The Women of the Postage Stamps—Part 9

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Hello, dear readers! It’s time for your next installment of the Women of the US Stamps. So far, we’ve covered 100 years, plus a few, of women who have been featured on American stamps, and today, we pick up in 1991.

 

Our first honoree is Fanny Brice. Have you heard of her? She was born in 1891 in New York City, one of four children of saloon owner parents. At the age of 17, she dropped out of school to perform in a burlesque revue, and just a couple of years later, went on to the Ziegfeld Follies, where she performed two different times—once in 1910-1911, and again from 1921 into the 1930s. She recorded some of her signature songs for both Victor and Columbia Records, and also had an illustrious career in radio. She was best known for her comedy sketch character, Baby Snooks, whom she played for many different radio variety shows across many years. Her life became the basis for the stage play/movie Funny Girl.

Next is Harriet Quimby, born in Michigan in 1875. After her family moved to California around 1900, Harriet had a short-lived career in theater, but soon decided it wasn’t the right fit for her. Instead, she became a journalist in San Francisco and eventually moved to New York to be a theater critic. During a nine-year period as a journalist, she published over 250 articles. But all that took a back seat when she attended an aviation show in New York and decided to get her pilot’s license. In 1911, she became the first North American woman to ever garner such an honor, and in 1912, she accomplished another first—becoming the first woman to fly across the English Channel. She was known to fly in a purple satin flying suit, which also led to her becoming the face of the Vin Fiz Company’s grape soda ads. She spent the remainder of her brief life flying in competitions and acting as spokesperson for women in aviation. In 1912, during a flight, her 2-seat airplane suddenly and inexplicably pitched forward, throwing her passenger from his seat. Unable to regain control, Quimby was also ejected from the plane, and both she and her passenger fell to their deaths while the plane gently glided to the ground and flipped over in the mud. In 2004, this aviation pioneer was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Our third honoree for today is Dorothy Parker. This literary critic, poet, and fiction author was born in 1893 in New Jersey. Both her mother and step-mother died before she graduated high school, and her father died soon after that point. Parker took a job early on as a piano player for a school of dance and spent her spare time working on poetry. Within a year, she was hired by Vogue as an editorial assistant and moved on to work at Vanity Fair. She was a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, a collection of writers, comedians, novelists, and more, who liked to lunch at the Algonquin Hotel to tell jokes and share stories. It was this that helped launch Parker into the big time, as many of her friends from this association would publish her funny jokes and conversations. Her witticisms became her calling card, though in her own writing, it often got her into trouble, as many of the people she wrote about in her articles felt her jokes were too abrasive. In 1926, she published her first book of verse, Enough Rope, in which is the famous line “Men seldom make passes/At girls who wear glasses.” She also went on to publish a collection of her short stories in 1939, titled Here Lies. She lived to be 73.

 

Our final lady of the postage stamps for today was born Victoria Patterson Hensley, but that’s not the name you would know her by. Do you know who she was? Let’s see if you can guess. She was born in September of 1932, in West Virginia, though the family moved many times in her early years, due to her father’s work as a blacksmith—they went wherever he could find steady work. When this young lady suffered a throat infection and rheumatic fever at the age of thirteen, she credits the illness of launching her into her future career. The throat infection altered her voice, so that after she had recuperated, she had a booming contralto singing voice. Soon after, she began singing with her mother in church and taught herself to play piano. Her official start in music came when, at the age of fourteen, she showed up unannounced to a local radio station and asked to audition to sing live on air. The DJ gave her the desired audition, and he was impressed enough to say that if she was brave enough to sing live over the air, he was brave enough to let her. This talented woman spent five years traveling and singing with various groups and in vocal competitions, waiting for her break. Her first recording contract with 4 Star Records didn’t net the desired results—but she continued to try, eventually landing a recording contract with Decca Records and a place with the Grand Ole Opry. Have you figured out who she is yet? It’s singer Patsy Cline! She spent eight years wowing audiences with songs like “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and “Sweet Dreams” among many others. Unfortunately, her life was cut short in 1963 when the small plane she was a passenger in went down ninety miles from its Tennessee destination, due to bad weather.

 

It’s Your Turn: Which of these ladies have you heard of before, and which do you find most inspiring? Why?

 

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered western novels at twelve when she swiped the only “horse” book from her brother’s bookshelf. Across the next decade, she devoured westerns and fell in love with the genre. While attaining a B.A. in writing from the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. She has finaled in and won numerous writing competitions and appeared on various best-seller lists. Besides writing, she’s been a business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, a historical researcher, a publisher, and a full-time homemaker. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur children.

 

Available Now: Love and Order: A Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery

 

Wanted: 

Family, Love, and Justice

One Old West Mystery Solved Throughout Three Short Romantic Stories

Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice.

 

Youngest child, Callie, has pushed past her insecurities to pursue a career as a Pinkerton agent. Middle child, Andi, has spent years studying law under her adoptive father’s tutelage. And the eldest and only son, Rion, is a rough-and-tumble bounty hunter. 

 

When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?

 

 

How Pottery Saved a Ski Resort

By Terrie Todd

If you were a bride in Canada during the 1960s or 70s, you could reasonably expect to receive one or more of three items for a wedding gift: a silver platter or candlesticks, fancy glassware, or a piece of Blue Mountain Pottery. Having married in 1948, my mother did not receive any Blue Mountain, but she began to collect the lovely pieces decades later when their popularity soared. How her passion began, I’m not sure. Probably with a gift, like most collectors’ items. What I do know is that Mom never knew the rich history behind this unique product.

 

Just a few BMP pieces in its most popular color

Jozo Weider, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, began a ski resort in the Blue Mountains near Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. A natural entrepreneur, Jozo was always on the lookout for ways to keep his ski hill lucrative by supplementing income with skiing lessons, a gift shop, and farm products like eggs, chickens, and apples. 

Jozo Weider

Meanwhile, a young Czech ceramics artist named Dennis (Zdenek) Tupy had spent a year in a German refugee camp after refusing to participate in World War II. In 1957, as part of the post-war resettlement, Dennis was offered free passage to Canada in exchange for one year of labor on a Canadian farm. During this time, he slept in a barn, which he shared with the family’s milk cow. 

When Jozo Weider heard about his fellow countryman, he visited the farm, posing as an Immigration Officer. “He’s got to come with me,” he told the farmer. He hired Dennis as a dishwasher at his ski resort, and they became fast friends. After being promoted to brush-clearing, Dennis stepped in some heavy clay that had been turned up for a new ski hill. Scraping it off his boot, Dennis commented that it resembled the clays he had worked with in Czechoslovakia. Always alert for opportunities, Jozo provided Dennis with what he needed to begin experimenting with the clay.

Dennis Tupy at work

Because the Blue Mountain Pottery Ltd. began as an offshoot of the ski hill, some of the original staff doubled as ski instructors. While working at a potter’s wheel, they might be called away to teach an impromptu ski lesson. Soon, the company had grown enough to employ the winter ski hill staff year-round. Blue Mountain Pottery was known for its glazes. The initial glaze used was a deep blue-green, combined with a darker glaze. This combination gave each piece a unique appearance during the firing process.

Sourcing both the clay and the glazing materials locally made Blue Mountain Pottery unique and, eventually, world-renowned. At its peak, the company employed 800 people and sold pottery to 80 worldwide markets. Because of their beautiful and unique designs and affordability, nearly every household in Canada had at least one piece of Blue Mountain during this time. The Canadian pavilion at Epcot Center in Florida contained two items: maple syrup and Blue Mountain Pottery.

The original Blue Mountain Pottery logo stamped on the bottom of a bowl

The company experienced splits, takeovers, makeovers, and restarts. In 1983, it had $25 million in sales, but by 1985 it was bankrupt. One last attempt to resurrect the company was made, but tastes in home decorating had changed. At the end of 2004, the company closed its doors for good, citing 9-11, cheap Asian knock-offs, and SARS as contributing reasons. The original molds were nearly all smashed to avoid duplication.

By the time Mom entered a care home earlier this year, she had downsized her collection to just enough pieces for each of her children to keep one. I received my favorite, a gorgeous but impractical tea set. 

My tea set

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw1M1ruFky8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountain_Pottery

Not a single incident of pottery making occurs in The Reluctant Healer of Halifax, a novel of the Great Halifax Explosion of 1917. It’s a story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War.

 

Terrie Todd is the award-winning author of ten historical novels,all set in Canada, where she lives with her husband Jon. A former church drama team leader and newspaper columnist, she’s also a frequent contributor to Guideposts Books, a mother of three, and grandmother of five.

 

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WHAT YEAR IS IT?

  

By Mary Davis

 

 

I thought Daylight Saving Time was confusing with each region, state, county, and city doing their own thing until it was standardized in 1966. (See my article on DST for the full, crazy story. https://www.hhhistory.com/2018/04/its-about-time.html ) Then earlier this month Suzanne Norquist wrote an article about time zones. (See her article. https://www.hhhistory.com/2026/10/whose-time-is-it-anyway.html) Now, I have delved into the idiosyncrasies of the calendar system, which was no easy matter.

 

Keeping track of the passage of time goes back to prehistoric eras. Since the earth’s population was so spread out, each region had their own date-keeping system, or no system at all and went by lunar cycles.

 

 

Along came the Julian calendar in 45 BC instituted by Julius Caesar, with the start of the year on March 25^th. Why such a random day? Your guess is as good as mine. It also introduced the Leap Day, which I’ll cover later in this article.

 

 

The Julian calendar was rocking along until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII instituted a new calendar to correct dating errors in the Julian calendar, which had too many Leap Years. This discrepancy had been noted for centuries and worked on by various people, then finally a new calendar was implemented under Pope Gregory XIII.

 

1^st page of the document to reform the Julian calendar

It took nations a while to make this change. Catholic dominated countries made the switch right away in 1582, while others held out until the 20^th Century. Greece finally got on board in 1923 and Saudi Arabia not until 2016. England, Wales, Ireland, and British territories didn’t make the change until 1752, 170 years after it was established. They didn’t want to give the appearance of being under the control of the Catholic Church again.

 

Adoption of Gregorian Calendar by country

During this time (1582-1923) when countries were making up their minds, people used “dual dating”. When dates were written, they would reflect both the Julian calendar, Old Style (O.S.), and the Gregorian calendar, New Style (N.S.). O.S. and N.S. were mainly used in the British Empire.

 

In what year was Wednesday, September 4^th followed by Thursday, September 15^th? The year was 1752. It was a short month that year. What happened to those eleven days? And why were they wiped from history?

 

It all has to do with Leap Day. Leap Day was once every four years on February 24^th O.S., not the 29^th but the 24^th. So, the day after February 24^th was . . . February 24^th.

 

Again.

 

 

Having a Leap Day goes all the way back to before the start of the Julian calendar. Scientists and astronomers figured out that there were more than 365 days in a year, but not a whole day, only a quarter. Over the decades, this quarter day changed the unchanging equinoxes. To compensate for this, every fourth year, a day was added . . . between February 24^th and the 25^th, giving the month two of the same day. Therefore, if you were born on the 24^th or the once-every-four-years leap day—also the 24^th—you would never miss your birthday. Eventually, this extra day was moved to the end of the month.

 

Post-Medieval Perpetual Calendar Coin

So, back to the missing eleven days. A calendar year doesn’t have an even 365 days and six hours in it. Actually, it’s 365 days, five hours, forty-eight minutes, and forty-five seconds. This caused the calendar to be out of alignment from the earth’s orbit. When you add up all those extra minutes over hundreds of years, your calendar is off by eleven days. The more centuries that pass the more days your calendar is off.

 

Some people wanted to make up for these days by omitting the Leap Days over the next forty years. Others wanted to rip the bandage off and take care of those days all at once. The latter won. So September 4^th was followed by the 15^th. So, if your birthday fell between those dates, did that mean no cake or presents? Say it ain’t so!

 

Here is an example of some of the confusion caused by different countries using different calendars. William III of England sailed from the Netherlands on November 11, 1688 (Gregorian calendar) and, apparently, traveled back in time to arrive in England on November 5^th of that year (Julian calendar).

 

But wait, there’s more. New Year’s Day used to be March 25^th. The new calendar moved it to January 1^st. So, 1752 had only nine months for the British Empire, and 1753 became the new twelve-month cycle.

 

Because of all these date changes and subtracting days from the calendar, people used “dual dating”. They would combine what the date would be according to both the O.S. calendar and the N.S. Therefore, with not everyone using the same calendar, a date in a ledger or elsewhere might be written like this: 10/21 February 1750/1. The day of the month in the O.S. would be on the 10^th of 1750, while on the N.S. it would be 21 February 1751 to account for the eleven-day drift and the New Year’s Day change. Dual dating helped avoid confusion.

 

Interestingly, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson fell victim to this dual dating dilemma. Washington’s birthday is officially February 22, 1732 N.S., but he was born on February 11, 1731 O.S. Or it could be written 11/22 February 1731/2. Jefferson instructed to have on his tombstone, his birth date to be according to the Julian calendar (O.S.) and his death date the Gregorian calendar (N.S.).

 

Jefferson Tombstone--"BORN APRIL 2 1743 O.S. DIED JULY 4 1826"

Still, not everyone strictly uses the Gregorian calendar. There are many other calendars in use today that are utilized alongside the Gregorian calendar.

 

Time is fascinating, but it sure can be confusing.

 

THE QUILTING CIRCLE SERIES Box Set

Historical Romance Series

By Mary Davis

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily her loved ones?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *SELAH & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects turn in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *SELAH Winner* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) – Complications arise when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a SELAH Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection, Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in Colorado with her Carolina Dog, Shelby, and her pocket black Lab, Willow. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_dating

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar#Difference_between_Gregorian_and_Julian_calendar_dates

https://everything.explained.today/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/

I Knit My Regency Hero’s Scarf

By Camille Elliot/Camy Tang

In my Christian Regency romantic suspense, The Spinster's Christmas, my hero, former naval captain Gerard Foremont, lent the heroine his red-and-black knitted scarf:

Miranda pulled her cloak more tightly around her. “I am happy the weather turned cold enough for the skating party. Ellie was quite looking forward to today.”

It was then that Gerard noticed her neck was bare. “Where is your scarf?” He remembered the gray one she’d worn during the greenery hunting party, which she’d used to staunch the blood on Ellie’s forehead.

“It was too stained.”

“Have you no other? Here.” He unwound the red and black scarf from his neck and draped it around hers.

“I cannot take your scarf.”

“My valet, like a mother hen, gave me two.” He pulled back the edge of his cloak to show the other scarf wound underneath. He then proceeded to tie it under her chin.

She had become still, as if she had stopped breathing, although she did not look at him. He was close enough to her to smell lavender and a hint of lemon. He might have taken longer than necessary to fasten the scarf, but he was reluctant to draw away from her.

He felt both rested and vibrantly alive when he touched her, even with the bulky scarf between them. It reminded him of the night of the Christmas ball, and the kiss they’d shared.

He wanted to kiss her again.

While writing the scene, I wondered: What would a gentleman’s knitted scarf actually have looked like in the early nineteenth century?

Alas, it sent me down a research hole—not a rabbit hole, no, it sent me hurtling into a black hole of antique knitting patterns from which I have not yet escaped.

I eventually found the pattern, “A Gentleman’s Comforter” in Miss Watts’s The Ladies’ Knitting and Netting Book, first published in 1837 (the link goes to the 5th edition published in 1840, which you can read for free online).

It was one of the first knitting books of its kind, although other women such as Jane Gaugain and Frances Lambert would go on to publish other such handiwork books from that year onward.

That date puts the pattern just beyond the Regency period in which my story is set. But knitting itself was hardly new.

For centuries, knitting knowledge was taught from one person to another rather than learned from books (or YouTube videos) like modern knitters. Most of the patterns were passed orally by largely illiterate rural knitters and memorized. The patterns were called “receipts” because they had been “received” from someone.

From Miss Watts’s book through the Victorian era, women began collecting and publishing knitting patterns. These books were supported by royalty and the aristocracy—partly because Queen Victoria herself knit, and partly because these patterns had never before been written and distributed in publications.

I can’t say for certain that Gerard’s scarf would have been made from this exact pattern, but it might be possible the “receipt,” passed down orally, was in use in the Regency era.

For fun, I decided to knit Gerard’s scarf from Miss Watts’s original pattern. Here it is:

I wasn't entirely certain what “coarse steel needles” and “5 skeins of fine wool yarn” mean, so I just guessed. I used US 1 needles and fingering weight wool yarn, but you could use anything you want, including larger needles and yarn. Just cast on fewer stitches, making sure it’s an even number.

I got my yarn from KnitPicks.com, and was thrilled to find a “Hollyberry” color way. Very Christmasy!

If you’re interested, here’s my project on Ravelry.

I cast on 72 stitches. I used the same cast on I do when I make top down socks, which is the Norwegian cast on with two needles held together. However, you can use whatever cast on you want. I would suggest, however, that you cast on either with a larger needle or two needles held together.

First row:

Knit 1, move the yarn to the front, slip one stitch purl wise, move yarn to the back

(knit 1 but instead of throwing the yarn once around the needle, throw it twice around before pulling the loop through, move the yarn to the front, slip one stitch purl wise, move yarn to the back) repeat to the last 2 stitches in the row,

knit 1 with the yarn twice around the needle, knit 1 with the yarn only once around the needle.

Next row:

Knit 1 (with yarn only once around needle), slip stitch purl wise with yarn in front, dropping the extra loop, (knit with the yarn twice around the needle, slip stitch purl wise with yarn in front, dropping the extra loop) repeat to the last two stitches, knit 1 with the yarn twice around the needle, knit 1 with the yarn only once around the needle.

Repeat this last row until your scarf is long enough.

It’s basic double knitting, but with a drop stitch, which makes the stitches a bit poofy and airy. It makes the scarf soft even if the wool is a bit tightly spun. A tightly spun yarn is typically more durable, and that would make the scarf durable, soft, and warm all at once.

The original pattern calls for one color, but I did 4" long red and black blocks.

And that’s how I made Gerard’s scarf! Here's a bit more about the story it's from:

In The Spinster's Christmas, naval Captain Gerard Foremont and poor relation Miranda Belmoore, old childhood friends, meet again for a large Christmas party at Wintrell Hall. However, an enemy has infiltrated the family party, bent on revenge and determined that Twelfth Night will end in someone’s death …

If you’d like to read more of Gerard and Miranda's story (and see whether Gerard ever gets that kiss), you can read The Spinster's Christmas completely free to read on my blog. Or if you’d like your own copy, the book is also available on my website.

About the Author

Camy Tang writes Christian historical and contemporary romance filled with intrigue, adventure, and faith. Under the pen name Camille Elliot, she writes the Christian Regency romantic suspense series Lady Wynwood’s Spies, set in 1811 London where secrets, espionage, and slow-burn romance unfold against the glittering backdrop of high society.

References:

The Ladies’ Knitting and Netting Book by Miss Watts, 1837

Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby, 2006

An earlier version of this article, including the knitting instructions and photographs, originally appeared on my personal blog in 2015. This version has been revised and expanded with additional historical research.

Rome's Gardens of Eden: Beauty, Temptation, and Betrayal Part 2

by Liisa Eyerly

Roman gardens were designed as earthly paradises—places of beauty, tranquility, and escape. Yet some of the empire's most notorious betrayals, executions, affairs, and political conspiracies unfolded among their fountains, flowers, and shaded walkways.Artist Carl Hasenpflug (1802-1858)

Asiaticus, the wealthy owner of the Gardens of Lucullus, unluckily fell under the covetous eye of the empress Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. Messalina had fallen in love with and was determined to own the immense seventeen acres of exotic plants, sumptuous buildings with large open balconies, porticos for walking, fountains, and baths. And to initiate the real estate

transaction, she convinced Claudius to condemn Asiaticus to death on charges of failing to maintain discipline amongst his soldiers and adultery. (see September blog)

The gardens were laid out by Lucius Licinius Lucullus about 60 BC. He lavishly poured the wealth and treasure acquired during his celebrated military campaign into his rural villa and its garden, filling them with marble pergolas, fountains, mosaics, paintings, and Greek sculpture, both originals and copies of “old masters”. Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons:

It is recognized as one of the most famous gardens, known for projecting a sense of perfect harmony. One of the main characteristics was a monumental staircase linking the multiple levels to a gigantic half-circular nymphaeum, a sanctuary or temple dedicated to water nymphs. Its pools can be used for bathing or ablutions.  de:Benutzer:elinore, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

The garden’s tranquility was sundered when Messalina, while still married to Emperor Claudius, married her lover, Senator Gaius Silius. She fled to her beloved sanctuary gardens with her mother. There she awaited Claudius's judgment and ultimately met her death at the hands of the Praetorian Guard. Georges Rochegrosse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; https://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P43.html

Newly Released!!

Powers of Death, Book III of Secrets of Ephesus, plunges readers into murder, imperial intrigue, and unwavering faith.

In the shadowed hours after Emperor Domitian’s assassination, Sabina awakens to devastating news: her childhood friend has been found murdered in the moonlit waters of an elite bathhouse.
While Rome hunts conspirators, one dead woman matters little. But Sabina refuses to let her friend’s death go unanswered.

Her search leads from Ephesus’s fetid prison to the incense-filled Temple of Isis, where eunuch priests guard sinister secrets and midnight rites conceal dangerous truths. Soon every clue tightens Rome’s net around the clandestine church Sabina loves—and places her family, freedom, and life at risk.
To expose the killer, Sabina must confront the “powers of death” before those powers silence her forever.

Visit me at my website, on my Author Facebook page,

or purchase my books at:

Fortunes of Death

Obedient Unto Death

My Amazon book page

Mystery, murder, and mayhem aren’t your typical Christian themes—but why should secular authors have all the fun solving crimes in ancient Rome? My love of history, scripture, and whodunits led me to blend faith with intrigue, bringing the world of the early Christians to life. Writing from my home in the woods of northern Wisconsin, I also draw inspiration from my travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy, where I’ve walked the same streets my characters once did. Through historical mysteries, I explore a time when faith was a matter of life and death—literally

Western Hearths: Cozy Meals for Autumn Evenings

October brought crisp air, blushing leaves, and the first sighs of winter to the Wild West. After months spent planting, tending, and harvesting crops, settlers looked forward to enjoying the simple pleasures of home. Friends and family gathered around the hearth for warming meals created by the work of their hands. The roasts, soups, and stews of autumn combined foods preserved during summer, fall crops, and meat from the larder or pasture.

A Time of Preparation and Reflection

In a Wild West autumn settlers kept busy. There were root vegetables to dig and store, the last of the harvest to preserve, firewood to chop for winter, and meat to cure—not to mention the usual cooking and cleaning. 

The creativity and artistry that seasonal tasks required must have eased their drudgery, however. Shortening days trended life trended toward a gentler rhythm. This allowed for moments of reflection in the changing landscapes of Fall.   

The slowing workload and longer evenings caused friends and family to turn to one another, and the autumn bounty called for hearty meals.

Skillet Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables

A classic October supper, skillet roasted chicken with root vegetables was easy to prepare, filling, and deeply satisfying.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons butter, lard, or bacon fat *
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 onion, sliced
• Chicken broth to cover (3 cups or so)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or sage; additional root vegetables like turnips, parsnips, and the like.

Instructions

1. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and add butter or another fat.
2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and herbs. Brown the chicken on all sides in the skillet.
3. Add the carrots, potatoes, and onions around the chicken.
4. Cover with chicken broth and simmer over low heat, turning the chicken occasionally, until it is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (73.9 degrees C) and vegetables are tender, about 40–50 minutes.
5. Serve hot, straight from the skillet, with pan juices spooned over the top.

* For extra flavor, fry a small piece of salted pork in the skillet before browning the chicken and vegetables.

Bringing Autumn to Your Table

The Wild West holds a certain romance for us today. Perhaps its greatest love story came from the simple tasks of everyday cooking. Even the smallest act—like passing a potato, offering a fresh biscuit, or ladling gravy—could be a quiet expression of love. Preparing a skillet roasted chicken with root vegetables lets us connect with the everyday romance of pioneer life.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt's unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers. This multi-faceted storyteller writes in the historical fiction, romantic mystery, and epic fantasy genres. Janalyn is a history enthusiast and romantic. Learn more about Janalyn and the books she writes.

Fall in Love with the Wild West

Discover the Montana Gold series.

From Orphanage to Service: A Gilded Age Girl’s Uncertain Future

Imagine being fifteen or sixteen years old, packing everything you own into a small bag, saying goodbye to the girls who have become your sisters, and stepping through the doors of an orphanage for the last time. For many orphan girls during America’s Gilded Age, that moment marked the beginning of a new and uncertain life.

In the late nineteenth century, orphanages provided more than food and shelter. Girls were often trained for the practical work that awaited them when they were old enough to leave. They learned to cook, clean, sew, launder, iron, and manage household tasks—skills intended to make them employable as domestic servants.

Going into service could mean becoming a maid-of-all-work, laundress, kitchen maid, nursemaid, or household servant. For girls with few family connections and little money, respectable domestic employment offered wages, room and board, and a measure of security. But it also meant entering a stranger’s home.

A young woman might suddenly find herself living in the servants’ quarters of an elegant Gilded Age mansion, surrounded by wealth she could never imagine possessing. Long days and demanding work were common. Her behavior could be closely monitored, her free time limited, and her future dependent upon the character of the family employing her.

Yet service could also open doors. A good position offered experience, references, friendships, and the opportunity to save money for an independent future. That poignant transition inspired the world of my Irish Rose Orphans of the Thousand Islands series. My seven “forever sisters” leave Brooklyn’s Irish Rose Orphan Asylum for Girls and eventually find themselves serving among the wealthy families of New York’s magnificent Thousand Islands in their own stories. They may enter those grand homes as servants, but each carries something far more valuable than anything inside them—faith, courage, hope, and the enduring love of her forever sisters.

ABOUT IRISH ROSE ORPHANS’ CHRISTMAS:

Seven young women experience a Christmas that will change everything—their last one together before stepping into lives of service. United by trials and an unbreakable bond, they’ve pledged to remain “forever sisters.” But as the season of parting approaches, buried wounds rise to the surface. When the girls are invited to prepare their hearts during Advent for a deeper calling, each young woman must face the truth of her past and the hope of her future. At Christmas, seven orphans will discover that no matter where life leads them, love and faith will go with them.

ABOUT SUSAN:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of novels celebrating faith, family, and hope through richly detailed historical settings and memorable characters set in the Thousand Islands, NY. Susan has nineteen in her fiction line and has been published thirty-seven times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. Find out more at www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction