This cache is part of the “Women In History” cache series started by cacher Meandmydogs
***The Cache is not at the posted coordinates***
Answer the questions below to obtain the correct coordinates.
Deborah Sampson Gannett (December 17, 1760 – April 29, 1827)
Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760, in Plympton, Massachusetts, into a family of modest means. Sampson's father abandoned the family, her mother was unable to provide for her children, so she placed them in the households of friends and relatives.
Sampson was placed in the home of a maternal relative.[5]:30–31 When her mother died shortly afterwards, she was sent to live with Reverend Peter Thatcher's widow Mary Prince Thatcher (1688–1771), who was then in her eighties.[5]:30–31 Historians believe she learned to read while living with the widow Thatcher, who might have wanted Sampson to read Bible verses to her.[5]:30–31
Upon the widow's death, Sampson was sent to live with the Jeremiah Thomas family in Middleborough, where she worked as an indentured servant from 1770 to 1778. Although treated well, she was not sent to school like the Thomas children because Thomas was not a believer in the education of women. Sampson was able to overcome Thomas's opposition by learning from Thomas's sons, who shared their school work with her. This method was apparently successful; when her time as an indentured servant was over at age 18, Sampson made a living by teaching school during the summer sessions in 1779 and 1780. Sampson was also reported to have woodworking and mechanical aptitude. Her skills included basket weaving, and light carpentry such as producing milking stools and winter sleds. She was also experienced with fashioning wooden tools and implements including weather vanes, spools for thread, and quills for weaving. She also produced pie crimpers, which she sold door to door.
In early 1782, Sampson wore men's clothes and joined an Army unit in Middleborough, Massachusetts under the name Timothy Thayer. She collected a bonus and then failed to meet up with her company as scheduled. Inquiries by the company commander revealed that Sampson had been recognized by a local resident at the time she signed her enlistment papers. Her deception uncovered, she repaid the portion of the bonus that she had not spent, but she was not subjected to further punishment by the Army. The Baptist church to which she belonged learned of her actions and withdrew its fellowship, meaning that its members refused to associate with her unless she apologized and asked forgiveness.
In May 1782, Sampson enlisted again, this time in Uxbridge, Massachusetts under the name "Robert Shirtliff" She joined the Light Infantry Company of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment. Light Infantry Companies were elite troops, specially picked because they were taller and stronger than average. Because she joined an elite unit, Sampson's disguise was more likely to succeed, since no one was likely to look for a woman among soldiers who were specially chosen for their above average size and superior physical ability.
Sampson fought in several skirmishes. During her first battle, on July 3, 1782 outside Tarrytown, New York, she took two musket balls in her thigh and sustained a cut on her forehead. She begged her fellow soldiers not to take her to a doctor out of fear her sex would be discovered, but a soldier put her on his horse and took her to a hospital. A doctor treated her head wound, but she left the hospital before he could attend to her leg. She removed one of the balls herself with a penknife and sewing needle, but the other was too deep for her to reach. She carried it in her leg for the rest of her life and her leg never fully healed. On April 1, 1783, she was reassigned to new duties, and spent seven months serving as a waiter to General John Paterson.
The war was thought to be over following the Battle of Yorktown, but since there was no official peace treaty, the Continental Army remained in uniform. On June 24, the President of Congress ordered George Washington to send a contingent of soldiers under Paterson to Philadelphia to help quell a rebellion of American soldiers who were protesting delays in receiving their pay and discharges. During the summer of 1783, Sampson became ill in Philadelphia and was cared for by Doctor Barnabas Binney (1751–1787). He removed her clothes to treat her and discovered the cloth she used to bind her breasts. Without revealing his discovery to army authorities, he took her to his house, where his wife, daughters, and a nurse took care of her.
In September 1783, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris, November 3 was set as the date for soldiers to muster out. When Dr. Binney asked Sampson to deliver a note to General Paterson, she correctly assumed that it would reveal her sex. In other cases, women who pretended to be men to serve in the army were reprimanded, but Paterson gave her a discharge, a note with some words of advice, and enough money to travel home. She was honorably discharged at West Point, New York, on October 25, 1783, after a year and a half of service.
An official record of Deborah Sampson Gannett's service as "Robert Shirtliff" from May 20, 1782 to Oct 25, 1783 appears in the "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War" Volume 14
Final Coordinates: N 42 AA.BBB W 071 CC.DDD
Under what name did she enlist, the second time she attempted it?
1. Robert Shirtliff AA = 50
2. Thomas Edgewood AA= 51
3. Timothy Thayer AA=52
What was the date of her first battle?
1. July 1, 1782 BBB=445
2. July 3, 1782 BBB=299
3. July 6, 1782 BBB= 005
Who was the Doctor that treated her in Philadelphia and discovered her secret?
1. Barnabas Binney CC=39
2. Charles Whitcomb CC=38
3. S'chn T'gai Spock CC=37
She was honorable discharged on:
1. July 4, 1776 DDD=752
2. February 7, 1780 DDD=398
3. October 25, 1783 DDD=664