The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 529
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"God Help Them All and So Must We"
spoke of charity's need to protect honest citizenship by stressing self-help,
though she wholeheartedly approved of the legislature's action and had
perfect timing in claiming success for it.6"
The pattern for handling today's natural disasters is more akin to the
national view of John Brown than the nineteenth-century approach of
Clara Barton, notwithstanding her noble intent. As the world made the
transition from an agrarian economy to the industrial age, Brown's Euro-
pean-influenced approach more nearly matches what we know today, with
FEMA as the major federal government agency responsible for disaster re-
lief. This is a far reach from the Victorian caution of relying solely on self-
help and initiative. In that regard, Brown was truly a twentieth-century
man. Clara Barton used her name and credentials to harness the power of
the press for positive influence, but Brown and the county judges initiat-
ed the $1oo,ooo drought bill and worked to get the appropriation,
though in the end, each needy person received just a little over three dol-
lars. Having the state government acknowledge the suffering added in-
tangible value and, perhaps, kept some from leaving the state, as Brown
said it would. Today an emergency fund to be used at the governor's dis-
cretion is part of state government in Texas.64
Happy endings are problematic in history. Though she retired as pres-
ident of the American Red Cross in 1904, Clara Barton lived to see her or-
ganization establish many local chapters throughout the country. Her on-
ly return to Texas was after the 1900 Galveston storm. She died in 1912.
Brown says cattlemen in his church did not forgive his crusade for the
farmer and fired him a few months later. Substantiation of this claim is
difficult because those pages of church minutes were cut out and are
missing. When he left Albany, Texas, with his wife and two children for
Fall River, Massachusetts, in June 1887, editorials, poems, and resolutions
extolled his work. His congregation passed a unanimous resolution ask-
ing him to stay, but Brown declined and preached his last sermon, enti-
tled "Water of Life," in the courthouse.65
His New England experience included a church pastorate and a year
in the Massachusetts Legislature. He helped settle a labor dispute, but
further heartache occurred for the Browns when a second daughter, Car-
oline Matthews Brown, died of bronchitis. Family members say Mrs.
" Clara Barton to John H. Cutter, Mar. 7, 1887 (2nd quotation), Clara Barton Letters (copy in
Library of Congress), Brown, Twenty-Five Years a Parson in the Wld West, 184 (1st quotation); Ad-
dress given by Clara Barton, Philadelphia Charity Organization Society, Nov. 1886 (4th quota-
tion), copy in Clara Barton Collection (Library of Congress); Clara Barton Diary, Feb. 15, 1887
(3rd quotation), ibid.
"Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twentieth Legislature, state of Texas, p. 697.
" Albany News, May 19, 26,June 9 (quotation), 1887; "Clara Barton Chronology 1869-1912"
(National Park Service, Clara Barton National Historic Site, Washington, D.C.).2003
529
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/607/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.