Deborah (Sampson) Gannett (1760 - 1827)

Born 17 Dec 1760 in Plympton, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Benjamin Gannett Jr. — married 7 Apr 1785 in Sharon, Norfork, Massachusetts, USA

Descendants

Died 29 Apr 1827 at age 66 in Sharon, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Deborah (Sampson) Gannett is Notable.

Woman who dressed as a man and joined the Massachusetts Militia in the Revolutionary War. She fought in many revolutionary war battles, was wounded, and when examined and found to be a woman, she was honorably discharged from service. She was later designated as the official heroine of the State of Massachusetts.

Deborah Gannett was the daughter of Jonathan Sampson, Jr., born April 3, 1729, at Plympton, Mass, and Deborah Bradford, the daughter of Elisha Bradford of Kingston, Mass. They were married on Oct 27, 1751. She was the granddaughter of Jonathan Sampson, who died at Plymouth, Mass Feb 3, 1758, aged 67 years and 11 months. She was the great-granddaughter of Isaac Sampson, one of the first settlers of Plympton, Massachusetts, and Lydia Standish.^{[1] [2]} Her Mayflower connections include her third great-grandfather, William Bradford, and her fourth great-grandparents John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, and Myles Standish.

She was an American woman who impersonated a man in order to serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. She disguised herself as a boy and signed up for service in Uxbridge in the Massachusetts 4th Regiment as Robert Shurtlieff Sampson, her dead brother’s name. She is one of a small number of women with a documented record of military combat experience in that war.

Deborah (Sampson) Gannett is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-283986
Rank: Private

Private Deborah (Sampson) Gannett served with 4th Regiment, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Militia during the American Revolution.

Deborah (Sampson) Gannett is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A043501.

Her undercover act held, for the most part, throughout her 17-month service. Her disguise had a close call in July of 1782 after she was struck by musket fire. Fearing discovery, she removed one piece of shrapnel from her leg herself. After a cold winter in which she suffered frostbite, Sampson received a promotion to serve as a waiter to General John Paterson in April of 1783. She had one additional close call when she came down with a fever that summer of that year. Her doctor discovered her secret, but he did not reveal it. His wife and daughters nursed Sampson back to health and, with the war now ended, she was honorably discharged by Gen. Henry Knox at West Point in October 1783.

Upon returning to Massachusetts, she abandoned her disguise. She married Benjamin Gannett, Jr. of Stoughton and raised a family of four children, three biological children, and one adopted daughter. She lectured about her adventures throughout New England and into New York and sold a book about her experiences. But she did struggle financially, asking her friend Paul Revere for loans several times.

On 19 Dec 1820, at aged 61 years, she filed an affidavit for a revolutionary war pension. ^[3] She had to wrestle with the bureaucracy to receive her military pension, which wasn’t fully approved until 1816."^[4]With the assistance of Paul Revere, she received a pension of 34 pounds starting in 1792.

Deborah Sampson Gannet "died of yellow fever at the aged of 66 on April 29, 1827." ^[5] She was named the official heroine of Massachusetts in 1983." ^{[6] [7]}

Statue of Deborah Sampson Gannett, by Lu Stubb, dedicated Nov. 11, 1989.

Research Notes

Her family name was originally spelled without the "p", but the letter was mistakenly added. "Sampson" is the most commonly recognized spelling today. [Sharon (Massachusetts) Historical Society]

Sources

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/), "Record of Deborah Sampson Gannet", Ancestor # A043501.
• The Sampson Family: Genealogical Memoirs of the Sampson Family in America by John Adams Vinton, printed for the author by Henry W. Dutton & Son, Boston, 1864. Deborah Sampson is Record #530, Fifth Generation, Pg. 58.^[8]
• Find A Grave: Memorial #377; Deborah Gannett, Rock Ridge Cemetery, Sharon MA

See Also

• The Deborah Samson Gannett Memorials
• Revolutionary Women; Notable Revolutionary Era Women Deserving of a Commemorative Postage Stamp, A Capstone Project Submitted to the College of Online and Continuing Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Master of Arts in History, by Corey Elizabeth Summers, Southern New Hampshire University, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 2017. Deborah Sampson Gannett, Pg. 38.^[9]
• "Proceedings of the 250th Anniversary of Old Bridgewater, Mass. at West Bridgewater, Massachusetts" Old Bridgewater Historical Society, pg. 139, 1907. Contains an excellent description of the military service of patriot Deborah Sampson. https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsof2501656oldb#page/139/mode/1up
• Sons of the American Revolution Patriot #P-283986
• "United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89WB-Z73G?cc=2069831&wc=MXMQ-5P8%3A355665301 : 22 September 2016), 2-vol B Revolutionary War pensioners > image 36 of 519; citing NARA microfilm publication T718 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962).
• A Life and Character Peculiarly Distinguished: Deborah Sampson in the Revolutionary War. http://www.ohiohistoryhost.org/ohiomemory/archives/3520
• "A People's History of the American Revolution" by Ray Raphael revised edition 2016 page 158. Call # 973.3 RAP
• Mann, Herman. The Female Review, Life of Deborah Sampson (J.K. Wiggin & Wm. Parsons Luny, Boston, 1866)
• Stern, Keith. Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals. New York: BenBella Books, Inc, 2009.
• McComb, Melanie. Ask Our Genealogists, "American Ancestors" (NEHGS, Boston, Fall 2019) Vol. 20, No. 3, Page 8-9.
• https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/deborah-sampson
• Katz, Jonathan Ned. "Passing Women: 1782-1920." 1992, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the USA (Revised Edition), pgs 212-4. Meridian Press.
• Booth, Sally Smith. "The Women of '76" Hastings House Publishers, New York 10016, 1973, pp. 266-270.
• Wikipedia: Deborah Sampson
• Wikidata: Item Q3020894, en:Wikipedia

Footnotes

1. ↑ letter dated 23 Aug 1929 from Earl D. Church, Commissioner, War Dept, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 32722, Deborah Gannett, Mass. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/54S636851
2. ↑ "The female review. Life of Deborah Sampson, the female soldier in the war of the revolution" by Herman Mann, revised by Rev John Adams Vinton in "The Magazine of History" publ 1916 p 36 https://archive.org/stream/femalereviewherm00mannrich#page/36/mode/1up/
3. ↑ Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 32722, Deborah Gannett, Mass. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/54636851 "see the report of her service in "Mass Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Rebellion" vol 14 page 164 under Robert Shirtliff. See pension claim Ephraim Sampson, Mass W11053. He was Deborah Gannett's brother and there is a fine history of the family. Her line goes back for 3 generations prior to the Revolution.
4. ↑ "New England Historical Society: 'The Gravesites of Six Revolutionary Heroines'"
5. ↑ Wikipedia
6. ↑ Grave
7. ↑ https://www.canton.org/samson/
8. ↑ The Sampson Family, Pg. 58.
9. ↑ Revolutionary Women. See Pg. 38.