Tidbits About Research

Back in May of 2009 I posted a short tidbit on my 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog about the first Gold Rush.

Here is the original post:
In 1799 a 12 year old boy named Conrad Reed found a 17lb gold nugget on his family farm in North Carolina. This nugget was used as a doorstop for years. In 1802, John Reed took the nugget to a jeweler and discovered that it was gold. He wasn't paid well for this nugget but John quickly learned the true value of the gold and a lot more gold was found on the family farm.

Gold mining quickly became a major industry in North Carolina. during the first half of the 19th century gold mining became the number one occupation in North Carolina, surpassing that of farmers.

Gold mining back then was little more than picking the nuggets off the land, then by the middle of the century shafts were dug when they discovered that gold came in veins.

The Charlotte house a mint. It was the first mint to mint gold from America in the U.S. end of original post

How did I stumbled upon this tidbit? I began researching the historical events from the 19th century for a possible book proposal set in North Carolina. That is when I found out about the original gold rush in 1799 and the first mint in the U.S. to mint gold.

Finding gold was not the goal of my hero and heroine but the general background information about the mint, getting ready to mint a gold coin, what that coin looked like, how the molds were made, etc. Allowed me to take a tin smith and turn him into the hero.

Making use of online sources is one of the ways to narrow down what I need to research when I actually go and visit an area. I'll find maps with street names, at various time periods and see if they are called the same today. Again that is something I can do online. However, visiting the location, gives me a better feel of the terrain.

Another online resource I use is Google books, I'll search for the name of the town, the year and I might find some newspapers, journals, criminal or town reports, not to mention advertisers of various businesses in the area, during the time period I'm writing in. These reports give me costs of items, names of people in an area, etc. (You can also use this method in researching Genealogy, I came up with some great information for some of my ancestors this way.)

And last but not least, I also search census records. These give me names of people, how many were in the town around the year I'm working in. I also look at previous and future censuses to see what kinds of changes have happened. Sometimes a report was generated from these censuses and you can find some of these in Google books which make it a lot easier to narrow down the stats of an area.

Well that's just a little bit of what I do while researching for a historical novel. Of course my favorite part is going to a location and meeting some of the people and places in the area. Later this month I'll be traveling up to Lake Champlain, NY again, to visit with family but do some additional research for a book, I haven't yet proposed.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history. Lynn's latest novel is Courting Holly Her next novel, "Winning the Captain's Heart" is scheduled for release in July.

Tidbits About Micanopy

Tidbits from Micanopy, Fl.

I discovered Micanopy quite by accident. Not having grown up in Florida, I know precious little about the state history. However, as time goes on and my interest in historical places and settings grow, I find little hidden tidbits. Yes, James Taylor mentions Micanopy in a song; and Michael J. Fox filmed Doc Hollywood in Micanopy, but I hadn’t paid much attention to those tidbits. A few years back we were visiting Paynes Prairie State Park and stumbled upon a sign pointing to Historic Micanopy, so I followed the road and was surprised to find this cute little place.

Did you know that Micanopy was the first established town in the state of Florida after it became a part of the United States? It was settled in 1821 by Moses Elias Levy, and he named it after a Seminole Chief, Micanopy. The town is just barely over one square mile. So if the road didn’t end you could blink and miss it.

There’s a used bookstore in town and I’m afraid hubby and I spent a lot of time in there. I found original newspapers from Springfield, Mass put in a library binder. If I had extra I would have purchased one, but the extra wasn’t there right then. However, I do know where they are and if the extra becomes available…well, let’s just say they might find a home.

In Micanopy you drive less than 20 mph. There are quite cafes, antique stores, a museum, town hall, fire department, etc. Here are a few pictures to give you a feel for the place.





Historically, it was the home of a Methodist Seminary for both men and women from around the world. After the Civil War it became a Baptist Seminary. Below is a rather old photo of the Seminary.



There was also a large lake, and water travel permitted easy access to Micanopy that is no longer the case. It was also the location for the first of the Seminole Indian wars. A military post was established there in the 1830’s. Fort Defiance was erected in 1840. It was an intense fighting situation which—if you are familiar with the Seminole Wars in Florida—you are aware of how hard it was on both sides.

In 1854 a petition to the state was requested to form a “Plank Road” from Palatka to Micanopy. Palatka is on the St. John’s River and was a major stop for the steamboat industry. In fact, Palatka was… I’ll save that for next month’s post.

After the wars Micanopy settled into a quiet location with rich hammock filled lands and large plantations and orange groves (outside of the town). Today it is a quiet and great historical place to visit. If you’re traveling in Central Florida you might want to stop by. You’ll be glad you did.


If you like historical tidbits you might like to visit my blog 19th Century Historical Tidbits. You can also follow me on twitter @LynnColeman or you can friend me on Facebook. My next novel "Courting Holly" is scheduled to be released in Oct. 2013.

In His grip,
Lynn

Tidbits about Lynn

We’ve reached the end of the month and it is my turn to introduce myself. I was born in Western Mass but grew up on Martha’s Vineyard. Yeah, I know, tough life, huh? Seriously, I love the Vineyard and it’s home to me. But I knew when I met my husband that we would be leaving the Vineyard to begin our lives in God’s call for the two of us. Paul is a pastor, and not all pastors have the advantage of staying in one church for their entire ministry. Our call has placed us in five churches over 32 years and, if the Lord allows, we will retire in our current position.

My passion for writing came at 40. At the time our youngest was being homeschooled through the last years of high school. I’d written several articles and published a couple books about using the Internet to help with homeschooling your kids. I’m kinda a geek when it comes to computers and such. But that’s another tidbit you can set aside and we’ll go back to why I am writing.

I was not what you would call a natural reader or writer when I was in school. In fact, I still have problems with certain grammar rules—and don’t get me started on punctuation. So, for the Lord to take a completely inadequate person in natural talent ability and turn me around to become a writer, still floors me. And, in a nutshell, that is what happened. God gave me a passion to write stories that would not only inspire and entertain but that would hopefully challenge the reader to go deeper in their relationship with Him. After my first novel, Sea Escape, was published I heard from a couple of the readers that sent the message home to me that I AM doing what God called me to do. The first was a letter from a rapist in prison who thanked me for writing the book because, for the first time in his life, he now realized he’d been wrong. Here he was sitting behind bars, convicted of rape, and still believing he did nothing wrong. I am humbled that the Lord would use my humble little book in such a strong and profound way. The second was from a gal who had been date raped and realized for the first time she was not at fault. Her parents blamed her, her husband blamed her and, most importantly, she blamed herself. God used that little book to convince her that the sin was done to her and she was free from any and all guilt. Talk about the Wow factor in why I write the books I write…you can’t get more powerful inspiration than that.

I love research and I love writing historicals and contemporaries. I also dabble in suspense. Currently I am working with my hubby on a seven book fantasy series for our grandchildren. Who knows if they’ll be published. It’s basically a fun thing to do with my husband for the grandkids. We have eight, by the way. We have three children, two who are married…giving us two more in our quiver, and our youngest son, Tim, who died a year and a half ago. I pause to say, yes, it is a terrible loss and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemies. But I am confident in Tim’s position in heaven and I know I will see him again and get to wrap my arms around him. God does supply all of our needs, including the pain of grief and the encouragement of joy.

So, you know I’m married, have kids, 8 grands, I love research, growing up on the Vineyard and I was given a gift to write. I also love to cook—not bake—cook. My spice cabinet takes up more room than the canned goods, if that gives you a clue about my passion for cooking. I also love to travel, camp and take photos. So on that note I’ll let you go, and I look forward to my next post regarding the tidbits of history that make it into my novels.

Speaking of novels, my next novel to be released is titled “Courting Holly” and scheduled to be released in Oct. 2013. If you like historical tidbits you might like to visit my blog 19th Century Historical Tidbits. You can also follow me on twitter @LynnColeman or you can friend me on Facebook.

In His grip,
Lynn
Below is a picture of some of my family. It is from the last Christmas our son, Tim, was able to spend with us. He's pictured in the rear on the right side of the tree.