Wife, Mother &...Spy?

Sorry for the delay of this Revolutionary Saturday post. Both of my sons needed my attention, which had to come first.

This is a fitting segue into my introduction of Anna Smith Strong, a Setauket, Long Island resident during the Revolutionary War. Anna was a devoted wife and mother – and, we can say with relative certainty – she was also part of George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring.

Why we can only say this with relative certainty is because there is no definitive proof – only circumstantial evidence. Historians believe she was involved with the ring, but never mentioned in the letters because she was a woman.

Legend has it that Anna hung her petticoats on a clothesline as a signal that a message was ready to be taken to Washington (hopefully this coincided with her laundry needs.) This story has been told so often that most people who know about the Culper Spy Ring name her as a member.

The Daughters of the American Revolution clearly embrace Anna's petticoat legend.
They have an Anna Smith Strong chapter.

As a matter of fact¸ Anna was the reason I became intrigued with the spy ring.

School children in the Setauket area are taught about Anna's petticoats.

I was visiting a sick friend, who’d recently moved from Setauket.

“I miss being there,” he told me.

“Why?” I asked. All I knew about Setauket was it was way out on the island – pretty secluded.

“It’s so historical there,” he said.

“In what way?” I pressed.

“A woman used to hang her petticoats as a signal for George Washington’s spy ring,” he told me.

WHAT? My story sensor spiked. A WOMAN spy during the American Revolution? I didn’t even know that Long Island was involved with the revolution at all!

Thanks goodness for Google. When I got home I entered a few key words, and presto – I knew enough about the Culper Spy Ring to know that I wanted to know more. I wanted to write their story.

The ironic thing was that I couldn’t include Anna in the events of my story, because I couldn't prove she was a spy. The person who’d ignited my passion had to be edited out.

Here’s to Anna Smith Strong: A patriot, for sure. She stayed on occupied Long Island and took care of the family homestead while her husband was confined to a British prison ship.

Was she a spy?

 I think so.

But we’ll never know for sure....