The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-08-06
Barbara Fritebie.


The account published in The Nel7
York World, of Barbara Fritehie, is
so full of what everybody in Freder-
lex, Maryland, knows to be errors,
that we cannot let it 90 unnoticed
In fact the whole account is tissue
of Misrepresentation from beginning
to end, and it is quite evident that
the gentleman who furnished The
World with it obtained his iDforma.
ton from somebody who knew moth
ing of the facts in the case. The as
sertion that she had no flag to wave
is altogether incorrect. She was not
only the rossessor of a flag, but often
took occasion to display it, as many
Of her neigbbors can testify. The
remark that she was afflicted with the
rheumatism is so utterly false that it
is matter of wonder how such a
report could gain currency. She nev-
er had the rheumatism in her life,
nor did she die soon after the pass
age Of General Lees troops through
our city, for it is we'll known that her
death did not occur until the follow
ing winter. The statement that she
did not "know that the Confederate
army had passed through at all till
after they had gone" is SO far from
the fact, as many of our citizens very
well know, that contradiction of it
is unnecessary. "The Confederatet
army" says the writer in The World,
passed through Frederick at 4
o'clock in the morning. No part of
it went by Barbara Fritchie's house. !"
This is incorrect The army, or at
least the great bulk OF it, did pass her
house, and during their march
through West Patrick-st., the street
on which the Fritchie house was 10
Gated, a small flag was waved from a
house on the south side of said street
which We saw with our own eyes, but
whether it was one that Barbara Frit-
chic is said to have waved we do not
recollect. We may add here that
when the flag was observed by the
Confederates who were passing the
door, they manifested a disposition to
take it from the owner, and probably
would have done so had their officers
given them the least encouragement.
The statement that Barbara Frit-
chic was daughter of Casper Frit-
chic sounds SO ridiculous to those who
know better that it would seem al
most superfuous to correct it; but,
for the benefit of The World and "the
gentleman who had occasion to visit
Frederick within fortnight" we will
state that she was daughter of
the late Daniel Haucs. therefore i'll
hanged in the Revolu,
tionery War for being a Tory it was
Barbara Fritchic's S father-in-law, and
not her father as stated by The
World. As to the hanging Of Casper
Fritchie, we will here state that there
is no evidence to show that any such
execution took place. 1t is. alleged
by some Of our old citizens that he
did die on the scafold for the crime |
of "being a Tory" and that the exc
cution took place in the Court House |
yard, the fermer site Of the County |
Jail, but they have failed to produce
any record of it. 1t may be that he
was hanged, and if be was he no
doubt deserved it, but we have this
to remark, that they were quicker to |
deal out justice to Tories in the days
Of the Revolution than they were du-
ring the late war Of the Rebellion.
But to resume The World says
Barbara Fritchie's "children still live
in Frederick Now how can
his be when everybody about here
knows, as we'll as they know anything,
hat she never had any children.
What strange spectacle, then, does
The World present to our citizens,
1iz :: The children of woman doing
veil, when it is stubborn and abso
ute fact that that woman never had |
my children. The house, as describ-
ID to The HorlG, by the gentleman
Who had occasion to visit Frederick
within fortnight" was little one
jtory structure, but he is in error
when he says ne-half' of it was
washed away by the food year ago.
There are other inaccuracies in the |
statement as published in The World,
out they are immaterial, and we will |
cave them for what they are worth.
When a gentleman from abroad visits
for the purpose of gather
ng information relative to this mat
5er, with the view of giving it public
ty, they should be little careful not
20 offend the feelings of the numerous
surviving relations of Barbara Frit-
,hie by publishing such ridiculous
stuff as The Nelo York World recent |
" put forth.-Frederick Eransiaer.