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Subject: "A Heroine of the Civil War" - Mary Jane Leeper Franks Downs
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 14:15:10 EST

Stories of Guernsey County, Ohio by William G Wolfe
Published by the Author Cambridge, Ohio 1943
Copyright, 1943, by William G. Wolfe
Typography, Printing and Binding in the USA by Kingsport Press, Inc.,
Kingsport, Tennessee

According to On-Line Database of all the on-line library card
catalogs anywhere in the world (OCLC):
Reprint. Originally published: Cambridge, Ohio: the author, 1943.
Work has lapsed into the public domain.

Transcribed and/or paraphrased and submitted by:
Marilyn McCormick Murphy, Santa Fe, NM 2002


Page 292:

A Heroine of the Civil War
The capture of a Guernsey county woman as a spy, her imprisonment by the
rebels, and her thrilling escape from the enemy compose the outline of this
little story of Civil War days. For love of country and husband a young wife
left her home in Richland township when the war opened, and offered her
services to the Union. Some of her experiences within the Confederate lines
were more remarkable than those of the average soldier. After the war was
over she was awarded a pension by the federal government.

Descendant of Patriotic Families. - Mary Jane Leeper, daughter of Alexander
and Charity Wines Leeper, was born in Guernsey county. Her grandfather was
Robert E. Leeper who kept a tavern east of Washington, on what is known as
the Aaron Patterson farm. Her grandmother was a daughter of George Wines, a
member of one of Guernsey county's leading pioneer families. Both the
Leepers and the Wines were noted for their patriotism, a family
characteristic that Mary Jane may have inherited.

A short time before the beginning of the Civil War Mary Jane Leeper became
the wife of Robert L. Franks, and the young couple established a home near
New Gottengen in Richland township. When Lincoln's call for troops came, the
husband announced his intention to enlist in the army. Mary Jane declared
that she, too, would go to war, in order that she might be near her husband
and perhaps find something to do that would aid in the preservation of the
Union.

Taken prisoner by the Rebels. - Robert L. Franks enlisted in the One Hundred
Twenty-second Regiment, under General J. Baux, in the Sixth Army Corps. Mary
Jane followed her husband on the march and worked as a cook when the army
camped. Inside the Confederate lines, she volunteered to serve as a nurse.
During her camp experience she had learned much concerning military tactics
that was not a requisite for nursing. Alert and keen to serve her country
aside from caring for the wounded, she engaged in a type of war work that
very few women have ever dared do. Suspected by the Confederates of passing
important information through the lines to the Union army, she was arrested
and placed in prison.

Escapes from Prison - The most remarkable incident connected with Mary Jane
Franks' war experience was her escape from prison. Mrs. Eliza Potts,
ninety-two years of age, who is now living in Cambridge, is a first cousin of
Mrs. Franks. She knew her before she entered the war and talked to her many
times after she returned home. "I do not remember her telling how she got
out of the prison," Mrs. Potts remarked, "but I do recall her saying, 'I ran
and I ran and I ran.'" Mrs. Potts remembers her adding that as she ran she
kept repeating, "Legs, if you ever intend to do me any good, do it now."

At length she reached a Northern sympathizer who carried her in an ox-cart
forty miles to the Union lines. She was then taken to a railroad by which
she returned to Guernsey county.

Her capture occurred a short time before the Battle of the Wilderness in
which her husband was wounded. He was taken prisoner and sent to
Andersonville where he died of his wounds. Mrs. Franks did not learn of her
husband's capture, imprisonment and death until she returned home.

Died in 1913 - Some years after the war Mrs. Franks married Upton Downs.
After the death of Downs at Jonesboro, Indiana, about the year 1907, Mrs.
Downs lived at the home of her brother, Dr. John A. Leeper, Columbus, Ohio,
where she died in 1913. She was buried at Zanesville, Ohio.

All her five brothers and sisters are dead with the possible exception of
Edward who became a prominent actor and went to London, England. Two first
cousins of Mary Jane Franks, in addition to Mrs. Potts, are now living in
Guernsey county; John H. Leeper and Mrs. Angeline Secrest (Congressman Robert
T. Secrest's grandmother), both of Senecaville. Some nephews and nieces are
living within or near Cambridge.

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