At the 305th birthday tea celebration for the town of Plympton, Deborah Sampson made an appearance. The most interesting part I thought was the fact that the person portraying Deborah Sampson lived in Kansas and had never been to Plympton. Most people have never heard of Deborah Sampson unless they were from Plympton (were she was born) or Sharon (where she raised her own family). I actually had to ask the woman how she had heard of Deborah Sampson. I was assuming she must have know someone in this area but she actually learned about her in college when she took a women’s history class (or something like that).

Some of you may be wondering who Deborah Sampson was and why she was famous… “Plympton’s most famous resident, Deborah Sampson, was born here December 17, 1760. In 1780, she dressed as a man and enlisted in the Revolutionary War Army as Robert Shirtliffe to fight for America‘s freedom from British rule. Shirtliffe took part in many famous battles, including the siege of Yorktown, and was wounded twice. However, during the summer of 1783, soldier Shirtliffe was overtaken by a fever and was sent to a hospital in Philadelphia where “he” was found to be “she”. After recovering from her illness, Sampson was given an honorable discharge. A bronze tablet, given by the Daughters of the American Revolution, is located on a boulder on Plympton Green and commemorates her story.” (reference: Town of Plympton website)