The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1899-08-25
A GIRLS APRON.

She is a pretty, dark eyed girl, and
| this is the story she tells of the roman
| tic meeting and courtship of her father
| and mother. 1t is story of the civil
war, and the famous Confederate spy
who dressed as woman and was
known as Sue Mundy figures in her mar
rative:
You know, all of mothers folks were
Confederates, while fathers people be-
| longed to the other side.
On account of this little apron the
spy, Sue Mundy, was suspected by the
Union soldiers of being a man and a
| spy. 1 will tell you about it.
The apron, you will notice, is made
of alternating stripes of red and white
and forms, as you see, the flag of seces-
sion. This stain here is witness to the
first meeting of my father and mother.
My mothers father was an officer in
the Confederate army. He was killed
in the beginning of the war, leaving
grandmother with three children, all
girls. They lived on farm not far
from Fairfield, KY, and were fairly
well off. At the time mother made this
apron she was about 15 or 16. Her old
| est sister had just come home from
boarding school, bringing friend with
her. The friend in question was none
other than Sue Mundy, who had come
for the express purpose of spying on the
Yankees, who were encamped short
distance from town. If l remember
rightly, the camp was the headquarters
of General Buell..
Mother says Sue Mundy was one of
| the most effeminate men she ever saw.
He was unusually slender for a man,
and had small, delicately formed hands
| and feet, an oval face, large black eyes
and long, ripping, dark brown hair.
He was also the possessor of a good so.
prano voice.
He came prepared with an extensive
| wardrobe and carried off his part of a
fashionable and fascinating young lady
to perfection. Of course my mother and
Miss Sue in time made the acquaintance
| of some of the officers stationed near
our town, one of whom became very
much infatuated with Miss Sue, and
baskets of fruit and flowers came al
most daily bearing his card.
OF course, owing to the troubled
times, there was dearth of parties and
balls. For amusement my aunt and
| Miss Sue were in the habit of attending
| the dancing class te which my mother
| and her younger sister went one evening
| of each week.
One evening before going to dancing
school mother made this apron and
wore it over her white dress for the
benefit of the Yankees who were GER
tain to be present. About the middle
of the evening mother and Miss Sue
| went into the smaller room for drink
| OF water. A man bearing the bars of a
sergeant on his arm was just raising
the dipper to his lips when mother said
mischievously:
"a health to jeff Davis.''
AS quick as flash came the retort.
Eyes, miss, here's health to your
apron, while the contents of the dip
per were dashed over that offending ar
ticle of attire.
At this insult to the southern colors
Miss Sue forgot that Drawn did not en-
ter into the make up of the young Ia
| dies of those days and gave the young
officer right handed blow which sent
him like log to the floor, from which
he did not rise at once. When he did, it
was with graceful bow to his late as
sailant and an apology for his rudeness
| to mother.
After this the Yankees put their
heads together, and, remembering the
information which had gone to the
"Johnnies' concerning their forces,
| Miss Sues aptitude at sketching and
on top of it all the knock out of the
| young officer, they were convinced that
| Miss Sue was not what she pretended to
be. A watch was kept on her move
| ments.
By the time Of the next dancing les
son plan was made for the escape of
Miss Sue from quarters that were be-
ginning to be rather warm for her.
Mother and my aunt went as usual to
| the dancing class, and to all inquiries
concerning Miss Sue they replied that
| she was ?t home with headache. In
reality that interesting young person
was booted and spurred and waiting
| for the appointed time to dash by the
| pickets and start on his 40 mile ride to
| Louisville.
Near the end of the lesson there was
the sound of hurried footsteps on the
stairs and in a moment Sue Mundy
came hurriedly into the room. For some
reason there We're no Yankees present
In a few words he told of how he had
tried to pass the pickets, had been fired
on and had jumped from his horse and
hid i'll the bushes by the roadside and
saw the Yankees go by in hot pursuit
| of his frightened horse, which was
making straight for the farm from
which it had been bought few days
before. Sue Mundy then waited till
their hoof beats grew faint, and then
under cover of the darkness he made
his way to the dancing school. Finding
the coast clear, he had come up, know
ing that all the dancing people were
southern sympathizers and would do all
they could for him.
They quickly formed their plans, the
only thing they could have done under
the circumstances. They had him lie
| down under one of the benches at the
far end of the room, while two OF three
of the girls sat dixectly over him and