Nathan Hale Homestead

Tucked amid the rolling fields and stone-walled roads of Coventry, Connecticut, stands the Nathan Hale Homestead, built around 1772 by Richard Hale, the father of Nathan.  Though Nathan did not grow up in this particular house, it stood on the family’s farmland where he had spent his boyhood.

By the time the house was finished, Nathan was a graduate of Yale College, teaching and soon to join the fight for independence.  While at Yale College, at age 18, Nathan’s letters reveal a young man devoted to both study and moral improvement.  He often wrote to his brother, sharing reflections on religion, self-discipline and virtue.

He once wrote:   “I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary”

Written before the war, this foreshadows the sense of duty that would later define these final actions.  His qualities of deep faith and conviction, lead him to volunteer for a perilous mission behind the British lines.  In September 1776, General George Washington urgently needed information about British troop movements around New York City.  Washington called for volunteers to go behind the British lines and gather intelligence.  Captain Nathan Hale, just 21 years old. stepped forward.

For about a week, Hale moved behind the British lines but was eventually captured and turned over to General Willian Howe in New York City.  Hale was interrogated and condemned as a spy and on September 22, 2776, was hanged in Manhattan.  There was no trial and the execution took place in public to serve as a warning to others.

Witnesses said he faced death with dignity and said: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”

Today, the Hale Homestead stands as a testament to his family and a memorial to the ideals of Nathan.