Wow, this is really cool! Do you think Abraham Woodhull in the Turn TV series is based in part on Honeyman (pork trader for the British, loyal to the colonists, gets “captured” by Colonial forces, gained info on the hessians, Washington knows of him…)
I imagine during the time there were many people whom played crucial, if not history-changing roles that we might never know about or hear of. Especially is they were in the business of gathering information it would be prudent that especially at the time no one know who they really are. And in the eye of history it would likely be difficult to establish a significant basis of fact to support such a claim. However, likely there were many such “Honeymen” during the war.
I started reading the linked PDF you shared and will have to spend some time reading learning from it. At first look it seems to present a well-structured position. Do you know if Alexander Rose, author of Washington’s Spies (on which the TV show Turn is based) has ever mentioned anything about Honeyman?
Also thinking, is it possible that Honeyman is not really his true name (hence records thin)? Maybe it was intended as a deep cover if needed in the event he ever needed to return to his original identity (this concept might be way off and maybe the idea of it addressed in the PDF, so forgive if it’s a silly thought! 🙂
Awesome story, more reading to come…