Abigail Strong, codenamed Agent 355, was a member of the Culper Ring. A former servant of Selah Strong and Anna Strong, Abigail was later freed in the Dunmore Proclamation and spied on her new master, Major John Andre, in exchange for Anna taking care of her son, Cicero.
Biography[]
Abigail was born into slavery in Setauket, Long Island, New York, and she was owned by Selah Strong and Anna Strong, the owners of a tavern in town. Abigail grew up with Anna, and she became Selah's servant when the couple married. She married and had a son, Cicero, but her husband died in slavery. Abigail was loyal to Anna until the Dunmore Proclamation of 1776 set her free, and she entrusted Anna with taking care of Cicero when she was informed that she would work as the servant to Major John Andre in New York City and Philadelphia. She smuggled small slips of paper with information through gifts of clothing to her son, cutting small holes and placing the paper inside those notches before sewing them back up. She communicated with Anna who, in turn, gave the information to Abraham Woodhull, who then gave the information to Caleb Brewster, Brewster to Major Benjamin Tallmadge, and Tallmadge to General George Washington himself. Her first report was that Captain John Graves Simcoe, who had been quartered in Strong's house in Setauket, was still alive after the Raid on Meigs Harbor. Strong would continue sending information, although Washington chose to ignore her information on General Charles Lee being a traitor, as he did not want the Continental Army to appear weak lest the Kingdom of France choose not to continue its support of the patriots duing the American Revolutionary War. Strong was soon given the codename "Agent 355" by Nathaniel Sackett, and she was a member of the Culper Ring, although she did not meet anyone else except for Anna, therefore being unverified.