<P> She was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and married John Casper Fritchie, a glove maker, on May 6, 1806 . She became famous as the heroine of the 1863 poem Barbara Frietchie by John Greenleaf Whittier, in which she pleads with an occupying Confederate general to "Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country's flag ." </P> <P> No firsthand account of the incident survives, and disputes over the poem's authenticity came up almost immediately after it was published . However, her descendants successfully promoted her reputation, and the city of Frederick has used her name and image to attract tourists ever since the early 1900s . </P> <P> The flag incident as described in the poem likely never occurred at the Barbara Fritchie house, although Barbara Fritchie was a Unionist and did have a Union flag . Friends of Barbara Fritchie stated that she shook a Union flag at and insulted Confederate troops, but other neighbors said Barbara Fritchie, over 90 years old, was ill at the time . </P> <P> The woman who inspired the poem was likely Mary Quantrall who lived on Patrick Street . In addition to confusing Barbara Fritchie with Mary Quantrall, the poem was likely embellished by a distant poet working from second or third hand accounts of the incident and other flag incidents . The Confederate general in the poem most likely was not (Stonewall) Jackson, but another Confederate officer (probably A.P. Hill) since none of the men with General Jackson that day remembered the incident . Gen. Jackson and Barbara Fritchie both died before publication of the poem . Historians and reporters noted other discrepancies between the patriotic poem and witness accounts . </P>

Who touches a hair on yon grey head