Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-05-15
TIE ST ruth About Barbafa
!, Frietc@e. \

fore the commitER pflclaims IN Wfsh
ington to try and secure for their town
the 100000 which Jubal Early=in 1864
exacted in order to support his federal
tro9pA sedatbF DspeM made some sAs5
paEM o. eAsa oceff spA RstgfEesay
clear, about his "recollections" of the
historic dame. More recently Colonel
Hehty KSai bonglassd ohce9onJtbe mill
ttaryt Htaffi Of aiGSs,n aGenefol JackSfson iyIre-
ported to have said at Cooper Union
that the story ~ Barbara fffetchle as
given in Whittier's ballad is untrue
a myth of, wal, times.o Stopewall ,Iaefn
son says Golohei Botglass never pass
ed the house of BarbaFa-Frietchie in
deed he never say the Ypman,asafro9
Barbara Frietchie wa, real person.
She was born In Lancaster, Pa, Dec
8, 1866 She died III ''Ffedefitksburg
Md, Dec. IS, 1852, and is buried in the
cemeterHr of thei German, niR Reformed
church of, ,hthat zplace, 1Her5 maiden
name wtisi Haue1* and" She was one
among severar children III her par
ents, Nicholas and Catharine Hauer.
There is still in ahes possession ofothe
family a cup out cfa (which ri George
Washngtonldrankn when he passed;
through Frederick ainDpd791. ldm 1906
Barbara married John G. lFNrietchie, "a
glover by trade He II died inaii1S49.J
Mrs aBrietchie adopted asuheF :laugh-l
terra niece, who later coIi gave author
lily to certain statements about her
mother IN 1S62Athe Year Of her
death|T7Bl7aarbbayaa pa Fsrfetchie was SO years
old. It was in September .ofitthisi
year that the flag incident of Whit
tiers poem il supposed, to have takeni
place. EARLY in the month the army
Of General Lee crossed the Potomac,
Stonewall Jackson leading the van.
Saturday, the 9Th, Jackson,s men went
into camp near Frederick City The
commander had had an .aoGident--he
had be thrown from a spirited horse,
yet he went to church the following
day in Frederick and Slept peacefully
through the service. He was in Fred
erck for the second time the following
Wednesday on an alleged march with
his men into Pennsylvania. but really
bound for Harper $ Ferry. Colonel
Douglass was with Jackson during
these days and denies any knowledge
on the generals part of the Barbara
Frietchie incident. 1t did not occur.
The matter can not be quite sum-,
marily dismissed because Of the exist
ence of the stirring. ballad in which
Whittier immortalized the % name n of
Barbara Frietehie. - The poet be-
lieved to his dying day that he had
told of a true. incident. IN fact there
are two incidents which are at the
bottom of the story CT the poem. The
town of Frederick was loyal TO, the
core. The Southern troops marching
out of the town on that September day
to lthe tune of maryland, My Mary
landF' aroused Mrs. Mary Quamtrell to
the point of raising small Union
flag; she; fastened it to her porch,
Gee1ral Lee and his staff came by Or
dered the flag taken down, and finally
had the soldiers remeNe iii The, wom4
an persisted in raising another, which
was again removed The Soldiers
were at length ordered. to disregard
the flag, Two days later old Barbara
FrietGhie stood. on ~ her front porch
watching the entry into iErederick tcf
Geenral Buntnside's Union men. She
waved her handsaas best shefl could
while leaning on hei cane, THEN it
was suggested to 'hel that She might
bring out the Stars and Stripes a
small flag CONCEALED in, the family
Bible, and use it, The,:men geheered
loudly ass'they saw Barbara Frietchie.
The flag is still in the Apossession of
Mrs. Frietehie's adopted daughter
the most real bit Of evidence of the In
cident Somewhat later, in, 1862 the
story of Barbara, Frietchie, then rap
idly assuming somesof its my ythical ell
ements and tending more and more to
enshrine the old lady in the: hearts of
her northern countrymen, reached the
ears cf Mrs. E. D. L, N, Southward,
the novelist, Mrs. southward com