March 2018 Auction Ends Thursday, March 29th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/29/2018
Clara Barton autograph letter signed during the Civil War, in which the famous battlefield nurse implores General Benjamin Butler to watch over her brother Stephen Barton, then living in North Carolina. Stephen would ultimately be imprisoned as a Confederate spy but at this time, in July 1861, Clara vouches for his character and suggests he could use his vast property to house the Union troops, in exchange for their protection. She also relays an interesting story to General Butler regarding Southern anxiety after the ''John Brown excitement'', likely referring to the aftermath of Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry where he attempted to lead an armed slave revolt. Clara states that a Vigilance Committee visited Stephen Barton and told him he'd have to leave his property (perhaps fearing he might give shelter to the slaves) to which Stephen replied that ''his plan of destination would be another world than this, and he should not go alone - he should take as many of them along with him as lay in his power, and they might rest assured it would be no mean number.'' Clara ends by stating ''They left him.''
Accompanied by full transcription, very interesting letter is datelined Washington DC on 17 July 1861, reading in part, ''General...My Brother, Capt. Stephen Barton Jr. is a native of Oxford, Worcester Co. Mass. residing there until 1855, when he removed to Hertford County in North Carolina, and founded a village or 'place' situated on the Chowan River...My Brother has some fifteen hundred acres of land from which he is cutting the timber...has run his mills constantly during the last six months with no sale, and in May had $15000 worth of manufactured lumber lying at his yard, probably awaiting the torch of the 'Secessionist'...Has usually employed from twenty to thirty men, partly those who persisted in following him from Mass., and partly hired negroes.
He has no one with him, having taken timely precaution to send all his Northern men home to fight on the right side, while he remained alone to guard his property.
My Brother is a man of more than ordinary ability, he is past the prime of life, and hard labor, Business cares, and exposure, have made sad inroads upon his naturally iron frame - for physically, he has been one of the mightiest men I have known, he is noble souled, and generous to a fault, and at heart a patriot - his father was a soldier, and under 'Mad Anthony Wayne' contested inch by inch our 'Western Frontiers' - for years, no bed but the tangled bush, or roof but the starry sky.
I have nothing to ask in regard to him, I only desire that our Commdg. Officer in that quarter should know of him. It has often occurred to me that in case of an advance of our army upon that section such a knowledge might prove a mutual benefit, for if himself and property were imperilled, while our troops protected him, he surely could 'aid and comfort' them. He has been compelled to make oath not to take up arms against the South, but the spirit in which it was done may be inferred from a reply he gave a Vigilence [sic] Committee which waited upon him during the John Brown excitement. [When] He was informed that he would be obliged to leave there, he replied that 'That might be true, but when it should be, his plan of destination would be another world than this, and he should not go alone - he should take as many of them along with him as lay in his power, and they might rest assured it would be no mean number.' They left him.
He has always belonged to the Northern Democracy and has been a consistent politician.
I would not have suspicion directed to him, and then be left to the fury of his foes, but if he could be sustained, God only knows how welcome the sight of the 'Stars & Stripes' would be to him...Clara H. Barton''. Four page letter on card-style stationery measures 5.25'' x 8.25''. Folds and chips along edges, but penmanship is excellent and very legible. Overall in very good condition.
Clara Barton Autograph Letter Signed From 1861 -- Barton Defends Her Brother, Later Imprisoned as a Confederate Spy -- ''...he is noble souled, and generous to a fault, and at heart a patriot...''
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