If you know anything about Revolutionary War spy Nathan Hale, you know his famous last words: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” Of course, like most pithy words, Hale probably never said it; and if he did, he was merely quoting a play by British author Joseph Addison. No matter; there is enough engrossing material in Hale’s biography no matter what he said before he was hanged by the British as a secret agent on September 21, 1776.

A dashing and charismatic 21-year-old, Hale was recruited into an elite Ranger force after General Washington’s defeat at the Battle of Long Island, sent to find out when and where the British strike on Manhattan would come. He spent months behind enemy lines in the city performing secret operations before he was eventually betrayed by his first cousin, a loyalist who saw through his ruse.

The farmhouse in Coventry that now bears his name (2299 South St., 860/742-6917, www.ctlandmarks.org, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sat.–Sun. May and Sept.–Oct., Wed.–Sun., closed Thu. June–Aug., $5) was actually built in 1776, the same year he died. Hale was born on the site, however, in 1755, and later generations of Hale fans have collected many artifacts once owned by the captain. Tours of the homestead start in the barn behind the house and tell the story of Hale’s life as well as the typical life of a colonial-era citizen; a restored kitchen serves as a site for hearth cooking and other educational programs.

No one knows where the British buried Hale’s remains after his hanging, but a tall cenotaph at Nathan Hale Cemetery (Lake St., Coventry) commemorates his service.