Clara Barton (1821–1912) is best remembered today for her role in founding the American Red Cross and for her service before that as a nurse in the American Civil War. Barton trained originally as a teacher and writer, and she spent much of her young adulthood teaching elementary students in classrooms in New Jersey, Georgia, and Canada. In 1855 she moved to Washington, D.C., to become a clerk in the Patent Office—one of the first women to receive a clerkship comparable to those held by men. She was fired from her position because of her support for the Republican Party in 1857, but she was recalled in 1859 when her services were found to be indispensable.