Ann Story facts for kids

Ann Story (born February 27, 1735/1736 – died April 5, 1817) was a brave woman known as a heroine during the American Revolutionary War. She lived in the area that later became the state of Vermont. Her story became famous mostly because of a book called The Green Mountain Boys, written by Daniel Pierce Thompson in 1839. This book was published 22 years after she passed away.

Ann Story's Early Life

Ann was born Hannah Reynolds in Preston, Connecticut. Her parents were Jonathan and Hannah Reynolds. She was called "Ann" to tell her apart from her mother. Her father worked on a farm. Ann was one of six children who grew up. When she was eight, both her parents died, and she lived with her uncle.

At age 19, on September 17, 1755, Ann married Amos Story from Ipswich, Massachusetts. Amos also worked on farms, just like Ann's father. He wanted to own his own farm. This led him to look north to the frontier, where land was cheaper.

Life on the Vermont Frontier

Most of what we know about Ann Story's life on the frontier comes from a book. It's called History of Salisbury, Vermont, written in 1860 by John M. Weeks. He was Ann's neighbor for 28 years. Other details came from her family and friends.

Settling in Salisbury

Salisbury was a town created in 1761 by Benning Wentworth. He was the governor of New Hampshire. Many of the first settlers came from Connecticut. Salisbury was in a disputed area called the "New Hampshire Grants". Both New Hampshire and New York claimed this land. This made it hard for people to settle there. The land dispute wasn't fully fixed before the Revolutionary War. During the war, the region became the independent Vermont Republic in 1777. It joined the United States as the 14th state in 1791.

In March 1775, Amos Story bought 100 acres in Salisbury. He was living in Norwich, Connecticut at the time. He was the second person to settle in the town. That fall, Amos and his 15-year-old son, Solomon, built a small log house. They started clearing land for crops. Just a few weeks later, Amos was killed. A tree he was cutting down fell on him. Solomon walked to nearby Middlebury for help. Benjamin Smalley, the first settler in that area, helped Solomon bury his father.

Ann's Determination

Solomon went back to tell his mother and siblings about Amos's death. They were staying in Rutland. You might think this sad event would stop Ann from moving to the frontier. But it made her even more determined! She wanted to clear and farm the land her husband had chosen. John Weeks said Ann had a "persevering and indomitable spirit." This means she was very strong-willed and wouldn't give up.

In the spring of 1776, Ann moved her family to the log home in Salisbury. She brought her three sons, Solomon, Samuel, and Ephriam, and two daughters, Hannah and Susanna.

A Strong Pioneer Woman

Weeks described Ann as a very strong woman. She was "of very large stature and masculine appearance." She had the physical strength her looks suggested. He noted she wasn't afraid of Loyalists (people loyal to Britain), Native Americans, or wild animals. She could fire a musket if needed. She could also use an axe and a lever to roll logs as well as any man.

In early 1777, news of the war reached the northern frontier. Many people in what would become Vermont moved south for safety. But Ann Story chose to stay on her farm with her children. She stayed even after all her Salisbury neighbors left. She grew crops through most of the Revolutionary War. She would go south to Rutland (about 20 miles away) to spend the winters.

Helping the Patriots

During the war, Ann became known as a friend to the Patriots (American colonists fighting for independence). She was an enemy of the Loyalists. Sometimes, she acted as a spy and messenger for the Vermont Militia. This group was called the "Green Mountain Boys." Two of Ann's sons later joined them.

Ann's cabin was next to Otter Creek. This creek was like a highway back then. The Story cabin was used to house Patriots passing through. Oral stories say that even Col. Ethan Allen stayed there. Tradition also says Ann offered to fight. She reportedly said, "Give me a place among you, and see if I am the first to desert my post."

Surviving Attacks

Weeks shared some of Ann Story's stories about the hard times during the war. In early 1776, Native Americans, who mostly sided with the British, started burning homes. These were homes that people had left when they fled south. One of Ann's children saw smoke at their neighbor's home, close to their cabin. The family quickly gathered their important things. They put them into a canoe by the river, near their door.

Ann said, "Unobserved by the Indians, we shoved off our boat." They went into the deep water of the swamp, out of reach. "Here we saw Mr. Grave’s house and our own burn down." Ann said the family decided right away to rebuild their home. Soon, they built another dwelling from smaller trees. They didn't have horses or oxen to pull big logs. Family stories say the rebuilt cabin had a secret trap door. It led to a crack in the rock below, which went towards the river. The log cabin was later replaced with a plank house.

To keep her family safer, Ann and her children dug a cave on the west bank of Otter Creek. The cave's entrance was big enough for their canoe to fit inside with everyone lying down. Once inside, they could hide the canoe and cover the entrance with bushes. The family stored food and slept higher up in the cave, above the water. During the day, they would come out to cook, eat, and work on the farm.

A Brave Encounter

Mrs. Story told a story about helping a woman. This woman had been captured by Native Americans. But she was released because she was too pregnant to keep up. After the baby was born, its crying worried the Storys. They were hidden in their cave at night. One morning, a Tory named Ezekiel Jenny passed by. He heard the baby crying. He stopped and saw Ann push their canoe out from their hiding spot.

Jenny questioned Ann about where the Patriots were. Ann's answers seemed to avoid his questions. Jenny "threatened to shoot me upon the spot." But Ann bravely told him she wasn't afraid of "so consummate a coward as he." Jenny then left. Ann quickly told two Patriots, Foot and Bentley, that Tories were in the area. Immediately, all the Whigs (another name for Patriots) who could be found went after them. They caught about 20 Tories that same day in Monkton. They handed them over to the authorities at Ticonderoga.

Ann Story's Later Years

In 1783, after the war officially ended, Ann's family moved back to their Salisbury farm for good. In 1792, her sons were grown up, and her daughters were married. Ann then married Benjamin Smalley, a widower. He was the man who had buried her first husband 18 years earlier. Mr. Smalley became ill in 1805 and died in 1807. He left Ann with debts, and the town had to help her financially. Ann then worked as a midwife (helping with births) and a nurse for older people.

In 1812, she married again to Captain Stephen Goodrich. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and an early settler of Middlebury. Goodrich had fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battles of Saratoga. With Stephen Goodrich, Ann lived more comfortably for the last five years of her life. She died on April 5, 1817. She is buried next to her third husband, under the name Hannah Goodrich, in the Seeley (Farmingdale) Cemetery in Middlebury, Vermont.

Memorials to Ann Story

To make sure people knew who she was, the Ann Story Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) in Rutland added words to her headstone in 1898. It now says: "Formerly Ann Story, The Heroine of Thompson’s Green Mountain Boys."

In 1905, the Vermont Society of Colonial Dames placed a monument of Vermont marble in her honor. It is at the spot where her home was during the Revolutionary War. The Mary Baker Chapter of the D.A.R. placed another marble monument in 1914. It is on the other side of Otter Creek in Cornwall, Vermont, at the site of the Story cave.

In 1974, for the 200th anniversary of Ann and Amos Story's first cabin, a reconstructed log cabin was built. It was moved from Addison, Vermont to the Salisbury site. This was another memorial to the original Story home. The cabin was officially opened in 1976 but was sadly destroyed by fire in 2004. On October 19, 2018, the Ann Story Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution unveiled a marble statue of Ann Story in Rutland, Vermont.