Those Tricky Yankees and Their 'Secret Codes'

The year was 1776 and the British were busy trying to quell a rebellion in the North American colonies. The Brits were stopping all American ships - imprisoning the crews, confiscating cargo and closely examining any documents and mail on board.

Historians don’t tell us the name of the ship containing a letter from Philadelphia merchant Jonas Phillips to a relative and business associate in Amsterdam, Gumpel Samson.

Phillips' letter contained a first printing of the Declaration of Independence, maybe the first to fall into British hands. It also contained a letter in a secret code that none of the British naval officers could decipher.

Phillips was a German Jew (born Feibush) who arrived in North American as an indentured servant. He worked off his indenture, married, fathered 21 kids, and became a successful merchant and staunch patriot.

Phillips purchased his copy of the Declaration from printer John Dunlap on Market Street. And the mysterious letter in “secret code” was in Yiddish - Phillips’ mother tongue, written in Hebrew letters.

Translated , Phillips expressed his confidence in George Washington and the Continental Army to beat the British.

Only 26 copies of Dunlap’s first printing of the Declaration still exist. Each is worth millions. Britain owns three copies, including the copy mailed by Phillips and his letter “in secret code.”