 1797 to May 1798. He was one of a number of highly trained European military officers whose imagination was seized by the ideals of liberty and human dignity embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Kosciuszko arrived in Philadelphia from Poland in August 1776, one month after the adoption of the Declaration, and offered his services to the United States. As a military engineer he contributed to the American victory at Saratoga and to the defense of West Point throughout the Revolution. After the war, he returned home and in March 1794, again championing the cause of liberty, led his countrymen against Russian rule. After some initial successes he was defeated, captured by the Russians, and imprisoned. In August 1797, Kosciuszko returned to Philadelphia to a hero's welcome. During that time he entertained many visitors, including Vice President Thomas Jefferson, and successfully petitioned Congress for back pay. He received close to $19,000 and a grant of 500 acres in Ohio. Throughout his life Kosciuszko condemned slavery and promoted education for free blacks. When Thomas Jefferson learned of Kosciuszko's death in Switzerland in 1817, he remarked that Thaddeus Kosciuszko had been “as pure a Son of Liberty as I have ever known.”

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States