Patriot Index:
GANNETT , Deborah Birth: MA 17 Dec 1760 Rank: Pvt Service: MA Death: MA 29 Apr 1827 Patriot Pensioned: Yes Widow Pensioned: No Children Pensioned: No Heirs Pensioned: No Spouse: Benjamin Gannett
From the book:
Masquerade.
The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier.
By Alfred F. Young.
Deborah Sampson enlisted 20 May 1782, when she was twenty-one, in the 4th Mass. Regt. of the Continental Army at Bellingham as Robert Shurtleff, under the name of her deceased brother, brother Robert Shurtleff Sampson, who had died at the age of 8 years.
She fought in the American Revolution as Robert Shurtliff for seventeen months during the period between the British surrender at Yorktown and the signing of the final treaty. She served in the light infantry and was in dangerous patrols and encounters. She also served as an orderly to a general at West Point.
Deborah's early life as an indentured servant, her young adulthood as a weaver, a teacher, and religious rebel. She married Benjamin Gannett and lived in South Eastern Mass.
Deborah Sampson, born in Plympton, Massachusetts 17 Dec 1760, was the daughter of Jonathan and Deborah (Bradford) Sampson. Her maternal grandparents were Elisha and Bathsheba (LeBrocke) Bradford. She was a direct descendant of Isaac Sampson and of William Bradford of the Mayflower.