Part 20
Miss Andrews informs me that —— has been in communication with you in regard to Miss Barton. I would like to say a few words about ——. About 1900 she became interested as a member of the American Red Cross. Miss Barton, some fifteen years previous, had founded the association after years of effort. She furnished the funds for the purpose, as she did for many years afterward for its support. It became a very popular institution. Miss Barton was honored by the world as no other woman had ever been.
—— having great wealth and connected with the social elements of Washington, coveted Miss Barton’s position and honors. She used her every endeavor to accomplish this purpose. She visited me in my office at Meriden, Conn., knowing I had great influence with Miss Barton, and offered, if I would get her to become honorary president of the Red Cross, to raise a million dollars for a Red Cross temple to be built in Washington and Miss Barton could have any sum she chose as an annuity, expecting, of course, to succeed Miss Barton as president. If we did not accept her offer she insinuated we would be sorry. Her proposition was spurned.
From that day she hounded and persecuted Miss Barton until her wicked design was completed. Since Miss Barton’s death —— has made the most damaging, slanderous statements, well knowing there is no law to which she is amenable. If there was we would avenge Miss Barton’s memory quickly.
I will say that Miss Barton when she died was several thousand dollars poorer than when she established the Red Cross. She had the friendship and confidence of every president from Lincoln to McKinley, also Gen. B. F. Butler, Vice-President Wilson, Charles Sumner, Senator Hoar and Richard Olney of Massachusetts, the most influential men of the country, and the crowned heads of the world. Many, like myself, gave years of our time and paid our own expenses, not for the Red Cross, but for Miss Barton and humanity. With friends of great wealth who offered and sent her checks for large amounts to her individual order to be used as she pleased (I opened many such letters) could any one imagine that Miss Barton would stoop to steal a few paltry dollars?
If —— persists in vilifying Miss Barton’s character, I wish you would ask her to make her statements in my presence.
Our Saviour was crucified, but has been remembered affectionately ever since.
—— is down and out in the Red Cross, which since her removal has printed much in Miss Barton’s favor.
—— seems obsessed with only one idea, to besmirch the memory of Clara Barton but, like Abraham Lincoln, who in life was so sadly traduced, Miss Barton’s name will be blessed more and more as the years pass by, while —— will pass away practically unknown and unmourned.
Yours truly, (Signed) FRANCIS ATWATER.
_AFFIDAVIT_
Personally appeared before me Francis Atwater, and made oath that the facts set forth in the above statement are true to the best of his knowledge and belief.
(Signed) _Edward B. Whitney_. Notary Public.
Meriden, Conn., Oct. 21, 1921.
The probable motive of the “lone accuser” was the subject of much comment on Capitol Hill. Soon after the defamatory letter reached the Members of the National Legislature there came a near-explosion in the House that promised to rival that of the Petersburg mine explosion of Civil War days; and to which scene, in the blackness of night, midst thunder and lightning and blinding storm, and on her horse with one attendant taking her life in her hands, Clara Barton rushed to the scene of death and mangled bodies, to save the lives of her country’s patriots. Accompanying the near-explosion, there also was predicted a tidal-wave as destructive to the Red Cross management as was that at Galveston in 1900 to her stricken people; and hard-following which, from what was then thought to be her death-bed, Clara Barton was on that storm-swept coast, in charge of the life rescue station.
Especially tense was the consternation on the part of the members from fifteen or twenty states whose peoples respectively (from 1881 to 1900), had been the beneficiaries to the extent of thousands of lives saved and untold sufferings assuaged, at the hands of that “_small American Red Cross_.” What really quieted the five hundred legislators on Capitol Hill was the rumor that the sensation came from a luxurious summer resort in Canada, where there had been summering merely a harmless phenomenon—an incinerator with a “continuous performance” furnace-flame, containing no heat units. But just what happened, and why, at the Nation’s Capital with threats, impendent, of a criminal suit and in the “jungle of intrigue” following, is a story for the novelist, not a subject for this pen picture.
One patriot-Congressman, however, for days kept revolving in his mind the many awful scenes, in which Clara Barton was her country’s “Angel of Mercy”; of the Michigan forest fires of 1881; of the two Mississippi River floods of 1882 and 1883; of the Ohio and Mississippi River flood of 1884, in which Clara Barton came near losing her life; of the Charleston earthquake of 1886; of the Mt. Vernon cyclone of 1886; of the Florida Yellow Fever scourge of 1888; of the Johnstown flood of 1889; of the Cuban scourge of famine and war of 1898, where “The Angel of Mercy” again lay at death’s door; nor could he forget the many other national, and international, disasters in which the woman-patriot served her country.
Her fitful days of war were over; in far-away New England, she was sleeping her sleep of harmless peace; her character was being assailed in the very Capitol Building where fifty-five years before she had cared for the unfortunate boys of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, who had fallen in service to country. In all the world was there ever such tragedy? But the “assassin” lives to a purpose; he serves to perpetuate to posterity the virtues of his victim; in contrast, his victim seems the more glorious. In such atmosphere of near-treason, as did many other Congressmen, “Fighting Joe,” of Kansas, tried to be “reasonable,” but his “Fighting Irish” got the best of him. He was too chivalric to give his pent-up feelings vent to a woman; but he was less considerate of one of the most distinguished of his men compatriots, as is shown in the following letter (letter of record in “Sears’ Report to the Library Committee of Congress”—page 139, but text given by Taggart from memory):
September 6, 1916.
Major-General Arthur Murray, U.S.A., Retired, American Red Cross Society, Washington, D. C. My Dear General:
After a careful perusal of the enclosure on the subject of a tablet for Miss Clara Barton, I find it my duty to say to you that I am profoundly astonished that an officer of your rank would lend himself to the publication of such an unseemly screed against one who is esteemed the greatest of American women.
As one who served as a soldier in the least of capacities, I am astonished that a distinguished soldier should have a shame in belittling and accusing the dead—not simply the ordinary and common dead, but a glorious woman who has departed.
To my mind, Miss Clara Barton gave expression to the sympathy and tenderness of all the hearts of all the women in the world. If she was overwrought, and did more than she might have done, who will say that it was a fault? The whole world knew and loved her; and I daresay that her own dear land, that she served with such unremitting devotion as an angel of mercy, is the only place under all the stars where harsh words were ever written or said about her.
General, I know you are not responsible for the inscrutable jealousy that gnaws at the hearts of women. You did not write the article. I have no commission to defend Miss Barton, except what I trust is the best impulse of an American citizen. Her name should not perish and no one should listen with patience to an attack upon her record, much less her character.
Yours truly, (Signed) JOSEPH TAGGART, M.C. 2nd Kansas District.
THE LIST OF NAMES OF TRIBUTES IN THE WAY OF BADGES, MEDALS, DECORATIONS AND OTHER EVIDENCES OF ESTEEM PRESENTED TO CLARA BARTON.
No. 1. _Masonic Emblem._ Given to Clara Barton by her father, and worn by her through the Civil War, 1861–1865.
No. 2. _The German Official Red Cross Field Badge._ Presented by the Grand Duchess of Baden, and worn by Clara Barton through the Franco-German War, 1870–1871.
No. 3. _The Iron Cross of Germany._ Conferred by Emperor William I and Empress Augusta, 1871, in recognition of Clara Barton’s services for humanity in the Franco-German War.
No. 4. _The Gold Cross of Remembrance._ Conferred by the Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden, Germany, 1871.
No. 5. _Royal Brooch._ Presented by the Grand Duchess of Baden, Germany, 1897. When presenting this brooch to Clara Barton, the Grand Duchess said: “An unbroken friendship of 26 years deserves to be tied by a knot of gold.”
No. 6. _The Official Medal of the International Red Cross._ Presented by The International Committee of Geneva to Clara Barton when, through her efforts, the Congress of the United States adopted the Treaty of Geneva in 1882.
No. 7. _Servian Decoration._ Conferred by Queen Nathalie of Servia, 1883, in recognition of Clara Barton’s services for humanity.
No. 8. _Gold Badge._ Presented by the National Woman’s Relief Corps to Clara Barton, the sole Honorary Member of the Relief Corps, 1883.
No. 9. _Silver Medal._ Conferred by Augusta, Empress of Germany, 1884.
No. 10. _The Gold Badge of the “Waffengenosen.”_ German soldiers in America, who took part in the Franco-German War 1870–1871, presented to their Honorary Member, Clara Barton, 1885.
No. 11. _Silver Medal._ Of the Mass. Charitable Mechanics Institution. Presented 1887.
No. 12. _Turkish Decoration._ Conferred by the Sultan Abdul-Hamid 1897, through the State Dept., with the request that if America desired to send further relief to his domains please send back the missionaries of humanity they sent before.
No. 13. _Gold Badge of “Sorosis,” N. Y._ Presented to Clara Barton, their Honorary Member, 1890.
No. 14. _Red Cross Insignia._ In Commemoration of the Armenian Relief Field, 1896. Presented by Clara Barton’s Assistants on the field, in memory of the same.
No. 15. _Gold Brooch and Locket._ Presented by the Ladies of Johnstown, Pa., at the close of the Relief Work of the Johnstown Flood, 1889.
No. 16. _Amethyst Pendant—Royal jewel._ Given by the Grand Duchess of Baden and constantly worn by Clara Barton.
No. 17. _Royal Jewel—Smoky Topaz surrounded by perfectly matched pearls._ Presented by the Grand Duchess of Baden, 1884.
No. 18. _Royal Jewel—Topaz brooch with Red Cross._ Presented by Augusta, Empress of Germany, 1887.
No. 19. _Belgian Decoration._ Conferred by the Red Cross of Belgium, in 1892.
No. 20. _Spanish Decoration of Honor._ Conferred by the Spanish Government in 1898.
No. 21. _Gold Badge of “The Clara Barton Lodge of the Sisters of the G. A. R. of Gloucester, Mass.”_ Presented to Clara Barton, their Honorary Member, 1890.
No. 22. _Armenian Decoration._ Conferred by the Armenian Prince Guy Lusignan, 1896, in recognition of services in relief of the Armenian Massacres.
No. 23. _Russian Decoration._ Conferred by the Czar Nicholas and the Dowager Empress Dagmar, 1892.
No. 24. _Gold Medal of the Vanderbilt Benevolent Association of South Carolina._ Presented to Clara Barton, their Honorary President, 1894.
In addition to the above pictured decorations, the original collection as arranged by Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe G. Wells for exhibition at the first annual meeting of The National First Aid Association of America contained
_Gold Badge of the War Veterans and Sons Association, of Brooklyn, N. Y._ Presented to their Honorary Member, Clara Barton, April, 1899.
_Badge of the Loyal Legion of Women of Washington, D. C._ Presented to their Honorary Member, Clara Barton, 1893.
_American Red Cross Pin._ Presented by a Friend.
_Silver Ink Stand._ Presented to Clara Barton on her departure for Armenia, 1896, by Mr. Spencer Trask.
_Ivory Sealing Wax Set with Gold Trimmings._ Presented to Clara Barton on her departure for Armenia in Relief of the Sufferers of the Massacres in 1896 by Mrs. Charles Raymond, President Red Cross Hospital.
Top.—Picture of Clara Barton taken in Paris in 1871.
Clara Barton was also the recipient of many diplomas of honor, resolutions, votes of thanks and commendations from rulers of nations, legislative bodies, relief Committees and distinguished or titled personages. In her home at Glen Echo the visitor could see many of these, together with great flags of foreign nations which had been presented to her as tributes to, and testimonials of, Clara Barton’s great work for humanity.
The unintentionally offending official, on receiving the foregoing letter, forthwith resigned his position in the Society; but the author of the “unseemly screed” continues “full of honors”—a _shining_ Red Cross light to the youth of this country, while the “screed” remains of record as a blot on the fair name of the Red Cross Founder.
Contrasting Patriotic West towards the memory of the Father of his Country and Political Washington towards the memory of the Mother of the Red Cross, about this time there appeared the following pertinent-to-the-occasion Associated Press dispatch:
JAIL WASHINGTON’S LIBELER
Tacoma Man Must Serve 4 Months for Attack on First President.
Olympia, Wash., Dec. 29.—As a libeler of George Washington’s memory, Paul Haffer, of Tacoma, must serve four months in the county jail, the Washington supreme court today upholding the conviction of Haffer on a criminal libel charge.
Haffer published an article accusing the first President of the United States of drunkenness and other irregularities.
_Washington Post_, Dec. 30, 1916.
It might be of interest, both to the friends and “enemies” of Clara Barton, by way of contrast to this pathetic picture of her closing years and of the more recent years, to know that three years before her passing she deeded her “Glen Echo Red Cross Home,” the gift to her by friends, to Dr. Julian B. Hubbell, who had served her cause for more than thirty years without compensation, but with the expressed wish that eventually it should revert to the American Red Cross. It can, therefore, be said of Clara Barton and the Red Cross as similarly it was said of that bond of “love eternal” between Theodosius and Constantia, “They were lovely in their lives, and in their death they were not divided.”
At no time in her life did Clara Barton seek preferment;—she said, “I wish you could know how entirely indifferent I am to _personal_ honors conferred.” She did not seek the Red Cross Presidency; she accepted it, under protest, from President Garfield. Resigning the position several times, she still continued to hold it because no one else acceptable to the Society was found to take her place. She appealed to no jurist nor politician to protect her, for _she had always lived and moved in the full glare of the public gaze and could safely trust her character and good name to the care of the American people_. She entrusted her all—her Red Cross and her good name—to the Government she had “_loyally tried to serve_:” and so long as the Red Cross banner is held sacred as the emblem of America’s humanity God have mercy on her country and ours, if that trust of woman shall have been misplaced.
The records, in the “reign of _terrorizing_,” show that the so-called “charges” before the Library Committee were made by _one_ person, unofficially, not by the Red Cross; by the _same_ person, of record in 1903, who made similar “charges” before the Red Cross Committee, the accuser by the Committee discredited; by the _same_ person who appeared before the Red Cross Proctor Committee, and there unceremoniously “turned down”; by the _same_ person referred to by Clara Barton’s successor to the Red Cross Presidency, as to the motive of the accuser in the affidavit herein presented; by the _same_ person whom Clara Barton refused to support as her successor; by the _same_ person who has taken the rostrum since Clara Barton’s death to traduce the country’s benefactor; by the _same_ “enemy” who has relentlessly persecuted Clara Barton and traduced her memory for nearly twenty years; by the _same_ person whom Clara Barton received in her Red Cross household, and in her personal household, as her friend; by the _same_ person who, on February 20, 1903, wrote to their mutual “_friend_,” Mrs. General John A. Logan (letter of record): “Miss Barton is in town.... I know you will use all your influence to have her accept the position of Honorary Presidency for Life, with an annuity.”
The affidavit by Clara Barton’s immediate successor to the Red Cross Presidency, Mrs. John A. Logan, as to the conspiracy and the object hoped for, in the persecution; the statement by the “remonstrants” themselves in 1903 as to the “_integrity_” of Clara Barton; the statement of ex-Secretary of State Richard Olney; the summary dismissal by the Proctor Red Cross Committee, and on motion of the Committee itself, of the investigation of all “charges” whatsoever made by the “remonstrants”; the unchallenged sworn statement by Attorney L. A. Stebbins; the unchallenged signed statement by Attorney W. H. Sears; the official statement by the American Red Cross that “There was no foundation for such a “charge”; the exceeding high compliment by the Library Committee of Congress;—all these facts of public record make officially conclusive the _vindication_ (no, the spotless record), of Clara Barton.” As her reputation has been three times in jeopardy, Clara Barton has been thrice-_vindicated_, thrice officially complimented, every time unanimously.
Truth is truth To the end of the reckoning.
Previous to the date of the so-called “charges” in 1904, as tributes unsolicited and graciously tendered, Clara Barton had received twenty-seven decorations and other official honors; had received tributes from nine American presidents, nine foreign rulers; also by eleven foreign nations and several of our American States and Cities, through official resolutions. Since 1904, the year in which the conspiracy occurred, Clara Barton has been commended by two American Presidents, at the laying of the corner stone of The Red Cross Building at Washington by the U. S. Government through the then Acting Secretary of War; by the Commander of the largest American army ever mobilized; by at least three thousand American newspapers, not one newspaper in the country commenting on the “charges” with approval; by America’s great statesmen; by America’s great women; by a memorial representing a million and one-half of American citizens; by the Civil War veterans, North and South; by the United Spanish War Veterans; by the Sons of Veterans; by the Legion of Loyal Women; by the National Woman’s Relief Corps; by the National Army Nurses; by the National Woman Suffrage Association; by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; by the Protestant, Catholic and other religious organizations; and by all other public and private institutions whose attention has been called to this matter of national interest.
Whether in art, literature or philanthropy the pride of a nation is in the realized ideal. That which must live longest and best serve the race is the highest ideal, realized. American philanthropy, the realized ideal obtained through “a movement the most philanthropic of the age and an intrinsic part of world-civilization,” is the nation’s chiefest moral asset. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that the memorial tributes to the Founder and petitions by the people be heeded,—the schemers discredited officially—that _the record of untruth_ may not stand against this nation through envy of “one of God’s noblest.”
Justice is the end of government, womanhood the crown of American civilization,—and the spirit of the woman “whose movement spanned the globe,” a heritage to this nation priceless. That spirit through wars and national disasters should be the saving spirit in untold suffering among “the countless millions and uncounted generations throughout the civilized world.” “Unfounded charges,” inhumanity’s foul blot, _must be and will be_ removed from the scroll of The American Red Cross, off the escutcheon of the American nation—that the name of humanity’s luminary may shine throughout time as the guiding star in American philanthropy.
LXXXVII
Andersonville[9] was not the gateway of hell; it was hell itself.
CLARA BARTON.
Footnote 9:
Without honoring the request of the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, to take an expedition to Andersonville to mark the graves of the missing soldiers, there could have been no cemetery at Andersonville. The cemetery which the Government now so worthily owns is a gift from our active corps of women.—Clara Barton.
He (President Lincoln) said, “I will help you.” He smoothed the way and made it possible, assisting me until the work was done.
CLARA BARTON.
Only in the Great Book of Life is it written what Clara Barton did for the homes of this land, after the Civil War was over.
SARAH A. SPENCER.
In a Memorial to U. S. Congress, Clara Barton said that in doing this work referred to, as per itemized bill, she reported that she had expended from her private funds as a contribution to the cause $1,759.33, and further said: “My own time and services have been cheerfully given.” THE AUTHOR.
I remembered our prisons crowded with starving men whom all the powers and pities of the world could not reach with a bit of bread. I thought of the widows’ weeds still fresh and dark through all the land, north and south, from the pine to the palm, the shadows on the hearths and hearts over all my country—sore, broken hearts; ruined, desolate homes. CLARA BARTON.
The path of this work was opened for her through records kept by Dorence Atwater, a Connecticut boy-prisoner at Andersonville, who had been detailed to keep a record for the prison officials of the dead, and their burial. He kept a secret duplicate record, with location of graves. He saw a notice asking for information signed “Clara Barton,” when he at once wrote to her. Together they went to Andersonville and with his aid she succeeded with the identification of 19,920 graves and placing headstones above them, while 400 of these were marked “unknown.”
Manchester (N. H.) _Mirror_.