Anna Smith Strong, known by her friends as Nancy, appeared
to be another Tory sympathizer living in Setauket, Long Island during the
American Revolution. In fact she was an American patriot.
How?
She used her clothesline. Nancy would hang a black petticoat out to dry on the
line to indicate that Caleb Brewster, an American spy, was waiting on the Long
Island shoreline to take information back to General Washington in
Connecticut. Along with her black
petticoat were white handkerchiefs. The number of handkerchiefs indicated which
predetermined spot Brewster waited.
Nancy
was married to Selah Strong, a local judge who was later arrested for surreptitious
communication with the enemy (meaning the American loyalists). He was taken to a
prison hulk called the Jersey in New York Harbor, where hunger and disease were
rampant. But Nancy, using her cunning, urged some of her Tory relatives, loyal
to the King, to gain permission to visit him. She brought him food and later
helped to gain his release so that he could flee to Connecticut. She remained
in Setauket. It was until many years later that others learned of her role in
aiding the Culper Spy Rig.