The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-17
HISTORY IN FICTION.


poets take all sorts Of liberties with facts.
or even discard them altogether and sub
stitute their own creations. In fact. 1t
would be very dull world and with very
little true poetry in 1t but for the magma
| tive part. Writers of novels. and especially
of historical novels, exercise much the
same sort of license. and that, too, has its
advantages because it sometimes results
| in investing commonplace and prosaic facts
with romantic interest. So-called historical
| novels create a history that Is sui generis.
in that facts and dates are curiously dis
| torted and no person can tell where the
history ends and the fiction begins.
A new history Of vincennes throws some
| light on the genesis Of "Alice Of Old Vim
cennes" and shows how slender thread
connects her with real history. The au-
thor of the story makes her assist in rails
| ing the American flag over Fort Sackville.
upon its capture by Col. George Rogers
Clark. This was on Feb. Is. 1779. but as the
| original of Alice was born in lit she would
| have been only two years old at that time
| and hardly big enough to join in a flag
| raising and to fence and fall in love- This
| original, the prototype of the heroine OF
| the story, was Mary Shannon-not as pref
| ty a name as Alice Roussilon, but a real
| one. Mary Shannon was daughter Of
William Shannon, captain Of a company in
Colonel Clarks regiment. An old family
Bible shows that there were six children
in the Shannon family, five girls and one
boy. Mary, the third daughter, was born
| May I, III. During one of the Indian raids
Of the period William Shannon was killed
and Mary was sheltered, adopted and
| brought up by FRANCHISE Busseron, the
mayor of vincennes at the time Of its cap
| ture. The name of Busseron may have
suggested that Of Gaspard Roussion, fos-
| ter-father Of Alice in the story. Elizabeth
| Shannon. an older sister of Mary, married
| Col Francis vigo, a noted man of the
period, whose name is perpetuated by Vigo
county When Mary Shannon, adopted
| daughter Of FRANCHISE Busseron and pro-
totype Of Alice Roussilon. grew to mar
riageable age she married Capt Robert
Buntin, leading citizen of the time. and
raised a family of little Buntins. This may
not have been as romantic as the career
as useful. Mary Shannon never fenced.
| nor was she a crack shot with pistol or
| rifle, as Alice is represented to have been,
but it Is said she was handsome girl and
| woman. The latest local historian Of Vim
cennes quotes an old man who knew her
4 uvh ha vim Ind
from her appearance in middle age, she
must have been beautiful girl. The most
| prominent features of her character were
| that she was very independent and kindly
She was, in fact, such a woman that the
| men would have called her a grand old
lady and the women sweet old lady,"
So much for Mary Shannon, the real Alice
Roussilon. The author Of the story had to
have heroine. and as history did not fur
nish any he had to create one out OF the
best materials at hand, or out of his imagi-
nation. Everything is fair in love. in war
and in historical novels.
The author represents his two-year-old
license. as raising the stripes and stars over
the captured fort IN 1779. 1t is doubtful II
the American flag as it now exists. or the
stripes and stars in any form, had been
seen west of the mountains in 1779. At the
beginning Of the revolutionary war several
of the colonies had flags, but there was no
national flag. Almost "any old thing an
used at the battle of Bunkers Hill was
| called "the New England flag" It was a
| blue ground with the red cross OF st.
George In a corner. quartering a white
field, and in the upper right quarter was
the figure Of pine tree. When Washington
took command Of the army there was
raised what was called Union flag. 1t
was composed OF thirteen alternate red and
! white stripes with the English union in a
corner. The colonies had not yet cut loose
from the mother country. Washington as
sumed command Of the continental army
July 2. 1775. more than a year before the
Declaration Of Independence. No doubt
that time who hoped and believed there
would still be some kind Of reconciliation
with England. The flag that was to lead
to victory was not yet born. On June IA.
Iii. nearly year after the Declaration
Of Independence. Congress adopted a reso-
luton that the flag Of the United States
be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white;
that the union be thirteen stars. white in
| blue field. representing a new constella-
ton" 1t must have been some time before
the new flag made it's way west Of the
mountains. Colonel Clark may possibly
have carried it in his expedition against
vincennes in 177s. but 1t Is doubtful. It is
certain that the nag raised on the capture
Of the fort was not the stripes and stars,
though It represented American authority.
The Lasselle family. Of Logansport, have
in their possession the account book Of Capt.
Busseron. mentioned above. 1t contains
three entries on Nov. Il, 177s. Of payments
made for i've ellis Of red serge. three and
one-half ellis OF green serge. and paid
Madame Gordan for making flag. Is" rre-
sumably francs. These entries show that
the nag thus improvised at vincennes In
November LIE. consisted Of two stripes.