America Untold:
Forgotten heroes, Forgotten Stories
Scarlet Ingstad
Christian, Independent Author, Historian
Christian, Independent Author, Historian
Welcome back to Revolution Untold! Today, I'd like to introduce you to a member of Benjamin Tallmadge's spy network: Anna Smith Strong. Anna was born on April 14, 1740 in Setauket, New York. She married a man named Selah Strong in 1760, and they had nine children. Selah was a Patriot judge and Anna's family owned a Long Island manor. Her home in Setauket, alongside her husband's political position, made the family a target for the British soldiers who occupied Long Island late in 1776. In 1778, Selah was arrested and put on a British prison ship called the Jersey in New York harbor. He was accused of "surreptitious correspondence with the enemy." Prison ship conditions were horrendous, and many who boarded them as prisoners usually departed through death. After fiercely contesting the allegations, Anna managed to acquire permission to board the ship to bring her husband necessary provisions. Luckily for Selah, Anna also had wealthy Tory (pro-British) relatives who aided in bribing British officials to have Selah paroled in Connecticut instead. Selah would remain here for the rest of the war, taking the couple's children with him. With her husband and children gone, Anna was left alone on Strong's Neck during the thick of the Revolution. Anna opted to stay in her family's manor because empty dwellings during this time were often looted and destroyed. It was during this time that Anna entered into the world of espionage, alongside her fellow friends and neighbors: Abraham Woodhull, Caleb Brewster, and Benjamin Tallmadge. Caleb Brewster often crossed the Long Island Sound (Devil's Belt, as they referred to it), to drop off and receive messages for and from the Culper Ring. Having already been identified by the British as a spy, Brewster's efforts had to be even more clandestine than ever. Because of this, Brewster would hide his boat in one of six different locations to throw off the British soldiers. The issue became quickly apparent: how was Woodhull to know which cove Brewster landed in on any given day? The answer? Abraham Woodhull's neighbor, Anna Smith Strong. Tallmadge and Woodhull approached Anna and requested her assistance with the ring. Given what she had already endured with her husband, chances are, Anna did not hesitate when asked to help subvert British efforts. She, along with Woodhull, devised a system of hanging laundry to indicate when and where Brewster arrived to pick up and drop off the intelligence. When Anna hung a black petticoat on the line, it signaled to Woodhull that Brewster had arrived in town. The number of white handkerchiefs Anna hung next to the petticoat indicated which cove his boat was located in. Equipped with this information, Woodhull was able to disappear under the cover of night to find Brewster and complete their information transaction. From there, Brewster would travel back across the sound, and deliver the information to Tallmadge. Anna is not mentioned in any of the Culper Spy letters, however there are numerous mentions of her property and the British movements in and around her home. Some historians believe she is the mysterious "355" mentioned in some of the letters. According to Tallmadge's code book, "355" stood for "lady." Other more recent theories have emerged regarding the identity of Agent 355, but those theories will be explored in a future blog post. When the British occupied Anna's family manor later in the war, she moved to a small home across from Woodhull's property so she could keep her eye on the farm and the main house. Throughout the war, Anna assisted the ring through the hanging of her laundry, and possibly other efforts that we may never know about. Anna, like the rest of the Culper Ring, was never caught. Not much information exists regarding what happened to Anna Strong after the war, but we do know that she lived the rest of her life in peace on Setauket with her husband and their children. Anna died on August 12, 1812 and was buried in Setauket in the Saint Georges Manor Cemetery. Anna Smith Strong was a wife, a mother, a spy, and a patriot. She is a Revolutionary Voice worthy of being heard. Sources and Recommended Reading: - My blog post on Benjamin Tallmadge - National Women's History Museum: https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/revolutionary-spies - History of American Women Blog: https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2011/07/anna-smith-strong.html - Culper Spy Ring, Mount Vernon: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/culper-spy-ring/ - Anna Strong: A Spy During the American Revolution - children's book by Sarah Glenn Marsh - Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose - Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War by Kenneth A. Daigler - George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen - Memoir of Benjamin Tallmadge by Benjamin Tallmadge - Invisible Ink: Spycraft of the American Revolution by John A. Nagy - Spies of Revolutionary Connecticut: From Benedict Arnold to Nathan Hale by Mark Allen Baker
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Scarlet Ingstad
I am an independent author and historian seeking to uplift the stories of the lesser-known heroes and heroines of the American Revolution, alongside modern-day heroes and heroines who have served in the U.S. military and continue their service through their historical work. Archives
March 2022
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