Sarah Mary Benjamin
Mount Pleasant Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Revolutionary War heroine. At least 101 years old at her death in 1858, she lived here after 1822 and was known for her vivid recollections of the war. Sarah traveled with her husband's New York unit, 1780-1783, doing its sewing and washing and baking bread. She stood guard in his place as a sentinel at Kingsbridge. At Yorktown, she carried food to the soldiers in the heat of the battle.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
During the Revolution, thousands of women followed the Continental Army as it marched, cooking, sewing, washing, and nursing the men who fought—labor without which the army could not have stayed in the field. Sarah Mary Benjamin was one of these camp followers, accompanying a New York unit from 1780 to 1783 and, by her own vivid later account, even standing sentinel duty at Kingsbridge and carrying food to soldiers under fire at Yorktown. Living past the age of 100, she settled in this Wayne County township after 1822, where her firsthand memories of the war made her a living link to the founding generation.
Why it matters
Her story rescues from anonymity the women whose everyday work sustained the Revolution, reminding us that independence was won by far more people than the soldiers alone.
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Related people
- · Sarah Mary Benjamin
Related events
- · Siege of Yorktown
- · American Revolution
Themes & tags
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