Chasing Grace

You may remember this post about our visit to Manchester for a lovely lunch at Shaskeen Pub. During our after-lunch walk we encountered Brigadier General John Stark beside city hall. He is the noble gentleman who is the source of New Hampshire’s motto, Live Free Or Die. His actual words were, “Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils.”

He is also known as the Hero of Bennington. There are the Red Coats, and they are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow, he is quoted as having said before the Battle of Bennington.

Molly Stark did not become a widow that day. But she would have been proud of her husband in any event. She was a rebel and a patriot as much as he was, although she took a more supportive role, tending to house and home while he was in battle. She also nursed many soldiers back to health, opening her home as a hospital for the troops during a smallpox outbreak.

There is a memorial to her in Vermont. Sorry, Google is just not giving me a photo. I’m surprised. We must visit Vermont so I can take my own. But I did find the inscription on her memorial plaque:

Wife of General John Stark, mother of 11 children, homeaker, patriot and defender of the household. Her love, courage and self-reliance were common virtures among the many hearty women of frontier New England’s 18th century towns. This strength and devotion to husband, home and family were virtues that sustained her, as well as so many women and their families, during those times when husbands were called to duty for their country in the constant French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution.

Apparently the sculptor of her memorial likeness has her holding a rifle with one hand while cradling a child in the opposite arm. I recently came across a blog post complaining that Molly Stark was depicted on her memorial “with an infant in one arm and a long-arm in the other”, and wondering if it would not have been more appropriate to have her holding a laundry basket rather than a firearm. But the writer of that post seems to be missing the point of a memorial and the symbolism involved.

It is the job of the memorial sculptor to honor the subject in symbolism that goes beyond words. You could certainly support the idea that this depicts Molly Stark’s determination to protect and defend the newborn country of America. But in a simpler interpretation this nicely represents Molly Stark’s devotion to family and her patriotism in one. She may not have taken part in the fighting during the American Revolution, but all accounts show she certainly supported it. This memorial represents her spirit, if not an actual moment in reality in a typical day of Molly Stark’s life.

During Molly’s day it would not be unusual for a woman to handle a firearm, especially while her husband was away, in defense of her home and family. While it is certainly not realistic to expect that Molly would have had a babe in one arm and a rifle in the other at any given moment during her day, in my opinion, this beautifully depicts Molly Stark’s strength and courage as well as her devotion to home and family.