Excerpt from The Life of Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross, Vol. 1 of 2 The life of Clara Barton is a story of unique and per manent interest; but it is more than an interesting story. It is an important chapter in the history of our country, and in that of the progress of philanthropy in this country and the world. Without that chapter, some events of large importance can never be adequately understood. Hers was a long life. She lived to enter her tenth dec ade, and when she died was still SO normal in the sound ness of her bodily organs and in the clarity Of her mind and memory that it seemed she might easily have lived to see her hundredth birthday. Hers was a life spent largely in the Nation's capital. She knew personally every president from Lincoln to Roosevelt, and was acquainted with nearly every man of prominence in our national life. When she went abroad, her associates were people of high rank and wide influence in their respective countries. N 0 American woman received more honor while she lived, either at home or abroad, and how worthily she bore these honors those know best who knew her best. The time has come for the publication of a definitive biography Of Clara Barton. Such a book could not earlier have been prepared. The Life of Clara Barton, by Percy H. Epler, published in 1915, was issued to meet the demand which rose immediately after her death for a comprehensive biography, and it was published with the full approval of Miss Barton's relatives and of her literary executors, including the author Of the present work. But. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.