The story of Nathan Hale is a foundational myth of the Revolution: an earnest but inexperienced patriot takes on the role of spy and unfortunately ends up a martyr to the cause. But that’s not the whole story. Historian Claire Bellerjeau, chronicler of Robert Townsend and the enslaved woman Liss, has brought to light another Nathan Hale. HIs name was David Maltbie and his history is remarkably similar to yet also significantly different from Hale’s

On today’s episode, Bellerjeau explains the documentary trail she followed to uncover Maltbie’s espionage activities and his ultimate fate as well as the implications it all has for the history of spies on Long Island.

Further Research

• “This Connecticut Teenager Spied on the British During the American Revolution” (Smithsonian)
• Remember Liss
• Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties by Henry Onderdonk, Jr. (1849)
  • Henry Onderdonk Papers (Center for Brooklyn History)
• Harlem Heights (American Battlefield Trust)
• Occupied City (Museum of the City of New York)
• Music
  • Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
  • Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0