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14 Uncle Sam: International Symbol of America

Sam Wilson, eight years old during the battles of Lexington and Concord, grew up on that New Hampshire farm in Mason. He also met his future wife in Mason. One of the town’s residents was Benjamin Mann, who had been a captain in the Continental Army and veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Captain Mann had a daughter named Betsey. In 1797 Sam Wilson and Betsey Mann were married. But first, Sam would leave New Hampshire to find a job. In 1789, Sam and his brother, Ebenezer, left their father’s farm and set out on foot for Troy, New York. This was a walk of some 150 miles. Sam was 22 and Ebenezer 27 when they arrived in Troy and looked for work. They found jobs as brick-mak-

Captain Benjamin Mann of Mason, New Hampshire, had a nephew named John Chapman, who lived in nearby Lunenberg, Massachusetts.Years later, John Chapman became known as Johnny Appleseed, the pioneer who traveled throughout Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana planting apple orchards. It seems likely that Johnny Appleseed and the man who would serve as the inspira- tion for Uncle Sam were acquainted at least casually since they were, after all, related by marriage.