The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-21
No. S-Robert shirtliffe, Revolution
airy Soldier. Deborah Samson.l

The little village of Mediterranean
Mass-, was thrown into a state of ex-
S slss In the month of September,
-.ei, py the mysterious disappearance
~ an ambitious young school mistress
twenty years old. Deborah Samson. nv
lame. The air was filed with rumors
q all sorts. The climax came, how
ever one Sunday morning when a dea-
soh OF the village church, of which the
Souhs lady was a member, arose and
read from the register kept. that as
Deborah Samson had been accused of
pressing in mems clothing and enlssting
as a soldier In the army. although not
Convicted, yet was suspected Of being
guilty, as she had left our parts in a
sudden manner" and, continued the
good man members had labored with
her, TO all of which the wiIlful Deber-
All seemed to have turned a deaf ear.
IN consequence of which the young lady
was 20 forfeit her Fellowship with the
church" A hum of excitement went
over the house. for 1t was rare indeed
Tor woman to be read out of
church."
That our heroine was a person of
some standing I'm the little Puritanical
community is evidenced by the fact
that her doings should have temporar-
lily eclipsed the excitement of the reve-
luton, which, as we may imagine, was
the all-absorbing topic; but Deborah
Samson was no ordinary girl. She was
the granddaughter of William
Bradford. governor OF the Plymouth
colony. and Elisha Bradford, her
grandfather had been a man of much
influence and distinguished for HIS lit
eFary attachments. and Massachusetts
people, even in those early days, laid
great stress upon who your GRANDPA
ther was" Added to this, Deborah s
own remarkable personality, il is not to
be wondered at then. that her depar-
ture, under such cIouded circumstances,
should have caused such a stir
Deborah's parents were very poor.
and she was left an orphan at an early
age. She was given a home by a fam
lily, who. though kind to her, could not
give her any educational advantages,
the very thing for which poor Deborah
ionged the most and determined TO
have. So although most of her days
were spent la-boTing in the fields, she
found time to study, and against great
odds finally qualified herself for a
teacher.
Shortly after these events were tran
spring I'm marlborough. a stalwart,
bright-faced young man, Robert Shirt
life, enlisted in the regiment being or
ganizsd by Captain Nathaniel Thayer
of Midway. Mass, who invited the
young recruit to his home. he being a
stranger in those parts. At that time
a guest Of Mrs. Thayer's. a young girl
of seventeen, began casting coquettish
glanees at Robert. and the zest with
which he answered the challenge evil
denced a strong sense of humor in De-
borah. The innocent Irritation was cut
short by the departure of the regiment,
much to the relief of Mrs. Thayer. who,
somehow. sensed Roberts insincerity.
Several letters and souvenirs were re-
ceived by Robert while he was in the
service from his little sdmirer, and
were kept for years by Deborah Sam
son.
Her military career was remaTka BILE.
She took part in the siege of Yorktown,
was active IN taking two formidable
redoubtsA by storming. did hard work in
trenches. was twice severely wounded,
once in the head and once I'm the shoul-
Der. both times escaping detection.