We’re returning to Revolutionary War era Long Island on this episode. And while the Culper Spy Ring does play a part, we are turning the focus to a woman whose story and connections to the Ring were ignored and misrepresented until reconstructed by Claire Bellerjeau. Her book with Tiffany Yecke Brooks, Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution, brought to life the meticulous research Bellerjeau conducted over years to illustrate Liss (Elizabeth), a woman surviving through tumultuous times.

Their latest book (and non-profit organization) is Remember Liss which brings the story to students and educators. Combined with primary sources through the New York State Archives, Remember Liss is a fascinating journey through the late 17th and early 18th centuries on Long Island, New York City, and South Carolina. It uses documents, letters, and similar records to show the struggles of a woman born into slavery in Oyster Bay, her ties to Robert Townsend (Culper Jr), General John Simcoe, Major John Andre, and the lengths she would go to in order to gain her freedom.

Further Research

• Remember Liss
• Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution
• Consider the Source
• “Did an Enslaved Woman Try to Warn the Americans of Benedict Arnold’s Treason?“
• The Battle of Stony Point
• Deposition of Richard Palmes (Boston Massacre Historical Society)
• Intro music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0
• Audio Footnotes
  • Episode 46 : Morton Pennypacker
  • All Culper Spy Ring-related episodes