List of sources

www.rootswed.ancestry.com

www.distinguishedwomen.com

Accomplishments

• When i was 18 i became a school teacher
• First known women to impersonate a man to be able to enlist in the army.
• Mother of three children 
• Gave lectures about the war to student all around New England and New York
• Received pensions for her services in the war

My life

My name is Deborah Sampson. I was the first know American women to impersonate a man to be able to enlist in the military. I was born on Dec 17, 1760 to my parents Jonathan and Deborah Sampson. I was the oldest of seven brothers and sisters. My father went out to sea when I was young and he never returned.

Without my father, my mother could not support all of us and so we were all sent to different households. Because of this I was raised in poverty as an indentured servant. When I was 18 I became a schoolteacher at the local school.

On May 20, 1782 when I was 21 I enlisted in the 4^th Massachusetts regiment in the continental army.  I enlisted under the assumed name Robert Shurtlieff. I fought just as well as any man and during a battle near Tarry Town I was wounded in the leg. I did not want my identity to be found out so I had to doctor my own leg. Because of this my leg never healed quite right. Sometime later I was hospitalized with a fever and was found out by my doctor. After this, General Henry Knox honorably discharged me from the army at West Point.

When I returned home I married a farmer named Benjamin Gannett and had three kids. Later on in the years I started receiving pension and started giving lectures around New England and New York. I died at the age of 66 of old age.