Major Andre occupied Dr. Franklin's house when the British army was in
Philadelphia in 1777 and 1778. When it evacuated the city, Andre carried
off with him a portrait of the Doctor, which has never been heard of since.
The British officers amused themselves with amateur theatricals at the
South Street Theatre in Southwark, then the only one in Philadelphia,
theatres being prohibited in the city. The tradition here is, that Andre
painted the scenes. They were {645} destroyed with the theatre by fire
about thirty-two years ago.