Deborah Sampson was a woman who is well
known for disguising herself as a man to
serve in the Continental Army during the
Revolutionary War. She had served for
17 months under the name "Robert Shirtliff"
before being wounded in 1782, then honorably
discharged in 1783.

She was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton,
Massachusetts. Her parents were named Jonathan
Sampson and Deborah Bradford; and her siblings
were named Jonathan, Elisha, Hannah, Ephraim,
Nehemiah, and Sylvia. Sampson's father abandoned
the family after a few years, so she and her
siblings were sent to other families' homes
by their mother. After her mother's death, she
was sent to live with a widow, and it is believed
that's where she learned how to read. When the
widow died, however, she was then sent to work
as an indentured servant for a family in
Middleborough, where she got her school education
from the family's sons (the parents were not believers
of women's education).

In early 1782, Sampson joined an Army unit in
Middleborough, Massachusetts, under the name
"Timothy Thayer". Her attempt was unsuccessful,
however, due to being recognized by a local
resident. In May 1782, enlisted in Uxbridge,
Massachusetts, under the name "Robert Shirtliff".
She joined the 4th Massachusetts Regiment under
the command of Captain George Webb. During her
first battle, she was shot twice in her thigh
and had a cut on her forehead, and managed to
flee from the hospital for fear of being discovered.
She managed to attend to one of the wounds
herself, but wasn't able to help the other one.
During the summer of 1783, Sampson grew ill and
was discovered by Doctor Barnabas Binney.
Instead of alerting the army authorities, he
took her to his house, where he and his family
would take care of her. Dr. Binney asked Sampson
to bring a note to General Paterson, and was
also discovered there. But Paterson just discharged
her there, and sent her on her way.

Sampson was married Stoughton, Massachusetts to
Benjamin Gannett on April 7, 1785. They had three
children named Earl, Mary, and Patience. They also
adopted an orphan named Susanna Baker Shepard. From
the late 1790s to the early 1800s, Sampson lived and
worked on Gannett's family-owned farm. She had petitioned
the Massachusetts State Legislature to give her the pay
that was withheld from her by the army because she was
a woman. She also had gotten her friend, Paul Revere, to
demand they give her the pension for her military service
and wounds. After Congress finally gave her the money, she
was able to pay off her loans and improve the farm.

Sampson died on April 29, 1827 from yellow fever. She
was 66 years old. She was buried at Rock Ridge Cemetery
in Sharon, Massachusetts.