Nathan Hale
submitted by: JuliAnne Schmidt
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The ancestor I have chosen for this essay is Nathan Hale. My family's genealogy show’s a link to this important hysterical person. Even though we don't have any records or diaries to learn about his personality and characteristics, he can still be viewed as someone I can look up to and aspire to be like.
Nathan was born June 6, 1755, in Coventry, Connecticut to Deacon Richard Hale and Elizabeth Strong and died September 22, 1776, in Manhattan Island, New York at the age of 21. He graduated from Yale college at the young age of 18. After graduation, he started his career as a teacher in New London, Connecticut. Not long after he began teaching, the American Revolutionary War started in spring of 1775. Nathan enlisted as an American patriot for the Continental Army. Within five months, he became a First Lieutenant.
General George Washington, who was the commander of the Continental Army at the time, asked for volunteers to go behind enemy lines to spy on the British troop movements. To be a spy was a crime punishable by death. My ancestor, Nathan Hale, was the only volunteer. History is unclear of how he got caught, however, we have some details of the moments before his death. A British officer reported in his diary about Nathan; “He behaved with great composure and resolution, saying he thought it the duty of every good Officer, to obey any orders given him by his Commander-in-Chief; and desired the Spectators to be at all times prepared to meet death in whatever shape it might appear.”. In the moment prior to his death, he was granted to say his last words publicly before being hung, he stated, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”.
I am proud to have Nathan Hale as part of my family. I admire his courage and love for a country that he was fighting for. I hope to be thought of as someone who is brave, loyal, and trustworthy just like so many of my ancestors.