Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1866-09-27
A Soldiers Widow Answers
President Johnson,

The Philadelphia Press of Friday
morning, publishes the following letter
addressed
To Ar. Andrep johnson, Prssidem o.
tie United States of -Amerioa:
DEAR SrR:-In the speech deliver
ed by you at Cleveland, Ohio, OF
your way to Chicago, and which,
suppose, was reported correctly, you
ask: "Who made greater sacrifices
in the war than /? Who suffered
more than IL DC. Now, / take fol
granted that to these questions You
expect, from some quarter, reply,
or you would not have propounded
them. So far as my knowledge ex-
tends, up to this time no one has un-
dertaken the task. Therefore. / my
self, although but very humble We
man, scarcely known beyond the
street l live IN. will venture to fur
nish an answer And when / have
done so, / will submit to the lust
judgment of the world whether. on
the score of 'suferings'' and sac
rifices" (if there be nothing else,
your claims to popular sympathy and
support. bear any comparison to
mine.
Before the rebellion, sir, / had o
husband, kind, loving, industrious,
economical, who, for myself and four
little ones, made comfortable previ-
sion. Our home was the abode OF
peace and plenty. What has be-
come of him? He was starved to
death at Andersonville, and that by
the ''chivalric" men whom your
'policy" would fain restore, without
repentance, to the head OF our Gov
ernment. Since then l have been
trying my best to earn bread for my
little ones by plying the needle At
times, when that kind of employment
has failed me, l have been Obliged
to stand, from early morn till night,
over the wash tub. had two broth
ers, steady men, kind and generous.
Had the rebellion left them as il
found them, pinehiRg poverty /
should have never known. Alas
alas, one of them perished from ex.
posure and want on Belle Island, and
the other had his right arm taken of
by q rebel shell at Antietam. He
cannot assist me. The privstions
and hardships 1 have had to endure,
have so shattered my own health and
strength that ! feel, at times, unable
even to endure the fatigue of plying
the needle. So that, except my trust
in mercifGl God, l have sacrificed
for my country my all--husband,
brothers, house, home, liying--and /
am cast, beggar, on the cold chari
ty of the world And all this | owe
to the Southern slave holders, and to
their iniquitous attempt to murder
my beloved country, as they did mur-
der my husband and my brothers.
Now Mr. Johnson, since you in
vite a comparison, what have YOU
suffered? Exhibit your scars, and
bruises! Did you loose a leg or arm
or were you even so much as scratch
ed or bruised? Where is the blood
you shed? Would it stain 2 white
cambric pocket handkerchief? How
much property did yoI lose? Why,
if report speaks true, during most OF
the time of the war you were living
on the "fat of the land in Nashville,
out of harms way, protected, as you
were, by Union bayenets Out of
Uncle Sans overlooking commissa-
ry you drew plenty TO eat and to
drink-the best of meats, and, what
was Of still more consequence to you,
the choicest of liquors. Add to this
your handsome salary as Military
Governor. Then the great Union
party, whom you have since SO feully
betrayed, made you Vice President,
with a salary of $4,000 per annum.
Then, to crown it all, John Wilkes
Booth made you President, and there
you are yet, to the tune of $4,000 4
year, with ''fzins." The rebellion
found you, 1 learn, comparatively a
poor man. Now you are rich, with 4
sound body, not TO speak Of your
mind, whose soundness is not so GER
tain.
You Andy johnson. talk of your
sacrifices and your sufrerings, and
challenge a comparison. Fie, fe
upon you! Why, sir, upon that
score 1 ought to be Americas Queen,
and you ought to be sweating over
the wash tub! And now, sir, are
your questions as to who suffered
more than you, who sacrificed more
than you by reason of the war, an
swered? l did, sir and l know hun
dreds of pool women, tossed from
the nights of aflluence into the vale
of penury and want, who have suf-
fered and sacrificed ten thousand
times more than you, and are max
ing no ostentatious parade Of it,
either Yours Respectfully,
MARY JANE CATHERwAIrE,
A Soldiers Widow, and the mother
OF four fatherless children.
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. I, 1866.