03/24/2026
As part of Women’s History Month we’d like to salute two Revolutionary War-era women—Mrs. Deborah Townsend and Mrs. Corwin—residents of the North Fork who supported the patriot cause during the War for Independence.
In 1777, while Mrs. Townsend’s husband was away fighting, “a small party of British cavalry rode up to the house,” demanding grain for their horses. In no uncertain terms, Mrs. Townsend told them that there was no grain for the British. The Red Coat threatened to “split the door down” and gathered himself as if to do so. Mrs. Townsend recalled, “Without a second thought, [I] seized a large bread shovel” and hit him over the head!” Shocked by her forthrightness, he and his men immediately took off, and their grain was saved, at least for that day.
Mrs. Corwin had a similar experience. In the summer of 1778, she was seeing to her daily chores when British soldiers came and demanded grain to feed their horses, a request she denied. The officer declared they’d take the wheat directly from the field anyway. Thereupon, she grabbed her husband’s musket from behind the door, took aim, and shouted, “the first horse that enters that wheat field I will shoot instantly dead.” They left, and the wheat remained untouched.
The righteous courage that these two women displayed in the face of British aggression is undoubtedly an essential part of the foundation upon which this country rests.
This remarkable story is part of OHS’s Revolutionary War Augmented Reality program, funded by a generous grant from the . It is accessible on OHS’s campus; for more information, please check out https://oysterpondshistoricalsociety.org/revolutionary-war-augmented-reality-tour/
