The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-03-07
A WOMAE sULDIL,R.
Who Fonsh. with the t,eh, or . f,cr1. ,,..

Who Fought Wiih the Heat or ;bcm. r}..
a serted nnd IL !Ash!nx IL Pension,
Kansas City Times.
~ think tho most peculiar incident that
ever came under my no.ice," said Captain
William r. Moree, OF Cincinnati, to a
Times reporter at Independence YESTERDAY.
was that Of franklin Thompson. she Wat
born.i Newfoundland, and her mother
died while she was quite young. AT the
age OF sixteen years her father married
again. The second mother did not make
home a paradise, and franklin determined
10 30 out into the world and support her.
self by her own exertions. Having con.
ceived the idea that the world shed its IA
vors very u~ntqually, lavoring the male
more than the female, she adopted the cos.
tune OF the former and proceeded to Bos-
ton. Here she obtained employment with
u publishing house as q canyasser, in
which position she was very sue
cesslul. In 1859 she made a o
through Canada, and landed at
Flint, Mich, in the early part Of 1860. On
the 18th day Of April Of the sane wear she
enlisted in Company F Of the Second
Michigan infantry, and was mustered in at
Detroit on the 10Th Of May. She followed
that regiment through hard fought battles,
never hlncned from duty, and was neye,
suspected Of being else than that she seem.
ed. By close application 10 duty and re.
markable department, abe " appointed
brigade postmaster, which position aided
her In many instances to conceal her iden.
tity. In the early part OF November, 1883.
she was attacked with malarial fever, and
fearing sho would be sent to the hoepits,
and that exposure would follow she desert.
ed. franklin WAS known by every man in
the regiment, and her desertion was the
topic Of every camp fire. The teardless how
was q universal iAvorite, and much anxiety
was expressed for her safe,v. We
never heard Of her again during the war,
and could never account for the desertion'
About u year after this l received several
books from home. Among them was n
which attracted my attention, and l BIZ.
came convinced that the an.hor was no
other than Franklin Thompson, the bow
soldier, who bad deserted US at Green river
bridge. The book was Nurse and Spy.n
After the war l learned that Franklin
Thompson was d woman, and that she was
married to-a man by the lame of Seelye.
While in Fort Scott, Kansas, a short time
ago ! heard the pane, and Immediately
thousht that here was q clue to the long
lost franklin Thompson. / called at the
house a little girl met me at the door. I
told her to tell her mother that a zen.
tleman wished to see her, but did mot
send in my name. l was shown into
a neat but plain liule parlor. In a
few minutes the lady made her appearance
and recognized me. ! spent a very pleas,
ant hour in talking over old times and in
listening 10 the history OF her lie. Sho
said that when abe d. serted abe made her
way to Louisville and resumed the babili.
ments Of her sex. She entered the Chris.
tian commission aud served until the close
OF the war. Dnringthis time she published
her book and devoted $4,000 OF the pro.
ceeds to the commission. She alterward
married and removed to Fort Scott, where
che still resides.
The story was called to my mind again
to, day" continued the captain, "by read.
Ing in the report OF Congress that a bill
was introduced by a Congressman from
Michigan, asking that the disability OF de-
fertion be removed from the record tf
franklin Thompson, and thatshe he grant
ed a pension and receive her back pay.
She certainly deserves it, and I hope she
may got it,