Deborah was born in Plympton, Massachusetts on December 17, 1760. She is the oldest of seven children of Jonathan and Deborah Bradford Sampson. Jonathan left his family and moved to Maine, where he continued to live in poverty. Her mother was poor health and could not support her children, so she sent them off to live with their aunt and uncle. Deborah age five was taken by spinster, and she was sent to work in the home of and elderly of Reverend Thatcher. At the age of eight she became and servant for Jeremiah Thomas. For ten years she helped with the farming and household work, she grew five feet eight inches tall, hard labor help her develop her physical strength. She is too busy to go to school, which during that time it was important that girl went to school and she couldn’t learn how to trade either because that was for guys. At age when her time was over to be an indentured servant Deorah made a living teaching. And she made money spinning and weaving at homes in …show more content…
Because of the remark that she got about holding her quill pen, she feared that she was going to be recognized so deborah didn 't show up the next day. To lessen her chance of being caught she decided to dress in al male clothing and travel easter massachusetts to Worcester. There on May 20 she decide to enlist in the continental army under the name of Robert Shurtliff and she served seventeen months in the army. Deborah was chosen for the Light Infantry Company of the 4 of Massachusetts, which consisted of fifty to sixty men, they marched with her unit to West Point, New York where they patrolled no man’s lands between British controlled Manhattan and the area of Westchester where it was held by the Patriots. Deborah demonstrated courage, skill, and strength. At one point Deborah encountered another american unit. She spent more time weaving in a tavern because she feared that she was going to be