BARBARA FRIETCHIE SEES, By ELMO SCOTT WATSON SEPTEMBER morning 75 years ago. Through the streets . of the little city of Frederick, Md., marched a col L. umn of soldiers wearing the gray uniform of the armies of the Confederate States of America. Their commander was Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, since the Battle of Bull Run, renowed as "Stonewall" Jackson. In Frederick lived a woman named Barbara Frietchie, ninety-six years old. At the outbreak of the Civil war she had declared "The Union of the States will be maintained. God takes care of His people and He will take care of this country." She had frequently repeated that belief. In a city of divided allegiances she had remained intensely loyal to the Union and as proof of her loyalty she frequently displayed an American flag from the window of her home. mi ' i.ucsc ovcx kciiitriub can D6 N accepted as facts, as matters of historical record. But when you go beyond them, you find yourself in a maze of fiction and fact, of asser tions and denials, of contra dictions and controversy. All this has resulted from a poem written by John Greenleaf Whittier which has taken its place, along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" and BARBARA FRIETCHIE Thomas Buchanan Read's "Sheridan's Ride," among America's favorite "patri otic recitations." How much truth is there in Whittier's poem? Did the in cident described in it actu ally take place as he has told it? If not, on what basis of fact does his poetic version rest? This article, based upon a varied collection of evidence and an evaluation of that evi dence, is an attempt to an swer those questions. First of all, let it be recorded that Dame Barbara's name was Fritchie despite the fact that common usage has made "Friet chie" the accepted spelling. (It is occasionally spelled "Freit chie" also). She was born in Lan caster, Pa., on December 3, 1766, the daughter of Niclaus and Cath erine Zeiler Hauer, who had em igrated from Germany to Penn sylvania in 1754. She was baptized on December 14, 1766, and given the name of Barbara for her spon sor, Barbara Gamber. Niclaus moved with his family (his wife, another daughter, Catherine, and a son, Jacob), to Frederick, Md., in 1767 or 1768 and there Barbara Hauer grew up. One of the great events in her early life, according to a well-authenticated tradition, was a visit by George Washington to Frederick, in 1791. The first Pres ident spent the night at the tavern there and his dinner was served to him by the prettiest girls of the village, among them Barbara Hauer. According to the story, Washington was so impressed by her appearance and pleasant manners that he presented her with a beautiful china bowl which she treasured as long as she lived. An Old Maid. Despite Barbara Hauer's beau ty, however, she does not seem to have been much sought after by the young men of Frederick. At any rate, in an era of early marriages, she postponed hers un til she was an "old maid" of forty. On May 6, 1806, she was married to John Casper Fritchie, who was the proprietor of a glove factory and, incidentally, 14 years younger than his bride. Shortly before the Civil war, when Dame Barbara was past ninety years of age, her cousin, Miss Harriet Yoner, was installed in her home as a companion, prob ably by her nieces, Mrs. Kitty Hanshew and Miss Caroline Ebert. As previously related, Dame Barbara was intensely loy al to the Union. Lee's Invasion. On September 6 Lee's army crossed the Potomac, singing "Maryland, My Maryland!" The main body camped at Frederick Junction, three miles south of Frederick, but a large portion of the army, including the forces commanded by "Stonewall" Jack son, marched through the town and camped at Worman's Mill, two miles north. For three days the Confederates remained in and around Frederick. Then early on the morning of September 10 the army broke camp and began to move west, marching out on West Patrick street which took them past the home of Dame Barbara. But "Stonewall" Jack son was not with his troops when they reached her home. He had left the line at West Second street and ridden up to the Presby terian parsonage where lived the Rev. Dr. Ross. Under the door of the parsonage an orderly slipped this note: "Regret not being permitted to see Dr. and Mrs. Ross, but could not expect to have that pleasure at so unseasonable an hour.? T. J. Jackson, September 10, 1862?5:15 a. m." As he rejoined the column, which had halted, a sudden ex citement broke out toward the rear. The word passed up along the line that an old lady was shak ing a Yankee flag right in their faces and^defying them to take it away from her. Order was soon restored and at the command "Forward ? march!" the long gray column filed out of town. What Happened. It was not until some time later that Dame Barbara confessed to her niece, Caroline Ebert, what had happened. Her account of this incident was substantially as follows: Early that morning some peo ple had rushed up to her door and told her to get out her flag be cause the soldiers were coming. Hearing the tramp of marching men and believing that they were Union soldiers, she took her little silk flag from between the leaves of her Bible and stepped out on the porch where she began to wave the banner. Immediately an officer rode up, saying "Granny, give me your flag." "You can't have it," re plied Dame Barbara, then notic ing the gray uniforms, she began waving it more energetically than ever. The officer spoke to his men and they turned facing her. For a moment she believed that they were going to fire on her, but she continued to wave her flag. Then the officer rode on a short - distance and returned with an other officer. This officer said to her "Give me your flag, Granny, and I'll stick it in my horse's head." "No, you can't have it," replied Dame Barbara, where upon one of the soldiers shouted "Shoot her damned head off!" The officer turned angrily upon him, saying "If you harm a hair of her head, I'll shoot you down like a dog!" Then, turning to the old lady, he said "Go on. Granny, wave your flag as much as you please," and a moment later gave the order for the troops to march on. This is the story which is given in "A Sketch of Barbara Friet chie," a booklet written by Miss Eleanor D. Abbott, a great grand niece of Dame Barbara, and it is substantiated by the later testi mony of Confederate soldiers who Restored home of Barbara Frietchie in Frederick, Md. Shown at the window with the fiat is her frandniece, Mrs. Julia H. Abbott. were in the column which halted in front of her house and wit nessed her flag-waving. Among them was Capt. Frank Myers, who asserted that he was the of ficer who forbade the soldiers to fire upon her. Three days after the Confed erates left Frederick, Union troops commanded by Gen. A. E. Burnside, the advance of Mc Clellan's army, entered the city. Dame Barbara's feat was com mon talk among the citizens and when Gen. Jesse Lee Reno heard about it he called on the old lady, who showed him two flags. One of them was the small silk flag which she had waved at the Con federates and the other was a large cotton banner which she had, on occasion, displayed from a window in the attic of her home. Her Flags Preserved. She gave General Reno the large cotton flag and, after he was killed at the Battle of South Mountain the next day, it was sent with his body to his home in Boston. Later members of the Reno family presented it to the Massachusetts commandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States and it is still on display in the headquarters of that or ganization in Boston. The little silk flag is now in the possession of Miss Abbott who lives in the reconstructed Barbara Frietchie home in Frederick. ? ? ? Those who have doubted the "Barbara Frietchie legend" have asserted that "Stonewall" Jack son did not pass her house and had no part in the flag-waving incident, which is true. In the opinion of this writer the story as told by Dame Bar bara to Catherine Ebert, pre served in Miss Abbott's booklet and substantiated by Confederate soldiers who were there at the time and by Union soldiers who heard of the incident three days after it happened, is more con vincing than the statement at tributed to Valerius Ebert. How, then, does it happen that there has been and still is so much con troversy over the "Barbara Frietchie legend"? mat is Que 10 me inaccuracies in Whittier's poem but he is not so much responsible for those errors as is Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, a famous American novelist of those dpys. Her part in it came about in this manner: Catherine Ebert told the story of her aunt's heroic deed to her cous in, a Mr. Ramsberg, who was liv ing in Washington, D. C. He in turn told it to a newspaper re porter and it subsequently ap peared in a Washington newspa per. He also told the story to his neighbor, Mrs. Southworth, who was then living in George town, D. C., and she wrote to Whittier at his home in Ames bury, Mass., as follows: "When Lee's army occupied Fred erick the only Union flat displayed In the city was held by Mrs. Barbara Fritchie, a' widow lady of nlnety-stx years." Such was the paragraph which went the rounds of the Washington pa. pers last September. Some time after* ward, from friends who were in Fred erick at the time, I heard the whole story. It was the story of a woman's heroism, which, when heard, seemed as much to belonc to you as a book picked up with your autograph on the fly-leaf. So here It is: Mrs. Southworth then gave an account of the entrance of Lee'a army into Frederick and their cool reception, quoting the official record that "the town wore ? churchyard aspect." She con tinued: But Mrs. Barbara Frltcble. taking one of the Union flags, went up to the top of the house, opened a garret win dow. and held It forth. The rebel army marched up the street, saw the flag; the order was given. "Haiti Fire!" and a volley was discharged at the window from which it was displayed. The flag staff was partly broken, so that the flag drooped: the old lady drew It in, broke off the fragment, and. taking the stump with the flag still attached to It in her hand, stretched herself as far out of the window as she could, held the Stars and Stripes at arm's length, waving over the rebels, and cried eat In a voice of indignation and morrow : "Fire at this old bead. then, boys; it Is not more venerable than your flag." They fired no more, but passed on in silence, and she secured the flag in its place, where it remained unmolested during the whole of the rebel occupa tion of the city. "Stonewall" would not permit her to be troubled. Garbled Versions. From this it will be observed that Mrs. Southworth had re ceived from "friends who were in Frederick at the time" a garbled version of what had actually tak en place or perhaps had reported it inaccurately herself in writing to Whittier. She has Barbara climbing "up to the top of the house" (something of a feat in itself for a ninety-six-year-old woman!), whereas the testimony of eye-witnesses is that the old woman stood on her front porch. She has the Confederates firing at the flag, whereas their testi mony is that not a shot was fired. Then Whittier, either relying on the Southworth version of the yarn or adding some imaginary details of his own, transforms Barbara's "Fire at this old head then, boys ; it is not more vener able than your flag" into "Shoot, if you must, this old gray head but spare your country's flag." Whittier's poem appeared in the October, 1862, issue of the At lantic Monthly. Almost immedi ately its accuracy was questioned and in reply to a friend who want ed to know if Barbara was a myth Whittier wrote: "I had a portrait of the good Lady Barbara from the saintly hand of Dorothea Dix, and a cane from Barbara's cot tage sent me by Doctor Steiner of the Maryland senate. Wheth er she did all that my poem ascribed to her, or not, she was a brave, true woman. I followed the account given me in a private letter, and in the papers of the time." Later an article was published in the Century magazine denying that the poem had any foundation in fact and to this Whittier re plied: "Barbara Frietchie was written in good faith. The story was no invention of mine. It came to me from sources which I re garded as entirely reliable. I had no reason to doubt its accuracy then, and I am still constrained to believe that it had foundation in fact. If 'I thought otherwise, I should not hesitate to express it. I have no pride of authorship to interfere with my allegiance to truth." Barbara Frietchie was stricken with pneumonia soon after the celebration of her ninety-sixth birthday qnd died two weeks later, ' on December 18, 1862. If, as the familiar song has it, "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in his grave, but his soul goes marching on" then it is equally true that "Barbara Frietchie's body lie* a-mouldering in her grave" in Mount Olivet cemetery in Frederick. But the controversy over her deed, as reported in Whittier's poem, goes merrily on ?even after three-quarters of a century. ? ft Western Newspaper Union. Ask Me O * il A Quiz With Answers Offering jr ?1 ? Information on Jtnotner ? Various Subjects 1. Who was, the greatest woman financier of all time? 2. Ia the "only child" in a fam ily superior, as compared with a child who has brothers or sisters? 3. What is the proper way to address a letter to the President? 4. From how many acres up is considered a farm? 5. What trees are said to build islands? 0. How many miles can a man walk an hour? 7. Who was Casabianca? 8. What makes a violin's tone, the varnish or the wood? Answers 1. Hetty Green had the reputa tion of being the greatest woman financier in the world. 2. Psychologists find that the "only child," aged five, in a fam ily is apt to be superior in health, intelligence, play habits and other points, as compared with a child of five who has brothers m sisters. 3. The President, Washington, D. C. Salutation, Sir, or infor mally, My Dear Mr. President. 4. In taking the census, any thing from three acres up is con sidered a (arm. No tract small er than this is recorded as a (arm unless it produces $250 in crops annually. 5. Trees that actually build is lands and create extension o( coasts are the mangroves, com mon seaside trees, (ound in pro vision on shallow shores in the American tropics and subtropics. They collect mud in their tangled roots. 6. In 1928, N. Altimani o( Italy walked 8 miles, 566 yards in one hour. 7. Louis Casabianca was a French revolutionist and naval o ( fleer. At Aboukir bay, in 1798, he was in command o( the Orient, which caught Are. He re(used to quite his ship and his young son re(used to desert him. This event is the hasis (or Mrs. Hemans' poem. 8. It has been (ound that wood fiber, not varnish, has a vital e( fect on violin tones. Household % 1 ? omfam Removing Shine From Sm Suits. ? fjorne of the shine cad ha taken off blue serge suits and coats by pponginrf lightly with vte egar before pressing. * ? ? Removing Alcohol Stain* Fraoa Furniture. ? Alcohol stains on pol ished furniture may be removed by nibbing olive oil over the spot as soon as the alcohol is wiped off. ? ? ? When Frying Eggs.? A teaspoon of flour mixed 'with the hot gross* in which eggs are fried will keep them from popping. ? ? ? Spread for Hot Breads. ? So mo honey mixed with a bit of cinna mon is a good topping for hat breads. Spread it on before bak ing. ? ? ? To Avoid Boras.? It is annoying as well as painful to burn your Angers when removing the Hd from a hot pan. To avoid this keep a spring clothes peg on tha stove and use this as a clip for picking up the lids. WSU Service. AN THE Firestone Standard Tire, you get extra value in the form of extra safety. Firestone can build a first quality tire made of top grade materials and sell it for less money, because Firestone controls rubber and cotton supplies at their sources, manufactures with greater efficiency and distributes at lower cost. vou err extra protection against blowouts ? eight extra pounds of rubber are added to every 100 pounds of cord by the Firestone patented Gum-Dipping process. YOU GET EXTRA PROTECTION AGAINST PUNCTURES ? because under the tread are two extra layers of Gum-Dipped cords. YOU GET EXTRA PROTECTION AGAINST SKIDDING ? because the tread is scientifically designed. YOU GET LONGER NON-SKID MILEAGE because of the extra tough, long-wearing tread. Join the Firestone SAVE A LIFE Campaign today by letting the Firestone Dealer or Firestone Auto Supply &. Service Store equip your car with a set of new Firestone Standard Tires ? today's top tire value. DON'T RISK YOUR LIFE ON SMOOTH WORN TIRES! DO YOU KNOW THAT last year highway accidents cost the live* of more than 11,000 men, women and chMron? and a million more were injured? THAT more than 40,000 of those deaths and injuries were caused directly by punctures, blowouts and skidding duo to smooth, worn, unsafe tiros? Ife ?ire stone STANPAIP FOR FASSENGEBCABS 4.50-20 00.70 4.50-21 9.0S 4.75-19 9?SS 3.25-18 11.40 5.50-17 1S.S0 5.50.18 11.9S 5.50-19 13.XO HEAVY WITT 4.75.19 11.75 5.25-18 14-XS OTHBI aza P?OrO?TIONATILY tow Firestone $ I H T I N E L 4.40-21 9S.0S 4.75-19 00.70 4.50-20 0.05 5.00-19 7-M 4.50-21 0.>S 5.25-18 O.OQ OTHMI SgB rHOPCXmOWATtLY LOW "Firestone COUIHI 4.40-21 OS.4SII4.75-19 00.37 4.50-21 0.03|| 30i3^a. 4.07 FIRESTONE AUTO RADIO | 6 All-Motol Taboo ?0" Pyiiwlr I