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Deborah
Samson Gannett, American Patriot
- Statue of Deborah Sampson Gannet
(Sculptor Lu Stubbs) Sharon Public Library, Massachusetts
(1760-1827)
| Deborah Samson was born
on Dec 17, 1760 to John and Deborah Samson in Plympton, Massachusetts.
The family could trace their lineage to the Mayflower on both sides
including such notables as Priscilla Alden and Myles Standish. Deborah
was the eldest of 3 daughters and 3 brothers. When Deborah was about 5
yrs old, her father left to go to sea and was supposed to have died at
sea. Later day research shows that he simply walked out on his family
and created a new life in Maine. This left the Samson family with 6
mouths to feed and Mrs. Samson was in poor health. She fostered the
children for a while, but at the tender age of 8 or 10 Deborah was
placed in indentured servitude with the kind, but large family of
Jeremiah Thomas of Middlesborough. The Thomas family had no girls, but
lots of boys and Deborah was responsible for taking care of them and
getting them ready for school. She read the boys' school books at
night and succeeded in learning enough this way that when she turned
18 and was freed she obtained a position as schoolteacher in
Middlesborough. All the time she spent with the Thomas Family and
afterwards was spent among the growing tension between the British and
the Colonists. It was during this time that the Stamp
Act was placed into effect, and revolutionary thinkers such as James
Otis and Samuel Adams were starting
to show the colonists that they didn't need the British to protect
them, that in fact the colonies could protect themselves. Deborah
watched as the British attempted to halt the rebellious talk and acts
by closing the port of Boston and quartering troops in private homes.
She watched as the "intolerable
acts" were put into effect and she heard the news of the
stand in Lexington and
Concord that fateful April day. She heard the reading of the Declaration
of Independence and she watched the young colonists get their
first real taste of war. She was not frightened by this, her only
question was "Why can I not fight for my country too?".
Deborah finally decided that to do her duty to her country she would
dress up as a man and enlist. Her first attempt was in 1782 but after
signing the enlistment papers to join the American
Army, she had a change of heart and did not show up the next day.
A while later in 1782 she firmed her resolve and attempted again to
enlist in the military. She, on May 20, 1782, signed up to join the
company of Captain Nathan Thayer, which
later became a part of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment using the name
Robert Shurtleff. Although General Cornwallis had already surrendered
at Yorktown, there was still
fighting in New York.. Her disguise worked and she was mustered into
Captain George Webbs Co. Her local church hearing rumors of her
"Unchristian" like behavior of wearing men's clothing and
joining the army, decided shortly after her company left the Boston
area, to excommunicate her. Such was often the price for individualist
thinking. Deborah's company though was going to lower New York where
while Washington held the area, many small guerilla attacks were still
happening. Deborah's company was charged with assisting to halt those
attacks. During one of the particularly bloody engagements in
Tarrytown, NY, Deborah, while attempting to retreat, was wounded in
the head and then the thigh. She was escorted to a field hospital
where her head wound was treated. She did not tell the doctor about
the musket shot in her leg for fear of discovery. She tried to treat
the wound herself, but lacking the strength to dig the musket ball
out, she left it there and as such her leg never healed properly. She,
after many weeks, healed enough to return to active duty. During this
time though she was to come down with a fever and the doctor while
treating her, discovered her secret. He had her removed to his house
and personally oversaw her treatment, all the while keeping her
secret. After Deborah was healed he secretly passed her secret on to a
General at Fort Knox who then honorably discharged her on October 23,
1783, while publicly keeping her secret. Deborah when talked about as
Robert, was thought of as a great soldier, with endurance and courage,
something much needed in the military at that time. The war had been
long and hard. After the war she met and married Benjamin Gannet.
Although a good marriage, it was a poor marriage. The Gannets often
had to borrow money. Paul Revere, a good
friend of Deborah, upon hearing this, petitioned the Massachusetts
government to provide her with back pay and interest to the sum of 37
pounds. This was not enough to ease their financial woes, so Deborah
took to the lecture circuit. She was the first female lectern. She
would travel from city to city and give lectures about her experience
as a soldier in the war, wearing her uniform and such. This while
better still was not enough, so in the early 1800's she was awarded a
veterans pension of 4 dollars a month. This pension was eventually
awarded to her husband as a survivor pension after Deborah died on
April 19, 1827 in Sharon, Mass. She was 67 years old and had 3
children. Deborah is now the official Heroine of the State of
Massachusetts and there is even a chapter of DAR named after her.
She was a true American
Hero. |
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