Anna Smith, "Tangier"

1740 - 1812  (72 years)

• Name	Anna Smith  [1, 2]
  Suffix	"Tangier"
  Birth	14 Apr 1740  [2]
  Gender	Female
  Burial	1812	Saint Georges Manor Cemetery, Setauket, Suffolk, New York, United States   [2]
  Death	12 Aug 1812  [2]
  Person ID	I8316	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	29 Sep 2023

  
  

  Father	William Henry Smith, "Tangier",   b. 29 Oct 1708, Setauket (St. George Manor), Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY d. 2 Oct 1776 (Age 67 years)
  Mother	Margaret Lloyd,   b. 1 Jun 1713   d. 27 Jul 1756, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY (Age 43 years)
  Marriage	19 Dec 1732  [3]
  Family ID	F2924	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Selah Strong,   b. 25 Dec 1737, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York, USA d. 4 Jul 1815, Setauket, Long Island, New York, USA (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	9 Nov 1760  [2, 4]
  Children	1. William Smith Strong,   b. 24 Jan 1775, Setauket, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 26 Sep 1794 (Age 19 years)   2. Joseph Strong,   b. Abt 1774, New York Colony, British Colonial America d. Abt 1774, Setauket, Suffolk, New York, United States (Age 0 years)   3. Mary Strong,   b. 23 Oct 1773, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 12 Nov 1773 (Age 0 years)   4. Benjamin Franklin Strong,   b. 14 Apr 1770, Oyster Bay, Queens, New York, United States d. 27 Jan 1851, Manhattan, New York County, New York, United States (Age 80 years)   5. Joseph Strong,   b. 1 Dec 1777, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 2 Sep 1853, Manhattan, New York County, New York, United States (Age 75 years)   6. Margaret Strong,   b. 2 May 1768, Setauket, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 19 Apr 1821, Kings, New York, United States (Age 52 years)   7. George Washington Strong,   b. 20 Jan 1783, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 27 Jun 1855, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States (Age 72 years)   8. Thomas Shepherd Strong,   b. 26 May 1765, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York, United States d. 18 Apr 1840 (Age 74 years)   9. Keturah Strong,   b. 4 Nov 1761   d. 13 Aug 1790 (Age 28 years)
  Family ID	F3927	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 May 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Anna was said to be a member of General George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring, conveying messages through a code of a black petticoat and varying numbers of handkerchiefs on her clothes line.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1100] Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan, "," e-mail message from [e-mail for private use] ([street address for private use]), to , ., Hamlet People Database; Correction; 20 March 2010; John Deitz. I am an educator with the Three Village Historical Society in Setauket, NY, birthplace of Anna (Nancy) Smith Strong, Abraham Woodhull, Austin Roe, Caleb Brewster, and Benjamin Tallmadge -- all of the members of General George Washington's LI Spy Ring with the exception of Robert Townsend of Oyster Bay. I am also a Speaker in the Humanities for the NY Council for the Humanities. My current lecture is "General Washington's Spies: How A Group of Long Islanders Helped Save the Revolution." I have just received a $20,000 matching grant from the NY Council for the Humanities, for the Three Village Historical Society to create a spy museum in our headquarters at 93 North Country Road in Setauket, NY I tell you this to explain why it is that I know that your Web site, and several that are linked to it, is full of errors. The major error -- one that is repeated as historical fact although it is entirely unhistorical fiction -- is that of Anna (Nancy) Smith Strong and her supposed clothesline, used to signal to Abraham Woodhull when Caleb Brewster was waiting to pick up messages. At one of my recent talks, at the Huntington Public Library on Long Island, a descendent of the Strong family, stated that the family believes that the story is apocryphal and at best, family legend or folk lore. If you wish me to take the time to correct several other egregious errors on the Web site of the Hamlet people, and of Brookhaven/ Long Island Women, etc. etc. I will do so in order for you to correct the misinformation. At a minimum, though, I ask that you refer to any stories about Anna and her clothesline and black petticoat as apocryphal and, while a lovely story, not to be taken as whole cloth (forgive the pun). [S58] Ruth Tangier Smith, M.D. and Henry Bainbridge Hoff, The Tangier Smith Family: Descendents of Colonel William Smith of The Manor of St. George, Long Island, New York (The Order of colonial Lords of Manors in America. Publication No. 34. 1978.), p. 11. [S58] Ruth Tangier Smith, M.D. and Henry Bainbridge Hoff, The Tangier Smith Family: Descendents of Colonel William Smith of The Manor of St. George, Long Island, New York (The Order of colonial Lords of Manors in America. Publication No. 34. 1978.), p. 5. [S2255] Ruth Tangier Smith, M.D. and Henry Bainbridge Hoff, The Tangier Smith Family: Descendents of Colonel William Smith of The Manor of St. George, Long Island, New York (The Order of colonial Lords of Manors in America. Publication No. 34. 1978.), p. 11.