Revolutionary Family: The Biddles & American Independence
Friends of Washington Crossing Park and Andalusia Historic House, Gardens & Arboretum are excited to partner on a special program highlighting Andalusia’s upcoming exhibition, Revolutionary Family: The Biddles & American Independence.
Andalusia Historic House, Gardens & Arboretum is a 50-acre site located on the Delaware River in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Andalusia was first established in 1795 by Philadelphia merchant John Craig, and later expanded into a Greek Revival estate by his son-in-law Nicholas Biddle in the nineteenth century. Today, Andalusia stewards the Biddle family’s history and legacy through tours of its historic house museum and access to its spectacular gardens.
Timed to coincide with the nation’s semiquincentennial, “Revolutionary Family: The Biddles & American Independence” presents historic objects, artwork, and manuscripts to explore the influential roles that Biddle family members played during the Revolution, as well as wartime activities near the pre-Andalusia site. The exhibition, on display in Andalusia’s second-floor exhibition gallery, will run from March 30 through November 13, 2026. Visit Andalusia’s website for more information on this upcoming exhibit.
Andalusia has created four short-format documentary videos that feature a variety of guest experts and Andalusia’s Executive Director John Vick and Research Assistant Brie Stoltzfus to illuminate the experiences of nine Revolutionary-era Biddle family members. Each video explores these family members’ stories of bravery, loss, ingenuity, love, and friendship during the Revolution: Mary Scull Biddle, matriarch and map editor and her son John Biddle, surveyor and exiled loyalist; Colonel Clement and Rebekah Biddle, a devoted couple at camp; Captains Nicholas and Charles Biddle, brothers at sea; and Edward, James, and Owen Biddle, leaders of Revolutionary thought and action.
A screening of these videos will take place at Washington Crossing Historic Park on May 14. Please join us for a 6:00 PM reception, followed by the screenings and a conversation with John Vick and Brie Stoltzfus of Andalusia, and Jennifer Martin of the Friends of Washington Crossing Park.
