Clara barton civil war nurse biography samples

Early Life of Clara Barton

She was born Clarissa Harlowe Barton on December 25, 1821 in Oxford, Massachusetts, into an abolitionist family. It’s reported her love of nursing started when her oldest brother experienced a serious head injury and she nursed him diligently for two years.

After receiving a formal education, Barton became a teacher at the age of 17.

Twelve years later, she founded and was headmaster of a free school in New Jersey where 600 students were eventually enrolled. She left the school after the school board voted to replace her as headmaster with a man.

Barton then moved to Washington, D.C., and became a clerk for the U.S.

Patent Office, earning pay equal to her male counterparts. “I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man’s work for less than a man’s pay,” Barton said later.

READ MORE: Clara Barton: 7 Facts about the Civil War Nurse and Medical Pioneer

Civil War Service Begins

Barton was working fo