1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Happy. Saturday. May twenty third is Deborah Samson Day in Massachusetts, 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: so since it's May twenty third, we've chosen our episode 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: on her as Today's Saturday Classic. Deborah Samson served in 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War under the name 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: Robert Shirtliff. This originally came out on July fourth, twenty 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: twenty two. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. This episode 9 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: is coming out on July fourth, which is Independence Day 10 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: in the US. So since we have an episode coming 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: out on the day itself, which hasn't happened in a 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: very long time, I thought we'd do something that's both 13 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: thematically related and also a listener request. That is Deborah Samson, 14 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: who known by her married name of Deborah Samson Gennett 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: as well. Just as a note upfront, we recognize that 16 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: gender is broader and more nuanced than this, and that 17 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: is not a new idea. Deborah Samson was descended from 18 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: multiple people who arrived in North America aboard the Mayflower 19 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: in sixteen twenty, at which point, there were indigenous nations 20 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: all over the continent that recognized and continue to recognize 21 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: more than two genders. We've also talked about people like 22 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: the Public Universal Friend, who we covered on the show 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, and the Friend lived at the same 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: time as Deborah Samson did. They described themselves as genderless, 25 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: but the communities that Deborah Samson was part of saw 26 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: things as very, very very binary. That applies to everything 27 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: from people's descriptions of her to how children were educated, 28 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: to laws about dress, and it is central to what 29 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: made her famous, which is serving in the Continental Army 30 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: as Robert Shirtliffe during the Revolutionary War. Deborah Samson was 31 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: born on December seventeenth, seventeen sixty in Plimpton, Massachusetts, which 32 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: is just inland from Plymouth. Her family spelled their last 33 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: name Samsom. The spelling with the pa in the middle 34 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: shows up in her life later on. Deborah's parents were 35 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Samson Junior and Deborah Bradford Samson, and as Tracy 36 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: just said, they were both descended from people who had 37 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: traveled to North America aboard the Mayflower. The Elder Deborah 38 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: Samson was the great granddaughter of Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford. 39 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: Jonathan's ancestors included Miles Standish and John and Priscilla mullens Alden, 40 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: who today are probably best known as characters from the 41 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Deborah was 42 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,119 Speaker 1: one of seven children and the family was poor. Jonathan 43 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: was a farm laborer and claimed that he had been 44 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: cheated out of his inheritance from his late father and 45 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: that his being cheated out of that money was the 46 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: root of the family's poverty. But there are probate records 47 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: showing that Jonathan Samson's senior's estate looks like it was 48 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: divided up pretty fairly, and then there are also records 49 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: showing that Jonathan sold his property to his brother in 50 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: law shortly after his father's death. Family drama. Jonathan Samson 51 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: eventually went to sea, and when the young Deborah was 52 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: about five, he didn't come back from a voyage. The 53 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: family was informed that he had died in a shipwreck, 54 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: and it's possible that Deborah believed this was what happened 55 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: to him, but in reality, he had moved to what 56 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: is now Maine, where he and a woman named Martha 57 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: lived as a married couple, and he had two more 58 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: children with her. Deborah's mother could not afford to raise 59 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: seven children on her own, so Deborah and at least 60 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: some of her siblings were sent to live with various 61 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: friends and relatives. Than When Deborah was ten, she was 62 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: indentured to the Thomas family. Some sources say that she 63 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: was indentured to Benjamin Thomas Deecon at First Church of Middleborough, 64 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: and others say it was to Jeremiah and Susan Thomas. 65 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: There were so many Thomas's living in this area that 66 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: it was nicknamed Thomastown, and Susan was Benjamin's daughter, so 67 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: it's understandable that there is some confusion about exactly who 68 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: she was indentured to. This was a large family, with 69 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: more boys than girls, and although Deborah wasn't provided with 70 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: an education the way that the family's children were, she 71 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: did use their books and school materials to teach herself 72 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: to read and write. Most of the documentation we have 73 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: of Deborah's young life comes from a biography by Herman 74 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: Mann that was published for the first time in seventeen 75 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: ninety seven. Parts of that biography were definitely fabricated, and 76 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: we will be talking about that more and a bit, 77 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: But it does seem like she learned to do various 78 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: types of work around the home and the farm during 79 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: her indenture, and this included tasks that were more often 80 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: done by men and boys, like plowing and whittling. Samson's 81 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: indenture ended when she was eighteen. For the next couple 82 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: of years, she worked as a teacher. During the summers, 83 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: in the window between when crops were planted and when 84 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: they were harvested, in the colder months, she worked as 85 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: a spinner and a weaver. She also joined First Baptist 86 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: Church of Middleborough on November twelfth, seventeen eighty. That was 87 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: shortly before she turned twenty. Although there was a pretty 88 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: big Baptist community in Middleborough, they had at least three 89 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: Baptist churches, most people in the area were Congregationalists, especially 90 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: the people who had the most wealth and power and influence. 91 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: Baptists were really seen as outsiders. This was all happening 92 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: during the Revolutionary War, and we don't know much about 93 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: how the war's earlier years affected Deborah Sampson. That's seventeen 94 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: ninety seven biography. He does give a lengthy recounting of 95 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: a vivid and violent dream she reportedly had just before 96 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: the Battle of Lexington in seventeen seventy five. Though it's 97 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: not totally clear whether this is a dream she actually 98 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: had or whether it's a dramatic embellishment, but if it 99 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: really happened, it may have reflected her fear and anxiety 100 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: about what was going on. Although thousands of men joined 101 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: the military at the start of the war, by the 102 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: late seventeen seventies the Continental Army was really struggling to 103 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: find recruits. Recruitment happened at the state level, and the 104 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: state started drafting people and offering incentives to entice people 105 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: to join. This included offering bounties for people who volunteered 106 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: to serve in the place of men who had been 107 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: drafted but didn't want to go. Although this did motivate 108 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: some people to join, it also caused some issues. For example, 109 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: Massachusetts set quotas for how many recruits each town should provide, 110 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: and it was up to the town to decide how 111 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: much money they would offer as a bounty. This led 112 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: some people to basically shop around for the biggest bounty 113 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: they could find. Men were expected to enlist for three 114 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: years or until the end of the war, whichever came first. 115 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: But some just disappeared as soon as they claimed their bounty. Yeah, 116 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: this caused various issues. In addition to the disappearance of 117 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: people who had claimed a bounty and then just vanished, 118 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: they were disproportionately enlisting people who were desperate for money 119 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: and maybe not people who were who would do well 120 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: as soldiers. There was a whole many layers going on 121 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: with this. Samson's first attempt to join the army might 122 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: have been in pursuit of a bounty. This is documented 123 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: in a diary entry by Abner Weston dated January twenty third, 124 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty two. This diary was found in New Hampshire 125 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen and then bought by the Museum of 126 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: the Amya Revolution in Philadelphia in twenty nineteen. Somehow it 127 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: did not cross my radar for any of the unearthed 128 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: episodes that happened during that time. Weston wrote, quote, there 129 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: happened an uncommon affair at this time for Deborah Samson 130 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: of this town dressed herself in men's clothes and hired 131 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: herself to Israel Wood to go into the Three years service, 132 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: but being found out, returned the hire and paid the damages. 133 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: Other second and third hand accounts add some other details 134 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: to this, including that Samson was living in the home 135 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,199 Speaker 1: of Captain Benjamin Leonard, who employed her as a weaver, 136 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: and that a woman named Jenny helped her steal some 137 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: of Leonard's son's clothes. Jenny is described as the daughter 138 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: of an enslaved woman and as Samson's roommate at the 139 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: Leonard house, where Jenny was probably working as a servant. 140 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: After giving her name as Timothy Thayer and receiving her bounty, 141 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: Samson went to a tavern and drank, then came home intoxicated, 142 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: got into bed with Jenny, and got up and went 143 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: about her business. The next morning, when Timothy Thayer didn't 144 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: report to be mustered in, a woman who had been 145 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: in the room when he enlisted said she noticed that 146 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,359 Speaker 1: he held a pen, just like Deborah Samson. Apparently, Samson's 147 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: way of holding a pen was distinctive because of an 148 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: injury to one of her fingers, and after being questioned, 149 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: Samson reportedly confessed and returned the bounty money. This was 150 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: really a scandal, and although herman Mann's biography gave some 151 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: other reasons. Samson may have enlisted for the second time 152 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: to try to get away from it. We will get 153 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: to that after a quick sponsor break. On May twentieth, 154 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,839 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty two, Robert Shirtliff accepted an enlistment bounty from 155 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 1: the town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He was tall, taller than 156 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: the average soldier, but apparently too young to grow facial hair. 157 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: There were no physical exams required to enlist at this point, 158 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: nobody had to provide any kind of documentation of their 159 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,839 Speaker 1: name or their age. About a year and a half 160 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: would pass before anybody realized that Robert Shirtliffe, whose name 161 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: is spelled a lot of different ways in different various 162 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 1: records for anybody, realized that he had previously been known 163 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: to everybody before this point as Deborah Sampson. Shirtliffe was 164 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: mustered into the fourth Massachusetts Regiment at Worcestern, Massachusetts. Three 165 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: days later, he marched with the regiment to West Point, 166 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,199 Speaker 1: where he was assigned to Captain George Webb's company of 167 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: light Infantry. The light Infantry was seen as an elite 168 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: group made up of young agile men who could move quickly, 169 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,959 Speaker 1: do reconnaissance and engage in skirmishes with the enemy. Webb's 170 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: company spent most of their time in the Hudson River Valley. 171 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: The Battle of Yorktown had ended the previous fall, and 172 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: that is seen as the last major battle of the 173 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,959 Speaker 1: Revolutionary War and as a decisive victory for the United States, 174 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: but the war did not actually end for almost two 175 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: more years after that. Much of the Hudson River Valley 176 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: was neutral ground between US territory and New York City, 177 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: which was still being held by the British, but there 178 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: were lots of troops from both sides in this area. 179 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 1: There were also French troops who were allied with the 180 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: United States, as well as indigenous peoples. Some were on 181 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: the sides of the British and some of the United States. 182 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: In this particular area, they were more likely to be 183 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: allied with or otherwise support the British. Although this area 184 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: didn't see any major battles in seventeen eighty two or 185 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty three, there were lots of smaller skirmishes. Later on, 186 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: Herman Mann's biography of Deborah Sampson would recount a dramatic 187 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: tale of her being seriously wounded with a head injury 188 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: and two musket balls lodged in her thigh. She was 189 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: so afraid that her sex would be discovered that she 190 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,599 Speaker 1: thought about taking her own life with a pistol. Instead, 191 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: she made her way to a French encampment, where she 192 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: allowed a French doctor to treat and dress her head 193 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: wound before sneaking away with some wine, a penknife, and 194 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: a needle to extract the musket balls herself. She was 195 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: able to remove one of them and treat and dress 196 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: the wound, but the other remained in her body for 197 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: the rest of her life. It is extremely likely that 198 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: during her time as Robert Shirtliff, Deborah Sampson really was 199 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: wounded in action and really was disabled afterward. She had 200 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: to document all that to receive pensions for her service, 201 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: which she did. We'll talk about that more later. However, 202 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:42,679 Speaker 1: this part of Samson's biography is uncannily similar to another work, 203 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: which was titled The Female Soldier, that describes the experiences 204 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: of Hannah Snell, who joined the British Army as James 205 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: Gray in seventeen forty five and fought against the Jacobites. 206 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: Back in Middleborough, Massachusetts, First Baptist Church was deciding what 207 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: to do about Deborah Sampson's earlier enlistment as Timothy Thayer 208 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 1: the Church Minutes from September third, seventeen eighty two read quote. 209 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: The Church considered the case of Deborah Sampson, who, last 210 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: spring was accused of dressing in men's clothes and enlisting 211 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: in the army, And although she was not convicted yet, 212 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: was strongly suspected of being guilty, and for some time 213 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: before behaved very loose and unchristian like, and at last 214 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: left our parts in a sudden manner. And it is 215 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: not known among us where she is gone. And after 216 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: considerable discourse, it appeared that as several brethren had labored 217 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: with her before she went away without obtaining satisfaction, concluded 218 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: that it is the church's duty to withdraw fellowship until 219 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,559 Speaker 1: she returns and makes Christian satisfaction. Okay, that means they 220 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: basically kicked her out, and still she apologized and was 221 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,280 Speaker 1: absolved for having done wrong. A couple of other notes 222 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: on this. Today, the word loose has sexual connotations when 223 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: it's used in this kind of a contact, but at 224 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: the time it was more of a general description of 225 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: bad behavior, and in terms of a conviction. Cross dressing 226 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: had been outlawed in Massachusetts since the sixteen nineties. The 227 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: prohibition on cross dressing also traced back to a verse 228 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: in the Biblical Book of Deuteronomy, which described men dressing 229 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: in women's clothes and vice versa as an abomination. To 230 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: return to Samson's time as Robert Shirtliff, that injury made 231 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: it impossible to keep up with the light infantry, so 232 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: Shirtlift seems to have convinced someone to assign him to 233 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: the task of caring for a wounded soldier who could 234 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: not be moved. After that, Shirtlift was given another assignment 235 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty three, this time working as a waiter 236 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: for General John Patterson. This wasn't a food service position, 237 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: it was more like a personal servant. Shirtliff accompanied Patterson 238 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: in his unit to Philadelphia, which at the time was 239 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: the US capital. An armistice went into effect on April nineteenth, 240 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty three, and as the US started demobilizing its forces, 241 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: it furloughed troops without fully paying people for their services, 242 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: also without a clear plan for funding pensions for anybody. 243 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: Demands for pay and for better conditions were part of 244 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: a mutiny along the Pennsylvania line in seventeen eighty three, 245 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: and Patterson's troops were sent to Philadelphia to try to 246 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 1: put that mutiny down. In Philadelphia, Robert Shirtliffe became ill 247 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: with a fever and delirium and was hospitalized. The cause 248 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: isn't clear, although there were epidemics of both measles and 249 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: smallpox in Philadelphia at that time. Measles is the more 250 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: likely of the two, since the various descriptions of this 251 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: don't include typical smallpox symptoms, and George Washington had ordered 252 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: the troops to be inoculated against it. Yeah, it could 253 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: have been something totally else, but those two diseases really 254 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: were rampant. While working at a hospital in Philadelphia, doctor 255 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: barnabas Binny discovered that one of his patients, known as 256 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: Robert Shirtliffe, was wearing a breastbinding, but he kept that 257 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: a secret. It is not totally clear how Samson's commanding 258 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: officers eventually learned her identity. In Man's book, Benny gave 259 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: her a letter that explained the whole situation and told 260 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: her to deliver it to General Patterson, and she did 261 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: that even though she was pretty sure the letter was 262 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: saying that she was a woman. Later, even more romanticized 263 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: versions of this claimed that she gave the letter not 264 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 1: to Patterson but to George Washington himself, whatever those details were, 265 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: general Henry Knox granted Robert Shirtliffe an honorable discharge on 266 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: October twenty third, seventeen eighty three. And this is not 267 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: at all how the Continental Army or the various militias 268 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: generally dealt with women who tried to enlist, or with 269 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: people who successfully enlisted but were later discovered to have 270 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: female bodies. It was way more common for people to 271 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: be publicly shamed, charged with crimes including fraud and cross dressing, 272 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: or subjected to just deeply humiliating and traumatizing physical examinations 273 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: which really were just sexual assaults. It's possible that there 274 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: are other women who managed to serve undetected in the 275 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: Revolutionary War, or people who might describe themselves as non 276 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: binary or as transgendermen today, but the honorable discharge of 277 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:30,679 Speaker 1: Robert Shirtliff is really unique. After being discharged, Samson returned 278 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: to Massachusetts, and as far as we know, once she 279 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:37,199 Speaker 1: got there, she resumed her life as Deborah Sampson. The 280 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: first public report of her service in the Revolutionary War 281 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: was published just a few months later. It named Robert Shirtliffe, 282 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: but it did not mention Samson's name. Quote for particular reasons. 283 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: It doesn't say what they are, just that they're particular. 284 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: This was printed in the Independent Gazette or the New 285 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: York Journal revived on January tenth, seventeen e and it 286 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: was picked up by other newspapers later on. It began quote, 287 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: an extraordinary instance of virtue in a female soldier has 288 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: occurred lately in the American Army in the Massachusetts Line. 289 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: Vis a lively, comely young nymph, nineteen years of age, 290 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: dressed in man's apparel, has been discovered, and what redounds 291 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: to her honor. She has served in the character of 292 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: a soldier for near three years, undiscovered, during which time 293 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: she displayed herself with activity, alertness, chastity, and valor, having 294 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: been in several skirmishes with the enemy, and received two wounds, 295 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: a small shot remaining in her to this day. She 296 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: is a remarkable vigilant soldier on her post, and always 297 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: gained the admiration and applause of her officers. Was never 298 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 1: found in liquor, and always kept company with the most 299 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: upright and temperate soldiers. This report describes her illness and 300 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: the discovery of her sex, and her honorable discharge, before 301 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: offering an ex explanation for why she did all of 302 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,440 Speaker 1: this quote. The cause of her personating a man, it 303 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: is said, proceeded from the rigor of her parents, who 304 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: exerted their prerogative to induce her to marriage with a 305 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: young man she had conceived a great antipathy for, together 306 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: with her being a remarkable heroine and warmly attached to 307 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: the cause of her country, in the service of which 308 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: it must be acknowledged, she gained reputation, and no doubt 309 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: will be noticed by the compilers of the history of 310 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,679 Speaker 1: our Grand Revolution. I have so many feelings about that 311 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: right up. A couple of factual notes on this. Samson 312 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: was about twenty one when she enlisted, rather than nineteen, 313 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: and although recruits were expected to serve for three years, 314 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: Robert Shirtliff's time in the army is documented it closer 315 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: to eighteen months. Samson's parents also weren't really involved in 316 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: her life at all, so this story about fleeing an 317 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: unwonted marriage reads more like a literary trope and a 318 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: way to make readers or sympathetic to her, Rather than 319 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: any real explanation of her reasoning. We'll talk about Samson's 320 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: post Revolutionary war life after another quick sponsor break. Deborah 321 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,880 Speaker 1: Sampson married Benjamin Gannette of Sharon, Massachusetts, on April seventh, 322 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty five. There is a gown in the collections 323 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 1: of Historic New England that may have been her wedding dress. 324 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,680 Speaker 1: Was originally made as an open gown to be worn 325 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: with a petticoat around seventeen seventy, and then it was 326 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,160 Speaker 1: remade as a full dress without that open front about 327 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: fifteen years later. Then it was altered again in the 328 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,479 Speaker 1: seventeen eighties, presumably so Deborah could get married in it. 329 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: So the dress from there was passed down within the family. 330 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: Some of her descendants even wore it for things like 331 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: historical reenactments and other events. Deborah and Benjamin had three children, Earl, 332 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: Mary and Patience, and they adopted Susannah Shepherd after her 333 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: mother died. As had been the case in Deborah's own childhood, 334 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: the family struggled financially, which is one of the reasons 335 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: she worked so hard to get the benefits that she 336 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: was entitled to as a veteran. This started with petitioning 337 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for backpay in seventeen ninety two. 338 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: She was awarded thirty four pounds. Over the course of 339 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety seven and seventeen ninety eight, Gannett applied for 340 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: a pension under the Invalid Pension Act of seventeen ninety three. 341 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: It's not clear why four years passed between when the 342 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: law was passed and when she submitted an application, But 343 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: this process could be really onerous, so we said earlier, 344 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: there was a lot of stuff that you had to document. 345 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: Sometimes that documentation was really hard to track down or 346 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: didn't exist. It's possible she had trouble finding a lawyer 347 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: who was willing to help her with it. Herman Mann's 348 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: biography of her was almost certainly written to support this 349 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: pension application, As we said earlier, It was published in 350 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety seven, and its full title was The Female Review, 351 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: or Memoirs of an American Young Lady whose life and 352 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: character are peculiarly distinguished. Being a Continental soldier for nearly 353 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: three years in the Late American War, during which time 354 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: she performed the duties of every department into which she 355 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: was called with punctual exactness, fidelity, and honor, and preserved 356 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: her chastity inviolate by the most artful concealment of her sex, 357 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: with an appendix containing characteristic traits by different hands, her 358 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: taste for economy, principles of domestic education, etc. I do 359 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: love the long title. I do too. They're so funny. 360 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: This book is so romanticized, and it has so much 361 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: in common with other books in print at the time. 362 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,120 Speaker 1: Not just the one we mentioned earlier, there were multiple others. 363 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,919 Speaker 1: There are some critics today that have described it not 364 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: as a biography or a memoir, but as a novel. 365 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 1: Seems like Man himself might have even thought of it 366 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: this way too, and he later talked about it having 367 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,199 Speaker 1: just been rushed into print without enough time to do 368 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,919 Speaker 1: a good job with it. Some parts of it are 369 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 1: questionable but not totally impossible, like the vivid dream that 370 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: we mentioned and the sneaking a way to remove a 371 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: musket ball also in that category, or things like a 372 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: romantic interlude involving a young woman from Baltimore who falls 373 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: in love with this patient known as Robert Shirtliff at 374 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: a military hospital in Philadelphia, who she, of course believes 375 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:40,719 Speaker 1: to be a man. There's so many dramatic and thrilling tales. Yeah, 376 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: there are a lot of them, and several people have 377 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: traced and this also save dramatic tale is in this 378 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,360 Speaker 1: other book that was in circulation at the time. There 379 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: are parts of this writing that are flatly untrue. Like 380 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: Man claims Deborah Samson Gennett was at the Battle of Yorktown, 381 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: which was over long before she enlisted. There's also an 382 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: account of rescuing a white woman who was held captive 383 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 1: by indigenous people and marrying her, but putting off consummating 384 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 1: the marriage until it could be properly solemnized in the city. 385 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 1: In the words of Man's book quote, on their return 386 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia, they purchased her a suit of clothes, but she, 387 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: unable to express her gratitude, received them on her knees 388 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: and was doubtless glad to relinquish her sham marriage and 389 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: to be sent to her uncle, who she said lived 390 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 1: in James City. This is almost certainly just completely fabricated. 391 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: Man commissioned a portrait of Gannett by folk artist Joseph Stone, 392 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: which became the basis for the engraving for the book's frontispiece. 393 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: This portrait still exists in the collection of the Rhode 394 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: Island Historical Society today. It shows her in a feminine 395 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: white dress with long brown hair that curls softly around 396 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: her cheeks and her shoulders, blue eyes, fair skin with 397 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: rosy cheeks, and a pretty prominent jaw. It's framed with 398 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: some patriotic and elishments, like an eagle bearing a shield 399 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: that's decorated with stars and stripes. Mann was not the 400 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,360 Speaker 1: only writer trying to support Deborah Sampson Gannett's pension efforts. 401 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 1: Shortly after she filed her paperwork, poet Philip Freneau published 402 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 1: A Soldier Should be Made of Sterner Stuff on Deborah Gannette, 403 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: and that was published in a publication called The time Piece. 404 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: Although Gannette pursued this pension she was entitled to for months, 405 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: her petition for it wound up stalled in Congress. She 406 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: tried applying again a few years later, and in eighteen 407 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: oh two she went on a speaking tour to raise 408 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: money and to try to gather support. She went all 409 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: around New England and New York and was billed as 410 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: the American Heroine. She worked with herman Mann again on 411 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: the text of the address that she would give on 412 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: this tour. Some historians have concluded that this was not 413 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,439 Speaker 1: a collaboration between the two of them, but he just 414 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 1: wrote it for her. She would speak while wearing a dress, 415 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: and then she would go off stage and change into 416 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 1: her soldier's uniform and then come back and do military 417 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: drills like presenting her arms. We don't really know how 418 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: much Genet stuck to the prepared remarks that man worked on, 419 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: but we do have a print version of it. It 420 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: begins quote not unlike the example of the patriot and philanthropists, 421 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: though perhaps perfectly so. In effect, do I awake from 422 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: the tranquil slumbers of retirement to active public scenes of life, 423 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: like those which now surround me. That genius, which is 424 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 1: the prompter of curiosity, and that spirit, which is the 425 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,480 Speaker 1: support of enterprise, early drove, or rather allured me from 426 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 1: the corner of humble obscurity. Their cheering aspect has again 427 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,960 Speaker 1: prevented a torpid rest. If you found that to be 428 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: a whole lot of words that essentially said nothing, I 429 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,879 Speaker 1: was very stilted. I have bad news for you. The 430 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: whole thing is like this, and It's a lot more 431 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: about patriotic ideals than about any real specifics from her 432 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: life for her time in the army, which makes for 433 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: maybe bad copy, but probably worked really well to drum 434 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 1: up crowds to support her. Gannett kept a journal during 435 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: her tour, and this journal reveals that it was really 436 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: kind of a difficult time. She was traveling alone, and 437 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,360 Speaker 1: she was sick a lot. There are lots of descriptions 438 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: of toothaches and a pain in her face and at 439 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 1: one point what she described as dysentery, and she also 440 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: just really missed her children. Deborah Samson Connette was finally 441 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: awarded a pension as a disabled veteran on March eleventh 442 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: of eighteen oh five, after some prominent people spoke up 443 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: on her behalf, one of them being Paul Revere. Her 444 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,239 Speaker 1: pension started at four dollars a month, and then she 445 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: applied for and was granted increases in that amount in 446 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen and eighteen nineteen. Sometimes she's described as the 447 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: first woman in American history to receive a military pension 448 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: or the first woman to be wounded while fighting for 449 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: the United States, but neither of these is true. One 450 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: earlier example is Margaret Cochrane Corbin, who became a camp 451 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: follower after her husband John joined the Pennsylvania military. Margaret 452 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 1: was helping her husband load his cannon at the Battle 453 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: of Fort Washington on November sixteenth, seventeen seventy six, and 454 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: when he was killed, she took his place. She was 455 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: then seriously wounded as well, and she became a prisoner 456 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: of war after the battle. The Continental Congress awarded her 457 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: a lifetime pension on July sixth, seventeen seventy nine, although 458 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: at half the amount that men received. In her later years, 459 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,959 Speaker 1: Deborah Samson Ginnett seems to have wanted her family to 460 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: know about and to remember her time as a soldier, 461 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: but she really stepped away from the public spotlight. While 462 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: her military service was described as exemplary, the idea of 463 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 1: cross dressing was still really scandalous, and any association with 464 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: the military could be seen as very suspicious for women. 465 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: There were thousands of women in camp followers during the war, 466 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: and even though a lot of them were doing absolutely 467 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: necessary work like cooking and mending and caring for the sick, 468 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: they were viewed with a lot of derision and suspicion, 469 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: and this all fed into a lot of really salacious 470 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: rumors that she seems to have found genuinely upsetting. Dembra Samson. 471 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: Gannett died on April twenty ninth, eighteen twenty seven, at 472 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: the age of sixty six. At the time, Herman Mann 473 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,880 Speaker 1: was working on a revised version of her memoir, one 474 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 1: that was written in first person, in which she had 475 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: given him permission to print only after her death. Mann 476 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: got almost two hundred subscribers to fund this revised work, 477 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: but he also died before getting it published. His son 478 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: took up the project and made all kinds of revisions, 479 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: but then he died as well. Overall, these revisions made 480 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: the book more sensationalized and definitely not more accurate. Benjamin 481 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: Gennett petitioned the government for a survivor's pension, one that 482 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: typically would have been paid to a widow after the 483 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 1: death of her veteran husband. Congress authorized this on July seventh, 484 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty eight, with a committee noting that the Revolution 485 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: had quote furnished no other similar example of female heroism, fidelity, 486 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: and courage. Benjamin Ginnett actually died about eighteen months before 487 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: Congress finalized this payment, so in the end, it went 488 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: to his attorney and his heirs. John A. Venon printed 489 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: a new version of Herman Mann's biography of Deborah Samson 490 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: Ganet in eighteen sixty six. It included lots of annotations 491 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: and corrections, as well as new information. There were also 492 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,479 Speaker 1: lots of dime novels and other stories about her printed 493 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:45,480 Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century. During World War II, a liberty 494 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 1: ship was named the SS Deborah Gannett. In nineteen eighty three, 495 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: Governor Michael Dukakis signed legislation naming Deborah Sampson the official 496 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: heroine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with May twenty third 497 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 1: being designated as Deborah Sampson Day. A life sized statue 498 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: of her was unveiled at the Sharon, Massachusetts Public Library 499 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: on Veterans Day nineteen eighty nine. In the late twenty teens, 500 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: legislation known as the Deborah Sampson Act was introduced to 501 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: in Congress a number of times, at one point passing 502 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: the House but getting stalled in the Senate. This legislation 503 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 1: was meant to improve women's access to care and benefits 504 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: through the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to improve the 505 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: quality of that care. The Bill's content was eventually folded 506 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: into the Johnny Isaacson and David P. Row MD Veterans 507 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act of twenty twenty which was 508 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: signed into law on January fifth, twenty twenty one. In 509 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: this Act, title five, Deborah Sampson is subtitled Improving Access 510 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 1: for Women Veterans to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Before 511 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: we get to listener mail, something came up during research 512 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: on this that would normally probably go into the Friday 513 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: behind the scenes, but it seems like enough listeners might 514 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: have heard it and be wondering that I wanted to 515 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: go ahead and talk about it now. When I'm pulling 516 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: together resources for episodes, one of the places I look 517 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: is Gail databases that I have access to through the 518 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: public library. Gail's first book result when I searched for 519 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: Deborah Samson is from the nineteen ninety two book Notable 520 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: Black American Women. I was immediately confused, since none of 521 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: the material that I had gathered before that point suggested 522 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: that Deborah Gannette was black, and the many references that 523 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: I had seen to were ancestors being aboard the Mayflower 524 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: without mentioning any other ancestors kind of implied that she 525 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 1: was not. Sources from Gannette's lifetime don't mention her race 526 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: at all. It wasn't typical for white writers to spell 527 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: out another white person's race, but noting the race of 528 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: black people was routine in everything from enlistment records to 529 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: newspaper articles to personal journals. The idea that Deborah Samson 530 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: was black seems to trace back to William's Nell's book 531 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,880 Speaker 1: Colored Patriots of the American Revolution that was published in 532 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five. This book is noteworthy on its own 533 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: William Coopernell was a journalist an abolitionist. This was one 534 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 1: of the first books by a black person to document 535 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: the contributions of other black people to the American Revolution. 536 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: Nell also wrote books about black soldier's service in the 537 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: War of eighteen twelve and on christ Path addics in 538 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 1: the Boston Massacre. He is somebody who could be an 539 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: episode subject of the show One Day. Colored Patriots of 540 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: the American Revolution references Lemuel Burr, who was black and indigenous. 541 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: Lemuell's grandfather, Samuel Burr, was friends with Jeremy Jonah and 542 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: both served in the Revolutionary War. Burr was in Gannett's regiment, 543 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: and Jonah was in another regiment that was also stationed 544 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 1: in the Hudson Valley. To quote the book quote, Lemuel Burr, 545 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: grandson of Seymour, a resident of Boston, often speaks of 546 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: their reminiscences of Deborah Ganet. Nell then prints the text 547 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 1: of the General Court of Massachusetts resolution awarding Debra Gannet 548 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,440 Speaker 1: thirty four pounds for services in the Continental Army. Multiple 549 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: historians have traced the idea that Deborah Samson Gannet was 550 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 1: black to this passage. People interpreted her inclusion in this 551 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,920 Speaker 1: book as meaning that she was black as well, although 552 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,280 Speaker 1: it's really not entirely clear if this was Nell's intent 553 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 1: or not. From there, it made its way into other 554 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 1: people's work. The earliest examples of this are primarily from 555 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: black writers and speakers who were doing the important and 556 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 1: necessary work of documenting and publicizing black people's participation in 557 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,520 Speaker 1: the Revolutionary War. For example, Lewis Hayden, who was enslaved 558 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: from birth but liberated himself and became a prominent part 559 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,759 Speaker 1: of the underground railroad before the Civil War, gave an 560 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:54,960 Speaker 1: address during the US Centennial in eighteen seventy six. He 561 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: was speaking to the Colored Ladies' Centennial Club in Boston, 562 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,920 Speaker 1: and he used Ganet as an example of black women's 563 00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: contributions to the war. The idea that Deborah Samson Genet 564 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,240 Speaker 1: was black became more widespread during the Civil Rights Movement, 565 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: and it still comes up today, primarily in sources that 566 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: are focused specifically on black people's achievements, like lists of 567 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: facts for Black History Month and that nineteen ninety two 568 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 1: book that we mentioned. To be totally clear, it is 569 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: not impossible that Deborah Samson Gannet had African ancestry somewhere 570 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,239 Speaker 1: in her family tree. She had one grandmother and one 571 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:36,839 Speaker 1: great grandfather whose parents aren't clearly documented, and of course 572 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 1: it's also possible that one of her ancestors had an 573 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,640 Speaker 1: affair of some sort that wouldn't be reflected in things 574 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 1: like birth and marriage records. But beyond that, Deborah Samson 575 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,279 Speaker 1: Gannett's documented ancestors trace back to people who emigrated from 576 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 1: Europe during the seventeenth century, nearly all of them from 577 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: England during the Great Puritan Migration. It would have been 578 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: a scandal for any of them who have had a 579 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,120 Speaker 1: child with somewhat of African descent, and there just hasn't 580 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:07,400 Speaker 1: been anything found to suggest that that kind of scandal happened. 581 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,080 Speaker 1: For folks who want more on Deborah Samson Gennett, one 582 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:14,480 Speaker 1: of the more recent books about her is titled Masquerade, 583 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 1: The Life and Times of Deborah Samson Continental Soldier. That's 584 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: by Alfred F. Young. There's also a recent novel titled 585 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 1: Revolutionary by Alex Myers. Myers is a transgender man, so 586 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 1: he brings a really unique perspective to telling this story. Yeah. 587 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,919 Speaker 1: This is the second time in recent memory that there's 588 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,040 Speaker 1: been a novel that I started reading and did not finish. 589 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: In this case, it's because there is a rape in 590 00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: the first chapter and I noped hard out of it 591 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,120 Speaker 1: at that point. I was just not up for reading 592 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: a book that started out with a rape over the weekend. 593 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,640 Speaker 1: No not rest will way to spend your time now, 594 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,799 Speaker 1: would not say those aren't important stories. Yeah, I mean 595 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: it's been extremely well reviewed. Yeah, I just I was 596 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 1: not prepared and did not continue reading. There you go. 597 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If 598 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:16,719 Speaker 1: you'd like to send us a note, our email addresses 599 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:21,440 Speaker 1: History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe 600 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,600 Speaker 1: to the show on the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or 601 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.