Editing Clara Barton (section)

==Early life==
Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born on December 25, 1821, in [[North Oxford, Massachusetts]], a small farming community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mace |first=Emily |title=Barton, Clara (1821-1912) {{!}} Harvard Square Library |url=https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/clara-barton/ |access-date=2024-01-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> She was named after the titular character of Samuel Richardson's novel ''[[Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady|Clarissa]]''. Her father was Captain Stephen Barton, a member of the local [[militia]] and a [[selectman]] who influenced his daughter's patriotism and humanitarianism.<ref name=":0" /> He was a soldier under the command of General [[Anthony Wayne]] in his violent [[Indian removal|removal of Indigenous peoples]] in the northwest. He was also the leader of progressive thought in the Oxford village area.<ref name=Humanitarian>{{cite journal |author=Bacon-Foster, Corra|jstor=40067108|title=Clara Barton, Humanitarian|journal= Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. |volume=21 |year=1918|pages=278–356}}</ref> Barton's mother was Sarah Stone Barton.

In 1825, when she was three years old, Barton was sent to school with her brother Stephen, where she reportedly excelled in reading and spelling. At school, she became close friends with Nancy Fitts. Barton was very timid as a child, and Fitts was her only known childhood friend.<ref name="Barton, Clara 1980">Barton, Clara (1980). ''The Story of My Childhood'' New York: Arno Press Inc</ref>

Beginning in 1832, when Barton was ten years old, she acted as a nurse to her brother David for two years after he fell from the roof of a barn and sustained a severe head injury. In nursing her brother, she learned how to deliver prescription medications and perform the practice of [[bloodletting]], in which blood was removed from the patient by leeches attached to the skin. David eventually made a full recovery.<ref name="Barton, Clara 1980"/>

Barton's parents tried to encourage her to be more outgoing by enrolling her in Colonel Stones High School, but Barton became more timid and depressed and would not eat. She was brought back home to regain her health.<ref name="Pryor, Elizabeth Brown 1987">Pryor, Elizabeth Brown (1987). ''Clara Barton: Professional Angel''.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. {{ISBN|0812212738}}</ref>

Upon her return, Barton's family relocated to help the widow of Barton's cousin, who had been left to manage four children and a farm after her husband's death. Barton helped to perform maintenance and repair work on the home in which her family was to live.<ref name="Barton, Clara 1980"/> After the work was done, she was reportedly concerned with becoming a burden to her family.<ref name="Pryor, Elizabeth Brown 1987"/> Therefore, she began to play with her male cousins, participating in their activities, such as horseback riding. When Barton injured herself, her mother decided that she should focus on developing more traditionally feminine skills and invited a female cousin to help develop Barton's femininity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pryor|first=Elizabeth Brown|title=Clara Barton: professional angel |year=1988|publisher=University of Pennsylvania |location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0812212730}}</ref>

To assist Barton in overcoming her shyness, her parents persuaded her to become a schoolteacher.<ref name="ANB">Pryor, Elizabeth Brown (2000). "Barton, Clara". [http://www.anb.org/articles/12/12-00054.html ''American National Biography'']</ref> She studied at the [[Clinton Liberal Institute]] in [[Clinton, Oneida County, New York|Clinton, New York]]. She achieved her first teacher's certificate in 1839, at 17 years old. Barton led an effective redistricting campaign that allowed the children of workers to receive an education.