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Delia
Haskett Rawson (1861-1949) - The first, and perhaps the only
female to carry the U.S. Mail as a stagecoach driver, Rawson was born
Delia Buraguard Haskett on December 7, 1861 in Ukiah,
California. Her
mother, Miranda, was a school teacher, and her father, Samuel owned the
Ukiah Hotel, a blacksmith shop and was the agent for the local Wells Fargo
stage line. As a very young girl, she was constantly asking him to let her
hold the reins. She also became very skilled at trick riding, roping and
shooting. When she was just 14, one of her father’s regular drivers took
ill and she was given the opportunity to drive the stagecoach, carrying
the U.S. Mail, from Ukiah to Willetts.
The trip began in
the afternoon would not be complete until about 3:00 a.m. the next
morning.
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Delia Haskett Rawson
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Warned against the danger, she set out on the
trip and around midnight became very alarmed when a group of horseman came
up upon her coach. Though she was sure it was road agents, she was very
relieved when she realized they were a group of singing men on their way
home from a church meeting. Before long, Delia became a regular backup
driver on the 45 mile Lakeport-Ukiah run, which she continued for about
ten years.
She later married and moved to southern
California
in the 1880s with her husband and had three children. In 1934, when the
Pioneer Stage Drivers of California Association was organized at
Carpentaria, she was elected Vice President. By the time she was in her
seventies, she was living and working on a 10-acre orange grove in San
Dimas. She died at the age of 87 on May 15, 1949.
Annie
Rogers, aka: Della Moore, Maud Williams (18??-19??) - Born in
Texas as
Della Moore,
Annie was working in
Fannie Porter's brothel in
San Antonio
when she met
Harvey Logan, better known as
Kid
Curry. Though
Curry had a reputation as the most dangerous member of the
Wild Bunch, his affection for the slender, dark-haired girl seemed
genuine. They often "presented" themselves as man and wife, but it is
unknown if they were actually ever married. On July 3, 1901, the Kid,
along with
Ben Kilpatrick and O.C. Hanks robbed the Great Northern Coast
Railroad near Wagner,
Montana, escaping with more than $40,000.
Several months later,
Annie was arrested on October 14th in Nashville, Tennessee for passing
bank notes that were stolen in the great Northern robbery.
Annie spent time in jail until she was acquitted on June 18, 1902.
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In the meantime,
Curry had also been arrested when he got into a bar fight in
Knoxville, Tennessee on December 13, 1901. Captured two days later, he was
still in jail when
Rogers was released. In November, 1902, he was convicted of multiple
charges, including forging stolen bank notes and sentenced to 130 years in
prison. However, he escaped on June 27, 1903 and a year later, he
participated in robbing the Denver & Rio Grande train near
Parachute,
Colorado
on June 7, 1904. Two days later, a posse caught up with the
outlaws
and in the confrontation,
Logan was wounded. However, rather than go to prison,
he took his own life. He was 37 years old.
Annie Rogers
never saw
Harvey Logan
again after she was acquitted of passing the bank notes and lived the rest
of her life as a law abiding citizen.
More ...
Deborah Sampson Gannett (1760-1827) - The first known woman to
impersonate a man in the U.S. Army,
Deborah served as a soldier during the American Revolution. Born in
Plympton, Massachusetts on December 17, 1760 to Jonathan and Deborah
Bradford Sampson, she was the oldest of seven children. While still a very
young girl, her father allegedly drowned in a shipwreck and mother and
children were left destitute. The children were sent to live at different
households. Later, in 1770, she became an indentured servant with a family
that had ten sons. There, she learned both women’s work, but also many
predominantly male tasks, such as carpentry, plowing fields, and caring
for stock. Self taught, she learned to read and developed a keen interest
in politics and the events leading up to the American Revolution.
When she was 18 she was
released from indentured service and first taught school. However,
obviously not to her liking, in May, 1782, she disguised herself as a man
and volunteered to join the army. Calling herself Robert Shirtliffe, she
soon joined the Light Infantry Company of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment.
For the next three years, she served in various capacities and was wounded
twice, once with a sword cut to the side of her head and a few months
later, receiving a shot through the shoulder. In 1783 she was promoted and
spent seven months serving as a waiter to General John Patterson.
During the summer of 1783,
Deborah took ill with
a fever and the doctor who cared for her discovered her identity but
did not betray her secret. A few months later; however, she was
ordered to carry a letter to General Washington, at which time, she
was sure she would be discovered. However, though he said nothing, he
gave her an honorable discharge, a note with some advice, and enough
money to get her home.
No longer
a soldier, Samson returned to her life as a woman and married a man
named Benjamin Gannett in April, 1785 and the pair had three children.
In the meantime, some of her back pay had been withheld from her
because she was a woman. However, in 1782, she was granted the back
pay and several years later, was granted pension privileges. She gave
a number of lectures regarding her experiences in the army over the
years. Deborah Sampson died at the age of 67 on April
29, 1827 and was buried at the Rock Ridge Cemetery, in Norfolk County,
Massachusetts. More ...
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)
Though somewhat overshadowed by her long time friend and colleague,
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