Maria Allen was born on Martha's Vineyard in 1758, a daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Chase) Allen. In 1788 she married, as his second wife, Vineyard master mariner David Smith; the couple had three children. Maria passed away in March of 1820.
Maria (Allen) Smith is a notable Revolutionary War heroine who is remembered for blowing-up a town flagpole and "Liberty Pole" to prevent it from being used to repair that of a British warship. In 1776, the then Maria Allen, in conspiracy with two other girls, successfully completed a covert mission to blow-up the town’s Liberty Pole to prevent a British warship captain from using it to replace his damaged mizzen mast (via a coerced purchase agreement). Because these masts (made from large pine trees and unique to those grown around New Hampshire) were in short supply, the ship’s captain thought he had found a suitable substitute for repair of his ship. Their secret mission succeeded and the secret heroines Maria Allen, Polly Daggett and Parnel Manter would not speak of their exploits for decades. [1]
Featured Auto Racers: Maria is 18 degrees from Jack Brabham, 23 degrees from Rudolf Caracciola, 18 degrees from Louis Chevrolet, 18 degrees from Dale Earnhardt, 31 degrees from Juan Manuel Fangio, 16 degrees from Betty Haig, 21 degrees from Arie Luyendyk, 19 degrees from Bruce McLaren, 17 degrees from Wendell Scott, 19 degrees from Kat Teasdale, 15 degrees from Dick Trickle and 23 degrees from Maurice Trintignant on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
A > Allen | S > Smith > Maria (Allen) Smith
Categories: American Revolution Spies, United States of America | Spies | Unsung Heroes of the Revolutionary War | Massachusetts, American Revolution | Patriotic Service, Massachusetts, American Revolution | NSDAR Patriot Ancestors
[BTW I have the Banks books here if you want anything looked up (and they're online). -- These are my direct forebears; Craig, are they also relatives of yours?]