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A Girl Called Samson Biography & Facts

Deborah Sampson Gannett, also known as Deborah Samson or Deborah Sampson, was born on December 17, 1760, in Plympton, Massachusetts. She disguised herself as a man, and served in the Continental Army under the name Robert Shirtliff – sometimes spelled Shurtleff or Shirtleff – and fought in the American Revolutionary War. She fought in the war for 17 months before her sex was revealed when she required medical treatment after contracting a fever in Philadelphia in 1783. After her real identity was made known to her commander, she was honorably discharged at West Point. After her discharge, Sampson met and married Benjamin Gannett in 1785. In 1802, she became one of the first women to go on a lecture tour to speak about her wartime experiences. She died in Sharon, Massachusetts, in 1827. She was proclaimed the Official Heroine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on May 23, 1983, and in 1985 the United States Capitol Historical Society posthumously honored "Deborah Samson" with the Commemorative Medal. Early life Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760, in Plympton, Massachusetts, at the ancestral home of her grandparents, a house that still stands today.: 25  Her father's name was Jonathan Sampson (or Samson) and her mother's name was Deborah Bradford.: 24  Her siblings were Jonathan (b. 1753), Elisha (b. 1755), Hannah (b. 1756), Ephraim (b. 1759), Nehemiah (b. 1764), and Sylvia (b. 1766).: 25  Sampson's mother was the great-granddaughter of William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth Colony. Sampson's ancestry also included Mayflower passengers on both sides of her family including William Bradford (mother) and Henry Samson (father): 24  Sampson's family was told that her father died in a shipwreck, but evidence indicates that he actually abandoned the family and migrated to Lincoln County, Maine.: 29  He had a common-law wife named Martha, with whom he had at least two children, and returned to Plympton in 1794 to attend to a property transaction.: 29  In 1770, a man named Jonathan Sampson was indicted for murder in Maine, but it is uncertain whether this individual was Sampson's father because the case never went to trial, so no details about the defendant are known.: 29  Jonathan Sampson and his common-law wife died in Maine, he sometimes after 1807.: 29  After Sampson's father abandoned the family her mother was unable to provide for her children, so she placed them in the households of friends and relatives, a common practice in 18th-century New England, and Sampson was placed in the home of a maternal relative.: 30–31  When her mother died shortly afterwards, she was sent to live with Reverend Peter Thatcher's widow Mary Prince Thatcher (1688–1771), who was then in her eighties.: 30–31  Historians believe Sampson learned to read while living with Widow Thatcher, who might have wanted Sampson to read Bible verses to her.: 30–31  Upon Thatcher's death, Sampson was sent to live with the Jeremiah Thomas family in Middleborough, where she worked as an indentured servant from 1770 to 1778.: 31  Although treated well, she was not sent to school like the Thomas children because Thomas was not a believer in the education of women.: 31  Sampson was able to overcome Thomas's opposition by learning from Thomas's sons, who shared their school work with her.: 31  This method was apparently successful; when her time as an indentured servant was over at age 18, Sampson made a living by teaching school during the summer sessions in 1779 and 1780.: 41  She worked as a weaver in the winter; Sampson was highly skilled and worked for the Sproat Tavern as well as the Bourne, Morton, and Leonard families.: 41  During her time teaching and weaving, she boarded with the families that employed her.: 41  Sampson was also reported to have woodworking and mechanical aptitude.: 41  Her skills included basket weaving, and light carpentry such as producing milking stools and winter sleds.: 41  She was also experienced with fashioning wooden tools and implements including weather vanes, spools for thread, and quills for weaving.: 41  She also produced pie crimpers, which she sold door to door.: 41  Physical description Sampson was approximately five feet seven inches (1.70 m) to five feet eight inches (1.73 m) tall, above average when compared to the average male of her day, who was around 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m), and the average woman, who was about 5 feet (1.5 m).: 43  Her biographer, Hermann Mann, who knew her personally for many years, implied that she was not thin, writing in 1797 that "her waist might displease a coquette." He also reported that her breasts were very small, and that she bound them with a linen cloth to hide them during her years in uniform.: 43  Mann wrote that "the features of her face are regular; but not what a physiognomist would term the most beautiful." A neighbor who as a boy knew Sampson in her later years remarked that she was "a person of plain features." A descendant named Pauline Hildreth Monk Wise (1914–1994) was believed by relatives to have strongly resembled Sampson, based on comparison of Pauline's physical appearance to a 1797 portrait of Sampson, contemporary descriptions of Sampson's features and height, and Pauline's height, which at 6 feet (1.8 m) was taller than most men.: 45  Sampson's appearance – tall, broad, strong, and not delicately feminine – contributed to her success at pretending to be a man.: 43  Army service In early 1782, Sampson wore men's clothes and joined an Army unit in Middleborough, Massachusetts, under the name Timothy Thayer. She collected a bonus and then failed to meet up with her company as scheduled. Inquiries by the company commander revealed that Sampson had been recognized by a local resident at the time she signed her enlistment papers. Her deception uncovered, she repaid the portion of the bonus that she had not spent, but she was not subjected to further punishment by the Army. The Baptist church to which she belonged learned of her actions and withdrew its fellowship, meaning that its members refused to associate with her unless she apologized and asked forgiveness. In May 1782, Sampson enlisted again, this time in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, under the name "Robert Shirtliff" (also spelled in some sources as "Shirtliffe" or "Shurtleff"). She joined the Light Infantry Company of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment, under the command of Captain George Webb. This unit, consisting of 50 to 60 men, was first quartered in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and later mustered at Worcester with the rest of the regiment commanded by Colonel William Shepard. Light Infantry Companies were elite troops, specially picked because they were taller and stronger than average. Their job was to provide rapid flank coverage for advancing regiments, as well as rearguard and forward reconnaissance duties for units on the move. Because she joined an elite unit, Sampson's disguise was more likely to succeed, since no one was likely to.... Discover the A Girl Called Samson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular A Girl Called Samson books.