50 Fun Facts About My Brother Sam is Dead

Under which Connecticut captain does Sam Meeker first enlist in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Benedict Arnold was a New Haven militia captain when the war began. In the novel he later bursts into the Meeker tavern while chasing British troops.

For which crime is Sam Meeker wrongly condemned by his own army in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Stealing cattle was the charge, though Sam had run out to stop the real thieves, who overpowered him and reported him as the culprit.

What nickname does the Meeker family musket, taken to war by Sam, carry in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Brown Bess was the nickname of the British Army's standard flintlock musket for more than a century. Sam's father refuses to hand his over, and the quarrel drives Sam from the house.

Sam Meeker quits which college to join the Patriot army in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Yale is where Sam picks up his rebel ideas, since talk of independence was spreading fast through the colonial colleges. His brother Tim begs him to go back to his studies.

What does Sam Meeker call British soldiers while recounting a battle in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Lobsterbacks was a jibe at the bright red coats of British regulars. Sam uses it at the supper table while boasting about the first fight of the war.

Which Loyalist-leaning Connecticut town is home to the Meeker tavern in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Redding is a real town, and the authors drew several of the novel's neighbours from its history, though the Meeker family itself is invented.

Which girlfriend of Sam Meeker eavesdrops at the family tavern in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Betsy Read comes from a leading Patriot family and says she would fight beside Sam if she could. By the end she no longer cares who wins, only that the war stops.

My Brother Sam Is Dead was named an Honor Book by which American children's literature award?

Newbery Medal judges made the novel one of their Honor Books for 1975, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award in the same year.

How is Sam Meeker executed before a watching crowd in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Shot by musket fire at close range, Sam dies with his brother Tim looking on. Another condemned man is hanged just before him.

In My Brother Sam Is Dead, the Meekers' Anglican neighbours who back the king go by which nickname?

Tories was the label for the king's supporters, and Tim tells a British soldier he feels no fear because his town is full of them.

News of which battle does Sam Meeker bring home in the first chapter of My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Lexington, in Massachusetts, saw the war's first clash in April 1775. When Sam's father asks who fired first, Sam has to admit he does not know.

Which Patriot general camped near the Meeker tavern refuses to spare Sam in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Israel Putnam really did choose the Meekers' town as winter quarters for about 3,000 soldiers in 1778. In February 1779 he famously escaped British dragoons by riding down a steep slope in Greenwich.

In My Brother Sam Is Dead, whose hut shelters Sam Meeker after the quarrel with his father?

Tom Warrups, a Native American neighbour, quietly tells Tim after church where his brother is hiding. Tim slips away and finds Sam there with his sweetheart.

What do Patriot soldiers hunting for weapons do to Tim Meeker's father in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

The soldiers slash his cheek with a sword when he argues back, and Tim races off to fetch the missing gun they are demanding.

How does Tim Meeker take the musket from the hut in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

He lifts it as Sam sleeps, knowing his brother is a heavy sleeper, then runs. Sam wakes, chases him down and wrestles the gun back, cutting both their fingers.

Which wealthy neighbour asks Tim Meeker to carry business letters for him in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Mr. Heron is a shadowy figure whom Tim's father distrusts, so he forbids the errand. The real man behind the character is thought to have been a double agent.

Which excuse covers Tim Meeker's secret letter-carrying trip in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Going fishing was the cover story for a five-hour walk to Fairfield, an errand his father had flatly forbidden.

In My Brother Sam Is Dead, the letter Tim Meeker carries toward Fairfield turns out to be what?

A reliability test was all it held: the note said only that its safe arrival would prove the messenger could be trusted. Tim sees it only after it is wrestled from him on the road.

Where do Tim Meeker and his father go on their yearly trading trip in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Verplancks Point, a riverside trading stop in New York, is where the tavern's livestock is sold each autumn and its winter supplies are bought.

What does My Brother Sam Is Dead call the armed raiders who stop the Meekers at Ridgebury?

Cow-boys, as the novel uses the name, are roadside gangs who claim to be Patriots while robbing travellers. They accuse Tim's father of feeding the enemy and beat him.

Which wide river amazes Tim Meeker on his first trip away from home in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

The Hudson impresses Tim with its size and its boatmen working from skiffs, though he notices how worn out they look by evening.

How does Tim Meeker scare off raiders blocking his wagon in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

He says an escort is near and greets the gang as if they were the friendly riders he expected. They argue, a dog barks, and they bolt.

Which animals pull the Meeker wagon home from the trading trip in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Oxen haul the load, and Tim proudly shows off to the village children how easily he handles them. Later he has to drive them home on his own.

What weather slows Tim Meeker and his father on the way back from market in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Heavy snow keeps the friendly riders who should guard them from turning up, so father and son push on alone. Soon the father rides ahead to scout and does not come back.

Which disease kills Tim Meeker's father aboard a prison ship in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Cholera takes him on the prison ship, and the family only learns of it in June 1777, months after raiders seized him on the road.

According to My Brother Sam Is Dead, what did Tim Meeker's dying father say about his son Sam?

That he forgave him, and that he loved his family, were the last words carried home, ending a quarrel that began when Sam left for the army.

Which friend of Tim Meeker is seized by British troops and later dies in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Jerry Sanford is only a boy when the British march him away, puzzling Tim, since they free the Patriot captain taken with him. He dies on a prison ship.

The real British march in My Brother Sam Is Dead set out to destroy army stores in which town?

Danbury held the Continental Army's supply depot, and about 2,000 British soldiers rested for two hours near the Meekers' home on the way to burn it.

To which genre does the Colliers' My Brother Sam Is Dead belong?

Historical fiction fits because the Meekers are invented while many of their neighbours, and the events around them, come from the records.

From which narrative point of view is young Tim Meeker's story told in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

First person narration lets Tim report only what he sees and hears, in a plain, matter-of-fact voice. He sets the story down decades after the events.

What is Sam Meeker wearing when he bursts into the tavern at the opening of My Brother Sam Is Dead?

An army uniform is what he shows off, and he will not help milk the cow in case he dirties it. Tim envies how proud his brother looks.

In My Brother Sam Is Dead, Sam Meeker boasts that which militia beat the British in Massachusetts?

Minutemen were New England militia trained to turn out at a moment's notice. Sam credits them with a surprise attack on the king's troops.

Why does the Patriot general refuse to pardon Sam Meeker in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

To set an example to the rest of his troops, the general wants one culprit punished in public. Tim's own plea to him is cut short after a few sentences.

What does Sam Meeker urge Tim to do with the family's eight cows in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Butcher them and freeze the meat in the barn, Sam says, before someone else takes them. Tim holds off, hoping to sell at a profit.

Which weapon does Tim Meeker carry to the army camp to free Sam in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

A bayonet that belonged to his late father comes down from the mantel, and Tim sharpens it before setting out. He ends up hurling it toward the stockade, hoping it reaches his brother.

What happens when the stockade guard wakes during Tim Meeker's rescue bid in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

His shoulder is grazed by the guard's bullet as he runs, and he hides the bloody shirt once he is home. Sam had already been moved out of the stockade.

Where do Tim Meeker and his mother open a new tavern after the war in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Pennsylvania gives them a fresh start once their old town becomes unbearable. Tim builds a happy life there, but his mother never stops grieving for Sam.

Tim Meeker writes the epilogue of My Brother Sam Is Dead on which anniversary of independence?

The fiftieth anniversary finds Tim an old man, looking back and wondering whether the nation could have been formed without so much bloodshed.

School challenges to My Brother Sam Is Dead in the 1990s cited its violence and what else?

Profanity drew parents' complaints, and one school district voted to black out the swear words rather than drop the book. It ranked twelfth on the library association's list for the decade.

My Brother Sam Is Dead co-author Christopher Collier held which Connecticut post for twenty years?

State Historian from 1984 to 2004, he was also a history professor at the University of Connecticut and came from a family of writers and teachers.

My Brother Sam Is Dead co-author James Lincoln Collier also wrote histories of which kind of music?

Jazz was his other career: a working musician, he wrote biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

The real army camp in My Brother Sam Is Dead has been nicknamed Connecticut's what?

Valley Forge veterans were among the troops there, and the supply shortages and bitter cold of 1778 and 1779 earned the camp its nickname.

What does a wounded Patriot messenger drink as a painkiller in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Rum is the tavern's stand-in for an anaesthetic while the doctor digs the bullet out. Before passing out, the man warns that Patriot troops are close behind the British.

Why does Sam Meeker refuse to come home when his enlistment ends in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

He promised his friends in the army that they would all stay until the British were beaten. Hearing this, Tim decides for the first time that his brother is wrong.

Sam Meeker in My Brother Sam Is Dead prides himself on winning points in which college activity?

Debating taught Sam to land the clinching points Tim so admires, though they rarely work on his father. Facing death, he jokes that he did not score enough of them.

What is the name of the family cow that Tim Meeker milks in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Old Pru is being milked when Sam swears his brother to secrecy and reveals that he plans to take the family gun.

Which custom do Tim Meeker and his mother break to keep the tavern open in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Working on Sundays becomes unavoidable with both men of the family gone, and Tim's mother tells him God will forgive it.

In which school subject does Tim Meeker come top during Sam's absence in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Arithmetic is one of the feats Tim saves up to impress his brother, along with a new knack for hurling a stone right over the family tavern.

Which kind of public site now preserves the winter camp shown in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

A state park, the oldest in Connecticut, has protected the ground since 1887, and visitors can still see the stone remains of the soldiers' chimneys.

Which minister preaches a sermon about Sam Meeker's departure in My Brother Sam Is Dead?

Mr. Beach, the Anglican minister, sides with the king like most of his flock, and he joins the farmers arguing against Sam at the supper table.