Alright
then everyone I am back with another blog! This one is a bit early and short
because I had an exciting weekend and I just had to tell you all! I had the
opportunity to visit with some family.
My cousin was a trooper and drove down to get me so major props to him. I
haven’t seen any of them in a very long time so I went to Massachusetts for
some quality bonding time. While I went
there for family fun I also did some unintentional work because my cousin
mentioned something offhand to me. As we were driving around admiring some
beautiful New England fall foliage (it really is something quite spectacular to
see) we stopped to get some gas. I had asked what there was in the area to do
besides admire the leaves and he mentioned an old house related to Clara
Barton. I immediately got excited and
asked if he was serious. I mean how many Clara Barton’s can there be? He
said it was an old house not too far from our location so I said we had to go
see it. I told him if this was what I
thought it could be than it would be great because we have a whole exhibit here
at the museum about Clara Barton plus our newest satellite museum in D.C., the
Clara Barton Missing Soldier’s Office museum.
Everyone at work would be interested to hear about this.
While we
drove there we passed the most beautiful little stream with a stone bridge that
we stopped at for more pictures.
Massachusetts really is jaw-droppingly beautiful in the fall and I
absolutely recommend visiting if you
can. We found Clara Barton Road (what
else could you name the street she was born on?) and passed many houses before
we got to the very end of the street past a Diabetes care center also named
after her. This was the Clara Barton birthplace. The house is a lovely two
story building next to a carriage house.
It has white paint and green trim with a green door with a knocker. It sits on the corner and has a large sign to
mark the significance of that building.
I stood there for a few minutes in awe of the building Clara Barton, one of the most famous women of
the Civil War, had been born and lived here a period of time.
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| The front of her home. Just visible is the name of the street, Clara Barton Road. |
Clara
Barton, if you don’t know already, was nicknamed the Angel of the Battlefield
due to her services as a nurse during the Civil War. She was at some of the most well known
battles including Antietam where she was famously shot through the sleeve while
nursing a dying soldier (the bullet that missed her killed him). She collected food and bandages as well as
donated her own money to help supply the soldiers and often brought them
sweets. After the war ended in 1865, she
opened the Missing Soldiers Office in Washington, D.C. where for three years
she helped families identify and/or locate their loved ones. Many soldiers went missing or lost contact
with family and she helped families find the bodies so that many received the
comfort of knowing what happened to them or could secure pensions. Her office eventually found over 22,000
soldiers in three years. Eventually she
founded the American Red Cross which still works actively to this day bringing
aid to everyone. One heck of a person if
you ask me.
I know
that the house didn’t do anything special and that it was what she eventually
became that was so special about her but it was still very cool of my cousin to
show me this house. We came late in the
day so it was closed to visitors but I might just try to go back someday when
it is open. Maybe I can talk to them
about all the stuff we have here at the museum like her trunk bed, her Missing
Soldiers Office sign or other items. I
would love to get a tour of her childhood home since I imagine the inside is as
nice as the outside.
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| The sign so there can't be any mistaking where I was. |
I
didn’t plan to see anything work related this past weekend but to see Clara
Barton’s birthplace home…well, it definitely was a big part of why I enjoyed
that day so much.
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| Enjoy this beautiful picture as well. |
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