Her story begins on the Christmas of 1821, in Oxford, Massachusetts, where she was born as the 5th and youngest Barton child. She had four siblings: Dorothea, also known as Dolly, Sally, David and Stephen. Her two parents were Captain Stephen, a prosperous and generous farmer and former veteran who often gave to the poor, and Sarah Barton, an independent woman with a volatile temper. Although the young girl only had two parents, her siblings taught and cared for her just as much. When Clara was two, her sisters taught her how to speak. At the ages three and four, her siblings taught her basic math, and how to read and write. Captain Stephen, Clara’s father, taught her geography, using maps his stories to teach her about his battles against
