Deborah Gannett, of Sharon, in the county of Norfolk, and District of Massachusetts, a resident and nation of the United States, and applicant for a pension from the United States, under an Act of Congress entitled an Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States, in the revolutionary war, maketh oath, that she served as a private soldier, under the name of Robert Shurtleff, in the war of the revolution, upwards of two years in manner following [illegible]. Enlisted in April 1781 in the company commanded by Captain George Webb in the Massachusetts regiment commanded then by Colonel Shepherd, and afterwards by Colonel Henry Jackson - and served in said corps, in Massachusetts, and New York - until November 1783 - when she was honorably discharged in writing, which discharge is lost. During the time of her service, she was at the capture of Lord Cornwallis, was wounded at Tarrytown - and now receives a pension from the United States, which pension she duly relinquishes. She is in such reduced circumstances, as to require the aid of her country for her support---
Mass. District September 14, 1818
Deborah Gannett Sworn to before me Davis Dis. Judge Mass. District
To Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens [Middlebrook, New Jersey, April, 1779]
Cold in my professions, warm in [my] friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it m[ight] be in my power, by action rather than words, [to] convince you that I love you. I shall only tell you that ’till you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it was not well done. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how much it is my desire to preserve myself free from particular attachments, and to keep my happiness independent on the caprice of others. You sh[ould] not have taken advantage of my sensibility to ste[al] into my affections without my consent. But as you have done it and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have so artfully instilled into [me].
I have received your two letters one from Philadelphia the other from Chester. I am pleased with your success, so far, and I hope the favourable omens, that precede your application to the Assembly may have as favourable an issue, provided the situation of affairs sh[ould] require it which I fear will be the case. But both for your country’s sake and for my own I wish the enemy may be gone from Georgia before you arrive and that you may be obliged to return and share the fortunes of your old friends…
Yours. A Hamilton
To Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens [Bergen County, New Jersey, September 16, 1780]
...That you can speak only of your private affairs shall be no excuse for your not writing frequently. Remember that you write to your friends, and that friends have the same interests, pains, pleasures, sympathies; and that all men love egotism.
In spite of Schuylers black eyes, I have still a part for the public and another for you; so your impatience to have me married is misplaced; a strange cure by the way, as if after matrimony I was to be less devoted than I am now... I wish you were at liberty to transgress the bounds of Pensylvania. I would invite you after the fall to Albany to be witness to the final consummation. My Mistress is a good girl, and already loves you because I have told her you are a clever fellow and my friend...
Adieu, be happy, and let friendship between us be more than a name.
A Hamilton The General & all the lads send you their love
On the morning of April 18, 1775, Robert Douglass and myself heard the Lexington bell about one hour before day. We concluded that trouble was near. We waited for no man but [hurried] and joined Captain Parker’s company at [dawn]. Douglass and myself stood together in the center of the company when the enemy first fired. . . . I helped carry six dead into the meetinghouse and then set out after the enemy . . .
I was in the [troop] reinforcement on Long Island when we evacuated the island. . . . We marched on and came to a place called Frog’s Point. There we had a small brush with the enemy. I received a [bullet] through my left shoulder . . .
[H]aving a chance to make shoes for the army, I bought leather, hired [workers], made shoes, and delivered them for the soldiers. . . .
I sent an application [for a pension] eight or nine years ago to Congress. . . . . If I am [ever going to receive money] for service done in the army, I need it now [and so do] my fellow soldiers who have done no more than I have. I think I have been neglected.
On the 12 of July...true Daughters of Liberty & Industry, stimulated by their fair Sisters, met at the House of Rev. Mr. Forbes, to the number of Fifty-five, with Thirty four Wheels; and from 5 o'Clock in the Morning, to 7 in the Evening picked, carded, and spun [a large amount] of Cotton Wool...and of Flax...The next Day, and for several succeeding Days; others as well affected [by]...the Cause of Liberty and Industry, but [who] could not leave their Families to join their Sisters on the Said Day, sent in their [yarn] spun out of their own Materials.
July 16. --- Newport. July 10. We can assure the Public, that Spinning is so much encouraged among us, that a Lady in Town, who is in very affluent Circumstances, and who is between 70 and 80 years of Age, has within about three Weeks become a very good Spinner, though she never spun a Thread in her Life before. Thus has the Love of Liberty and dread of Tyranny, kindled in the Breast of old and young, a glorious Flame, which will eminently distinguish the fair Sex of the present Time through far distant Ages.
January 13, 1777
[We understand] that [we] have, in common with all other men, a natural & unalienable right to that freedom, which [God] has [given] equally [to] all and which [we] have never [given up in] any contract or agreement
But [we] were unjustly dragged, by the cruel hand of power, from [our] dearest friends, & some of [us] even torn from the embraces of [our] tender parents… & brought [here] to be sold like beasts of burden, & like them condemned to slavery for life—
…Every principle from which America has acted in the course of her unhappy difficulties with Great-Britain, pleads stronger than a thousand arguments in favor of [us].
[We] therefore humbly [beg] your honors, to [consider] this petition, & [pass a law] whereby [slaves] may be restored to the enjoyment of that freedom which is the natural right of all men--& their children (who were born in this Land of Liberty) may not be held as slaves after they arrive at the age of twenty one years.
Lancaster Hill
Peter Bess
Brister Slenten
Prince Hall
Jack Purpont (his mark)
Nero Suneto (his mark)
Newport Symner (his mark)
Job Lock
To the [honorable] General Assembly of Virginia…
Gentlemen,
When the British Parliament [took away the] right to dispose of our property without our consent, we [broke away from our] parent country, and established a Constitution and form of government of our own, that our property might be secure, in future. [To do this] we risked our lives and fortunes, and waded through seas of blood.
[Because of God’s favor] our attempt was crowned with success. We were put in the possession of our rights of liberty and property… But [despite] this, we understand a very subtle and daring attempt is made [to take away] a very important part of our property…TO WREST FROM US OUR SLAVES, by an act of the legislature for a general emancipation of them.
[This is] an attempt unsupported by Scripture or [wise] policy.
It is unsupported by Scripture…
It is also [very unwise because this law would cause]
Want, poverty, distress, and ruin to the free citizen;
Neglect, famine and death to the black infant and [elderly] parent;
The horrors of all the rapes, murders and outrages, which a vast multitude of unprincipled, unpropertied, revengeful, and remorseless [outlaws] are capable of perpetrating;
Inevitable bankruptcy…and consequently breach of public faith, and loss of credit with foreign nations;
and, lastly, sure and final ruin to this now flourishing free and happy country.
We therefore…pray you will…reject every motion and proposal for emancipating our slaves…
[Signed
November 8, 1785 in Mecklenburg County by 223 people
November 10, 1785 in Amelia County by 22 people
November 10, 1785 in Pittsylvania County by 54 people]
It is certain in theory, that the only moral foundation of government is the consent of the people, but to what an extent shall we carry this principle? Shall we say, that every individual of the community, old and young, male and female, as well as rich and poor, must consent, expressly to every act of legislation?...
…Why exclude women? …Because their delicacy renders them unfit for practice and experience, in the great business of life, and the hardy enterprises of war, as well as the arduous cares of state. Besides, their attention is so much engaged with the necessary nurture of their children, that nature has made them fittest for domestic cares. And children have not judgment or will of their own…
Depend upon it, sir, it is dangerous to open [such a] source of controversy and altercation, as would be opened by attempting to [change] the qualifications of voters. There will be no end of it. New claims will arise. Women will demand a vote. Lads from 12 to 21 will think their rights not enough attended to, and every man, who has not a [dime], will demand an equal voice with any other in all acts of state. It tends to confound and destroy all distinctions, and [surrender] all ranks, to one common level.