The returned bonus, combined with the church discipline and the community exposure, made the immediate aftermath of the Timothy Thayer attempt one of the lowest points in her documented pre-service life. She had failed publicly, been disciplined by her church, and returned money she needed. The subsequent decision to travel to Uxbridge and try again represents a level of determination that is not diminished by the economic motivation that accompanied it.
At Uxbridge, she successfully collected a new bonus under the Robert Shurtliff name and successfully reported for muster. The contrast between the two enlistment episodes is instructive: the same person, the same basic plan, two different outcomes based substantially on geography and the presence or absence of people who knew her identity.
The bounty system also provides context for understanding why the denial of back pay at her discharge was particularly significant. She had given the army seventeen months of service in exchange for the pay that had been promised to Robert Shurtliff. The final denial of that pay was not only a financial loss — it was the government’s practical statement that the contract, such as it was, had been one-sided from the start.
## The Children and Grandchildren: What Came After
The Gannett children — Earl, Mary, and Patience — and the adopted daughter Susannah Baker Shepherd — grew up in the household of a woman whose military service was a known fact in their community, documented in the Massachusetts Legislature’s 1792 resolution and the subject of the 1797 Mann biography and the 1802-1804 lecture tour. Their mother’s story was not a family secret.