The Revolutionary War pension file for Deborah Gannett reads: “alias Robert Shurtleff.” Last Saturday, Fort Delaware in Narrowsburg hosted a performance about this heroine, Deborah Sampson Gannett, who hid her identity and enlisted in the Massachusetts 4th Regiment as a man. With exemplary service, she received a promotion and served as a personal aide to General John Paterson. During a fever that rendered her unconscious, an attending physician discovered her true gender had been under wraps all along. 

She was given an honorable discharge in 1783. Two years later, Sampson married Benjamin Gannett, settling in Sharon, Massachusetts. To supplement her war pension, she toured as a professional speaker. 

Deborah Sampson’s story, “A Revolution of Her Own,” is a one-person show produced by the Boston company History at Play (HAP) which was founded in 2010 by Judith Kalaora, a playwright and living historian. The extensive research of her character is evident in Kalaora’s portrayal of Sampson, drawn in part from Sampson’s own journal. Even Kalaora’s voice deepens as she dons the uniform of a Continental private, discarding the woman’s pockets and bum roll to transform into Sampson’s alias, Robert Shurtleff. At the close of her story, the audience is invited to ask questions directly of Sampson. Then, Kalaora responds to audience questions about her research and the character she’s portrayed.

Along with other historic figures, Kalaora can also portray Rachel Revere (whose husband, Paul, is introduced to every elementary school student studying the Revolution), offering a view of the distaff side of the famed rider’s family. 

The event was part of the Bold Gold Media Speaker Series, with support from the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway and Foster Supply Hospitality. Fort Delaware is operated by The Delaware Company, thedelawarecompany.org.