Deborah Sampson

Welcome to Did You Know a video series about Massachusetts where we take a look at interesting tidbits of state history. Each video will cover a different part of Massachusetts history and culture. Today, our topic is Revolutionary War heroine Deborah Sampson. Did you know that Deborah Sampson is a Massachusetts state heroine and was the first American woman to be granted a full military pension? Let's find out more.

Deborah Sampson was born on December 17th, 1760, in Plympton, Massachusetts. She had six siblings and was descended from prominent passengers on the Mayflower, including Governor William Bradford. But her early life was plagued by extreme poverty. She lost her father when she was only five years old and her family had to be separated to different households as her mother could not support the family on her own.

When she was ten years old, she became an indentured servant to Deacon Benjamin Thomas and worked on his farm. At age 18, her service was over and she moved out to live independently. She was self-taught but was able to work as a teacher during the summer months and worked as a weaver in the winter. In 1782, Sampson disguised herself as a man and joined the Colonial Army to fight in the American Revolution.

She served under the name Robert Shurtleff in the Massachusetts fourth Regiment. This was actually her second attempt at joining the Army. As in the previous year, she had signed up but had quickly been recognized around town and had to pay back her military bonus. She would later be put under the command of Captain George Webb as a light infantryman and would serve for the most part in the Hudson Valley region of New York.

During the last year of the war, General Washington considered an attack on New York City. Samson acted as a scout during this campaign, gathering information on troop numbers and positions in Manhattan. She also helped to lead raids on English supporters and once captured 15 men in a loyalist home. Samson went to considerable effort through all of this to keep her gender secret.

This included when she was injured, cleaning and dressing the wound herself. However, after a skirmish in Westchester County, New York, a bullet was lodged too deep in her leg to pull out herself, and it remained there for the rest of her life. Sadly, her secret could not last forever, and her gender would eventually be discovered by a doctor after she fell ill during an epidemic in Philadelphia.

When she lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. On October 23rd, 1783, she was honorably discharged from the Continental Army and returned to Massachusetts in 1785. Samson married Benjamin again and would have three children with him. She would spend the rest of her life as a farmer's wife, with a few notable exceptions. A book was written about her life and service in 1797 by Herman Mann, The Female Review or Memoirs of an American Young Lady.

Starting in 1802, she traveled to multiple major cities around the United States to give lectures on her military history, and even ended the presentations by dressing in uniform. She would also petition Congress for a military pension after dealing with lifelong complications from the bullet she had failed to dislodge when petitioning Congress for the pension. She was even supported by Paul Revere.

She received the pension in 1805, making her the first American woman granted it for one. In addition to being the first woman to go on a lecture tour in the United States. From her earlier travels, the life of one of America's first female soldiers would end on April 29th, 1827. After her death, her husband would be granted pay as the widow of a soldier by Congress, and she would be buried in Sharon, Massachusetts. v The process by which Deborah Samson became the state heroine is unique to Massachusetts as well. In Massachusetts, there exists a legal framework by which any citizen can propose a law called the right of free petition. Massachusetts is the only state with this mechanism which allows citizens to write and propose laws to have their legislator sign and file them into the normal legislative process.

Because of this, there have been many petitions over the years by citizens written to enshrine certain things as symbols of Massachusetts to represent its values. One of these petitions was by Elizabeth and Mathare of Braintree, to name Deborah Samson as the Massachusetts state heroine, while also setting aside a May 23rd as a day to honor her memory. In 1983, Governor Michael Dukakis signed the law, making her the official state heroine message usage has many state symbols to represent its values, and standing proudly beside them is state heroine Deborah Samson, who overcame great hardship to lead a trailblazing and amazing life.

Thank you for joining me today to learn about Deborah Samson. If you'd like to learn more about her or the right to free petition, check out these resources. See you next time.