Show W I 1 LU I 1 eaf pa n J 14 91 N 0 r ar 74 41 aw S 01 ap t by ELMO SCOTT WATSON NL does not usually think of the united states mil alit tary academy at west point as other than a man s world yet there have been several 4 ivonen women who have had such a part ift in its history as to make their names a part of the west point gg tradition the first of these was the woman known to tame fame as captain molly in the cemetery at west point stands a bonu ment bearing a bronze tablet which shows in tas bas relief a stalwart woman standing behind a cannon ramrod and in hand and below it Is this inscription in memory of margaret corbin a heroine of the revolution known as captain mollie who at the battle of fort washington new fork york when her bus hus band john corbin was killed kept his field piece in action until severely wo wounded and thereafter by act of congress con gregs received half the pay and allo allowance nance of A solder sold er in the service she lived died and was burled buried on he tl e hudson river bank near the village now called highland falls in appreciation of her deeds for the cause of liberty and that her heroism may not be forgot ten her dust was as moved to this spot and the memorial erected by the national society of the daughters of the american revolution in new york state 1906 such Is the brief story which the tablet tells tut but there are other details worth recording hn un til her death in 1800 she lived in a private home near west point supplies for her being sent dl from the secretary of war an interesting sidelight on that part of her career was revealed recently when capt walter 11 wells intelligence and publicity officer at west point in digging through some of the old files at the academy came across the manuscript letters written by maj george fleming corn com mander of the arsenal and ordnance and mill tary storekeeper at west point to the hon arable maj alaj gen knox secretary Secret arv of war on october 7 1788 1786 fleming wrote to knox 1 I have sent another account of mrs swim swims s for taking care of captain molly up to the of september and have removed her to another place as I 1 thought she was not so well treated as she ought to be on july 8 1787 there was another letter which does not paint a very flattering portrait of the revolutionary heroine it said I 1 have drawn three orders on you for the of captain molly in favor of mr denniston Dennl ston one Is from january 19 to april 12 the other from april 13 to july 5 1786 inclusive which ac ae counts were lodged in the war office last fall and are mrs swim s the other Is from septem ber 28 to july 5 1783 1786 inclusive and will be de livered by mr denniston Dennl ston for mrs randall As molly Is such a disagreeable object to take care of and I 1 promised to pay them every quarter I 1 have been obliged to borrow the money to pay the people if it can possibly be replaced I 1 bould should be very glad on april 21 1787 there was another letter with a curious touch of an eternal feminine problem something to aearl wear on that date fleming writes I 1 am informed by the woman that takes care of captain molly that she Is much in want of shifts if you think proper to order three or lo 10 four it I 1 should be glad two months later on june 12 he wrote again to knox if the shifts aich you informed me should be made for captain molly are done I 1 should be glad to have them sent as she complains much for want of them whether or not captain molly ever got acer shafts is unknown for there Is no further reference to the matter nor does her name again appear in the records after 1789 IiAn to the militant spirit of captain mol both in war and in peace was the spirit of of ail her woman whose name Is written high in US tbt annals of west point she was miss susan warner the daughter of a new tork york city attorney who upon retiring from practice in the metropolis made his home on constitution island in the hudson river opposite west point he was accompanied there by his two daugh anna and susan and every sunday after noon for years miss susan conducted a bible class for the cadets at the military academy had she lived she would have found among the names of the general off officers leers in the world war many anany who had attended atten aed led her classes A trail frail email ismall woman who still clung to 0 o the poke bonnet and the s ik dress of the civil war period she waa nas rowed across from her island home and carried in a military conveyance to the hall set apart for her in one of the academic buildings she came to be regarded as almost a part of the teaching corps of the institution and on her I 1 t tu t 1 0 44 A ifie 1 10 11 41 fl 1 A g 4 1 mrs lou se regan maker of chevrons for west point cadet uniforms for 50 years 2 letter to general knox secretary of war from the mil tary storekeeper at west point re ferring to an account for mrs randall taking care of captain molly twenty four weeks being from june 7 to november 21 1787 inclusive 3 miss anna warner sister of susan war ner author of the wide wide world and sunday school teacher for west point cadets 4 the monument to captain molly in the cemetery at west point 5 inscription on the captain molly bonu ment telling of her heroism in a revolutionary war battle 6 picture of cadet henry moore harrington framed in indian beadwork V death she was burled buried with military honors be side the cadet monument in the west point cemetery her sister anna following her wishes gave constitution island to the united states gov eminent and their home there Is preserved as a n but miss susan s connection with west point was not her only claim to fame under the pen name ot of ellabeth wetherell she wrote two books the wide nide wide world published in 1851 and queechy published in 1852 which attained a wide popularity of the wide wide world it has been said that it was the most popular novel ever written by an american with the single exception of 0 mrs stowe s famous story uncle tom toms s cabin it attracted as much attention in england as in america and it was translated into french german and swedish however miss susan was indifferent to this fame for it Is recorded that she never liked her book the wide wide world perhaps she unconsciously anticipated the criticism that followed its publication A french critic marv aled at america americas s reception of a three volume novel devoted to the history of the moral ress of a girl of thirteen an american critic described it as having little story not a semb lance of melodrama and declared that its sue cess was purely artistic it Is one of the liter ary traditions of new york thit that after the read ers for george P putnam had advised against it he was persuaded by his mother who read the manuscript to publish it long before miss susan became the sunday school teacher for the cadets there was another woman who had an important place in cadet life at the academy she was miss blanche berard who was postmaster there for halt half a century appointed by president polk in 1847 1947 miss berard held her position there until 1897 and few of the cadets perhaps realized that back of her pleasant smile as she passed out their mail to them there was the bitter memory of a tragedy in her life As a young girl miss berard was engaged to an officer attached to the academy one afternoon this officer rode his spirited horse of which he was very proud to the post office to demonstrate its good points but the horse became frightened suddenly and threw the officer off killing him so the woman postmaster remained miss s berard to the end of her days true to the memory of her first and only love but one big thrill came to her in her later life while on leave ot of absence from her duties at west point which she spent in eu rope miss bliss berard had the honor of being presented to Q been victor a of england it Is an Inte interesting coincidence that the pres I 1 I 1 i I 1 aluia ent postmaster at west point Is a grandniece ot of miss berard and that there has also been trag edy in her life for she la Is miss grace alleen aileen harrington and she is 1 the daughter of henry moore harrington of 0 troop of the sev anth cavalry who perished with gen george A custer at the battle of the little big horn on june 25 1876 and who was one of the three of ficera whose bodies were never found at least not identified after the battle not only Is the ignorance of her father fathers s fate one of the tragic incidents in the life of the woman who Is postmaster ister at west point where so many of custer custers s officers were once cadets but there Is another tragic memory which she has carried through life a memory of her moth er who suddenly disappeared several years after the ouster custer battle amnesia it would be called nowadays miss harrington says but at that time it was ascribed to grief and the uncertain ty of what had happened to my father several times we heard from indians that a lady dressed in black had been seen on the battlefield other reports came from indian territory we incesti gated all these rumors and finally after twe two years we found her in texas where a severe at tack of pneumonia had served to bring back her memory so that she knew who she was but she was never able to ghe glie any account of her wanderings while she was gone or why she was there As miss harrington stands behind her desk in the post office amid the busy turmoil of mall mail distribution for the 1260 cadets at the academy and an equal number of officers and regular sol diers she can look up to two pictures on the wall which serve as a link between the blood stained battlefield of the little big horn in far off montana and the peaceful banks of the hud son one of them Is a picture of her father in the regimentals of the seventh cavalry the form which he wore on that fatal day in june more than halt a century ago the other Is a picture of cadet henry moore harrington it Is enclosed in a frame made of beads and these beads were obtained by her mother from indians in dakota perhaps members of the very same tribe who overwhelmed custer and harrington and all the other gallant officers and troopers of the old seventh among the other west point traditions Is one of perfection in attire and one of the require ments for that perfection Is perfectly aligned and perfectly sewn seven chevrons worn as the in signia by the officers and non commissioned of bleers in the corps of cadets those ornate chev rons of gold lace black braid and broadcloth are very difficult to make since they require great skill and experience in the making but there Is a woman who has proved herself capable of the job for more than fifty years without a break mrs louise regan of highland falls N Y has made every chevron gold or gray worn by the west pointers she really start ed sewing them when she was ten years old but her uninterrupted service with the cadet store of the academy began when she was eight een and since 1879 anthe all the corporals stripes and insignia from sergeants up to regimental corn com manders have come from her hands she is past seventy years of age now and she has made stripes for many cadets who are generals in the army today it Is difficult says harris P scott manager of the cadet store to turn the straight rolled gold lace into the curves necessary to make those long Vs V s turned up without drawing or wrinkling the material five yards of gold lace are required to mike make a pair of chevrons for a regimental adjutant of the corps of cadets there Is also the background of broadcloth with the silk striping between the gold lace this lace Is of real gold and Is imported from france it Is all hand labor and the material must be worked in cool weather as hand perspiration deadens it she works from january to june each year making chevrons for the cadet officers to be in june after graduation mrs regan Is a widow and without children she was born in highland falls moving to yonkers upon her marriage and then returned to her birthplace the cadet store has sent her the work wherever she was her health Is splendid and though the work Is hard on the eyes she hopes to continue as the only maker of the splendid gold and gray and black chev rons tt t grace the uniformed sleeve of the west pointer 0 by western newspaper union J aal |