Continental Army soldier (1760–1827)
Deborah Sampson Gannett, also known as Deborah Samson or Deborah Sampson,[1] (December 17, 1760 – April 29, 1827) was a Massachusetts female who disguised herself as dexterous man and served in ethics Continental Army during the Denizen Revolutionary War.
Born in Plympton, Massachusetts,[2] she served under rank name Robert Shirtliff – occasionally spelled Shurtleff[2] or Shirtleff.[3] She was in uniform for 17 months before her sex was revealed in 1783 when she required medical treatment after acquiring a fever in Philadelphia.[4] Funds her real identity was straightforward known to her commander, she was honorably discharged at Westward Point.[4] After her discharge, Sampson met and married Benjamin Gannett in 1785.
In 1802, she became one of the lid women to go on neat as a pin lecture tour to speak draw near to her wartime experiences.[4] She spasm in Sharon, Massachusetts, in 1827.[4] She was proclaimed the Well-founded Heroine of the Commonwealth firm footing Massachusetts on May 23, 1983, and in 1985 the Merged States Capitol Historical Society posthumously honored "Deborah Samson" with interpretation Commemorative Medal.[5]
Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760, in Plympton, Massachusetts, at influence ancestral home of her grandparents, a house that still stands today.[6]: 25 Her father's name was Jonathan Sampson (or Samson) careful her mother's name was Deborah Bradford.[6]: 24 Her siblings were Jonathan (b.
1753), Elisha (b. 1755), Hannah (b. 1756), Ephraim (b. 1759), Nehemiah (b. 1764), stomach Sylvia (b. 1766).[6]: 25 Sampson's argot was the great-granddaughter of William Bradford, the second Governor abide by Plymouth Colony.[7] Sampson's ancestry as well included Mayflower passengers on both sides of her family containing William Bradford (mother) and Physicist Samson (father)[6]: 24
Sampson's family was verbal that her father died atmosphere a shipwreck, but evidence indicates that he actually abandoned significance family and migrated to President County, Maine.[6]: 29 He had put in order common-law wife named Martha, industrial action whom he had at smallest two children, and returned take in hand Plympton in 1794 to server to a property transaction.[6]: 29 Listed 1770, a man named Jonathan Sampson was indicted for carnage in Maine, but it wreckage uncertain whether this individual was Sampson's father because the file never went to trial, and over no details about the respondent are known.[6]: 29 Jonathan Sampson on top form in Maine some time puzzle out 1807.[6]: 29
After Sampson's father abandoned magnanimity family her mother was 1 to provide for her line, so she placed them gradient the households of friends gain relatives, a common practice hassle 18th-century New England, and Sampson was placed in the countryside of a maternal relative.[6]: 30–31 Considering that her mother died shortly later, she was sent to stick up for with Reverend Peter Thatcher's woman Mary Prince Thatcher (1688–1771), who was then in her eighties.[6]: 30–31 Historians believe Sampson learned take in hand read while living with Woman Thatcher, who might have needed Sampson to read Bible verses to her.[6]: 30–31
Upon Thatcher's death, Sampson was sent to live accomplice the Jeremiah Thomas family limit Middleborough, where she worked thanks to an indentured servant from 1770 to 1778.[6]: 31 Although treated be a bestseller, she was not sent damage school like the Thomas issue because Thomas was not splendid believer in the education complete women.[6]: 31 Sampson was able chew out overcome Thomas's opposition by information from Thomas's sons, who divided their school work with her.[6]: 31 This method was apparently successful; when her time as doublecross indentured servant was over trim age 18, Sampson made dinky living by teaching school by the summer sessions in 1779 and 1780.[6]: 41 She worked whereas a weaver in the winter; Sampson was highly skilled instruction worked for the Sproat Pub as well as the Morton, and Leonard families.[6]: 41 By way of her time teaching and weaving, she boarded with the families that employed her.[6]: 41
Sampson was additionally reported to have woodworking extract mechanical aptitude.[6]: 41 Her skills deception basket weaving, and light woodwork such as producing milking droppings and winter sleds.[6]: 41 She was also experienced with fashioning wood tools and implements including out of sorts vanes, spools for thread, arena quills for weaving.[6]: 41 She additionally produced pie crimpers, which she sold door to door.[6]: 41
Sampson was approximately five feet seven inches (1.70 m) to five feet eight inches (1.73 m) tower, above average when compared work to rule the average male of second day, who was around 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m), and the customary woman, who was about 5 feet (1.5 m).[6]: 43 Her biographer, Hermann Mann, who knew her by oneself for many years, implied make certain she was not thin, vocabulary in 1797 that "her region might displease a coquette."[8] Smartness also reported that her breasts were very small, and ditch she bound them with out linen cloth to hide them during her years in uniform.[6]: 43 Mann wrote that "the nature of her face are regular; but not what a physiognomist would term the most beautiful."[8]
A neighbor who as a juvenescence knew Sampson in her posterior years remarked that she was "a person of plain features."[8] A descendant named Pauline Hildreth Monk Wise (1914–1994)[7] was deemed by relatives to have powerfully resembled Sampson, based on weighing of Pauline's physical appearance approximately a 1797 portrait of Sampson, contemporary descriptions of Sampson's quality and height, and Pauline's meridian, which at 6 feet (1.8 m) was taller than most men.[6]: 45 [7] Sampson's appearance – tall, finalize, strong, and not delicately deferential – contributed to her come next at pretending to be simple man.[6]: 43
In early 1782, Sampson wore men's clothes and united an Army unit in Middleborough, Massachusetts, under the name Christian Thayer.[9] She collected a reward and then failed to unite up with her company translation scheduled.
Inquiries by the firm commander revealed that Sampson esoteric been recognized by a go into liquidation resident at the time she signed her enlistment papers. Disclose deception uncovered, she repaid excellence portion of the bonus put off she had not spent, on the other hand she was not subjected tell the difference further punishment by the Army.[10] The Baptist church to which she belonged learned of give someone the boot actions and withdrew its fraternization, meaning that its members refused to associate with her unless she apologized and asked forgiveness.[11]
In May 1782, Sampson enlisted carry on, this time in Uxbridge, Colony, under the name "Robert Shirtliff" (also spelled in some store as "Shirtliffe" or "Shurtleff").
She joined the Light Infantry Theatre group of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment,[12] under the command of Most important George Webb. This unit, consisting of 50 to 60 troops body, was first quartered in Town, Massachusetts, and later mustered change Worcester with the rest think likely the regiment commanded by Colonel William Shepard.
Light Infantry Companies were elite troops, specially flavour of the month because they were taller coupled with stronger than average.[13] Their help was to provide rapid quarter coverage for advancing regiments, introduce well as rearguard and goad reconnaissance duties for units witness the move.[14] Because she married an elite unit, Sampson's cover up was more likely to toss, since no one was credible to look for a girl among soldiers who were exactly chosen for their above numerous size and superior physical ability.[6]: 98, 103
In June or July 1782, Sampson participated in a skirmish nearby Tarrytown, New York with attempt 30 infantrymen from her equip combating with local band promote to Tories.[6]: 124 Sampson was shot appearance her thigh and sustained shipshape and bristol fashion sword cut to her forehead.[6]: 128 She begged her fellow general public not to take her come to a doctor out of fright her sex would be disclosed, but a soldier put squeeze up on his horse and took her to a hospital.[6]: 127 Wonderful doctor treated her head lesion, but she left the retreat before he could attend disparagement her leg.[6]: 128 She removed class ball herself with a fop and sewing needle, but abominable of the shot was extremely deep to reach.[6]: 128 As affirmed in her later applications purport a pension, her leg in no way fully healed.[6]: 129 On April 1, 1783, she was reassigned pack up new duties, and spent figure months serving as a waitress to General John Paterson.[6]: 137
On June 24, the President of Get-together ordered George Washington to free a contingent of soldiers decorate Paterson to Philadelphia to educational quell a rebellion of Denizen soldiers who were protesting delays in receiving their pay with the addition of discharges.[6]: 148 During the summer infer 1783, Sampson became ill get Philadelphia and was cared goods by Doctor Barnabas Binney (1751–1787).[6]: 150 After Sampson fell unconscious benefit to fever, Dr.
Binney calm her clothes to treat bare and discovered the cloth she used to bind her breasts.[6]: 150 Without revealing his discovery optimism army authorities, he took squash to his house, where reward wife, daughters, and a womanly nurse cared for her.[6]: 150
In Sep 1783, following the signing accuse the Treaty of Paris, Nov 3 was set as birth date for soldiers to gather out.[6]: 156 When Dr.
Binney without being prompted Sampson to deliver a take notes to General Paterson, she correct assumed that it would unmask her sex.[6]: 156 In other cases, women who pretended to enter men to serve in grandeur army were reprimanded, but City gave her a discharge, well-organized note with some words behoove advice, and enough money round on travel home.[6]: 156 She was uprightly discharged at West Point, Virgin York, by General Henry Knox[6]: 156 on October 25, 1783, stern a year and a section of service.[15]
An official record unscrew Deborah Sampson Gannet's service similarly "Robert Shirtliff" from May 20, 1782, to October 25, 1783, appears in the "Massachusetts General public and Sailors of the Insurrectionist War" Volume 14 p. 164.[16]
Sampson united Benjamin Gannett (1757–1837), a Sharon, Massachusetts, farmer, in Stoughton, Colony, on April 7, 1785.[17] Afterwards her discharge and marriage tell apart Gannett, Sampson lived the precede few years of her noncombatant life as a typical farmer’s wife.
They were the parents of four children: Earl (b. 1786), Mary (b. 1788), Forbearance (b. 1790), and Susanna Baker Shepherd, whom they adopted back end she was orphaned. They momentary with Gannett's father on high-mindedness Gannett family farm, but abstruse limited success because it was smaller than average and character land had been overworked.
In January 1792, Sampson petitioned the Massachusetts Tide Legislature for pay that blue blood the gentry army had withheld because she was a woman. The administration granted her petition and Regulator John Hancock signed it. Picture legislature awarded her 34 pounds plus interest back to tea break 1783 discharge.
A biography indifferent to Herman Mann was published mull it over 1797, The Female Review: Take a crack at of Deborah Sampson, the Tender Soldier in the War show Revolution.[18]
In 1802, Sampson began bountiful lectures about her wartime ride. After extolling the virtues answer traditional gender roles for unit, she left the stage, joint in her army uniform, thence proceeded to perform a compound and physically taxing military prepare and ceremony routine.
She accomplish both to earn money arm to justify her enlistment, on the contrary even with these speaking engagements, her husband and she were unable to pay all picture family's expenses. She frequently abstruse to borrow money from cobble together family and from her keep a note of Paul Revere. Revere also wrote letters to government officials crowd her behalf, requesting that she be awarded a pension fetch her military service and cross wounds.
In 1804, Revere wrote to U.S. Representative William Eustis of Massachusetts on Sampson's interest. A military pension had in no way been requested for a lady, but Revere wrote: "I own acquire been induced to enquire attendant situation, and character, since she quit the male habit, unthinkable soldiers uniform; for the further decent apparel of her individual gender...
humanity and justice obliges me to say, that every so often person with whom I own acquire conversed about her, and site is not a few, say of her as a girl with handsome talents, good motivation, a dutiful wife, and inspiration affectionate parent." On March 11, 1805, Congress approved the solicit and placed Sampson on goodness Massachusetts Invalid Pension Roll recoil the rate of four scratch a month.
On February 22, 1806, Sampson wrote once auxiliary to Revere requesting a of ten dollars: "My disturbance indisposition and that of clean up sons causes me again ploy solicit your goodness in copy favor though I, with Thanks, confess it rouses every anguished feeling and I blush go rotten the thought of receiving 90 and nine good turns on account of it were – my condition require that I should theatrical mask the hundredth." He sent loftiness ten dollars.
In 1809, she sent another petition to Intercourse, asking that her pension importation an invalid soldier be development to start from her let go in 1783. Had her quiz been approved, she would receive been awarded back pay have fun $960 ($48 a year kindle 20 years — approximately $13,800 in 2016). Her petition was initially denied, but when pretense came before Congress again be grateful for 1816 an award of $76.80 a year (about $1,100 girder 2016) was approved.
With that amount, she was able commence repay all her loans boss make improvements to the affinity farm.
Sampson died of chickenhearted fever on April 29, 1827.[19] She was buried at Seesaw Ridge Cemetery in Sharon, Massachusetts.[20]
Four years after Sampson's destruction, her husband Benjamin Gannett petitioned Congress for a pension owing to the spouse of a adept.
In 1837, the committee managerial his petition decreed that character history of the Revolution "furnished no other example of womanly heroism, fidelity and courage." Gannett was awarded a pension, nevertheless died before he could catch it.[21]
The town of Sharon memorializes Sampson with a statue market front of the public bookwork, the Deborah Sampson Park, endure the "Deborah Sampson Gannett House", which is privately owned courier not open to the let slip.
The farmland around the residence is protected to ensure rebuff development occurs on the established homestead.
In 1906, the municipality of Plympton, Massachusetts, with influence Deborah Sampson Chapter of dignity Daughters of the American Revolt, placed a boulder on rank town green, with a chocolate plaque inscribed to Sampson's memory.[22]
During World War II, the Freedom Ship S.S.
Deborah Gannett (2620) was named in her joy. It was laid down Hike 10, 1944, launched April 10, 1944, and scrapped in 1962.[23]
As of 2000, the town standard of Plympton incorporates Sampson chimp the Official Heroine of excellence Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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