No Christmas for You!

No, I'm not doing a post about the Grinch. I'm actually going to post about a time in history when Christmas was forbidden.

Does anyone have a guess as to when this would have been? Or perhaps to give you a bit of a clue, where the ban on Christmas took place?

Not the United States.
Not England.
Not Austrailia.

How about France?

Yes, France. From 1793-1800, France did not celebrate Christmas.

I can hear you asking now, "But wasn't France predominantly Catholic back then?" "Don't Catholic countries really like to celebrate Christmas?"

Yes, and yes, to both those questions. But from 1789 until 1799, France experienced a rather bloody and turbulent revolution. I won't go into all the details regarding the relationship of the Catholic Church to the French Government both before and during the revolution, but let's just say that the former French king looked rather fondly on the church, and the church was laden with wealth and property. The average French peasant family was struggling to clothe themselves and store up enough food so they wouldn't starve come winter, while the average priest and nun had stockpiles of food.

Church being Looted

These strained relations between the church and the masses resulted in the Dechristianization of France. The church was slowly stripped of its property and other assets while priests were made to conform to new French laws over Papal ones. The year 1793 saw a dramatic increase in anti-church sentiment. In November, churches were looted, closed for public worship, and converted into storehouses. Public worship was forbidden, as was any displays of the cross or other religious icons. Town and street names were changed so that they reflected no association with religion, (for example any name with the word "saint" in it would have been renamed, like the Rue St. Honore). The calendar was changed so that weeks had 10 days and there was no Sunday. And finally, all religious holidays were banned.

Even Christmas.

Officially, these policies lasted until Napoleon and the pope signed the Concordat of 1801.

I don't know about you, but I can't imagine explaining to my children "I know we celebrated Christmas last year, but we're not allowed to this year."

I've written two books set during the French Revolution. Sanctuary for a Lady came out in 2012, and The Soldier's Secrets releases in April of 2014. While the books don't have much about the absence of Christmas in them, the loss of religion comes up multiple times in both novels, with everything from the local church being used as a storehouse to the Revolutionary calendar.

Now I'm curious about you. How many of you knew that Christmas was banned during the French Revolution? I'm also curious to know if any of you have ever not celebrated Christmas for one reason or another. Please go ahead and share in the comments below.

*****

Naomi Rawlings is the author of seven historical Christian novels, including the Amazon bestselling Eagle Harbor Series. While she'd love to claim she spends her days huddled in front of her computer vigorously typing, in reality, she spends her time homeschooling, cleaning, picking up, and pretending like her house isn't in a constant state of chaos. She lives with her husband and three children in Michigan's rugged Upper Peninsula, along the southern shore of Lake Superior where they get 200 inches of snow every year, and where people still grow their own vegetables and cut down their own firewood--just like in the historical novels she writes.

Holiday Food: From the Middle Ages to Your Christmas Table

I smile as I type this post today, because it is with great fondness that I look back on some of my childhood memories.

When I was young, maybe six or seven, we gathered around the table on Christmas Eve to eat lamb and fruitcake and Yorkshire pudding, I hardly realized one day I’d be write books set near the Regency Period of British history, nor did I realize that I'd one day be writing novels about Cornish immigrants to the the United States in the late 1800s. So there I was, a young child scrunching up my nose at funny shaped golden blobs that didn’t resemble pudding at all but were called pudding, grumbling that the lamb tasted funny, and complaining that the fruitcake didn’t look much like cake. But my English grandmother beamed throughout the entire meal, telling us how she used to eat these foods every Christmas when she was growing up.

During Regency days, goose, venison and beef would have been the prevalent meat at Christmas feasts, not lamb. Yorkshire pudding was a common food for the lower classes, and wouldn’t have been served in aristocratic households. Gingerbread has a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages and was brought from the Middle East by a monk. (For more information on the history of gingerbread, checkout my post from last year.) And eggnog is well over 300 years old, though that drink may well date back to the Middle Ages also.

In America during the 1880s, turkey, quail, and venison were all common Christmas fare, and depending on the region of the country where you lived, oysters, clams, and other seafood might be served as well. Much like the English brought Yorkshire pudding, eggnog, and fruitcake across the Atlantic to our modern Christmas tables, German immigrants brought apple sausage, sauerkraut, and potato dumplings, and list of traditional Christmas food kept growing as more people from other cultures brought their own special recipes. (Baklava, anyone? You can thank the Ottoman Empire for that delicious desert.)

I'm curious about your family and the food you eat for Christmas. Does it reflect your heritage or is the table filled with modern American fare such as cheesy hash brown casserole and spinach artichoke dip? Do you have any favorite Christmas dishes that you remember eating as a child? What makes those dishes special to you?

~.~.~.~.~

Naomi Rawlings is the author of seven historical Christian novels, including the Amazon bestselling Eagle Harbor Series. While she'd love to claim she spends her days huddled in front of her computer vigorously typing, in reality, she spends her time homeschooling, cleaning, picking up, and pretending like her house isn't in a constant state of chaos. She lives with her husband and three children in Michigan's rugged Upper Peninsula, along the southern shore of Lake Superior where they get 200 inches of snow every year, and where people still grow their own vegetables and cut down their own firewood--just like in the historical novels she writes. You can find out more about her books at www.naomirawlings.com.

An Old-Time Hero: Joshua James

by Naomi Rawlings

"You have to go out. You don’t have to come back."

Two years ago I did a series of posts about the Unite States Life-Saving Service. (If you want to brush up on what exactly the Life-Saving Service was and how they went about rescuing people from wrecked ships, here's a link to some of my old posts). 

"You have to go out. You don’t have to come back." This was the unofficial motto of the U.S Life-Saving Service, a precursor to the United States Coast Guard. Back before helicopters and radar and power boats, life-saving teams braved stormy waters with little more than rowboats, storm suits, and life rings.

Out of the hundreds of men that risked their lives for the life-saving service, one man stands out as

the most decorated and most well known. His name is Joshua James, and he lived in Massachusetts. At the age of ten, James watched his mother and baby sister die when the ship they were sailing on got caught in a storm and wrecked a half mile from the harbor.

When he was fifteen, James joined a group of volunteers from the local humane society was the launched a surfboat to go rescue passengers from a floundering ship named Mohawk. That was Jame's first life-saving rescue, but he went on to spend the next sixty years of his life rescuing sailors. First, he worked as a volunteer life-saver for the Massachusetts Humane Society, and then he worked as a station keeper for the U.S. Life-Saving Service. He's credited with saving over 200 lives, and was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal from the life-saving service as well as several other medals from the Massachusetts Humane Society. 

James died at the age of 75, after returning from running a life-saving drill in stormy weather. He apparently paddled for over an hour with the other men of his crew while they tested a new surfboat. Upon returning to the beach, he died of a heart attack.

I modeled the hero in my newest Eagle Harbor novel after Joshua James. My fictional Elijah Cummings grew up in Eagle Harbor, Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior. He spent two years sailing the Atlantic Ocean and saw life-saving teams in action. After his father drowns in a storm, Elijah returns to Eagle Harbor. Unable to sit by and watch when ships flounder coming into port, he starts a volunteer life-saving team. But the icy conditions and strong storms prove difficult for his volunteers and secondhand equipment. He soon finds himself fighting for the U.S. Life-Saving Service to establish a legitimate station—as well as fighting for the woman he’s loved for fifteen years.

Giveaway: Answer one of the questions below to be eligible for a paperback copy of either Love's Unfading Light or Love's Every Whisper. Winner's choice.

Question: Do you enjoy novels where the characters have unusual jobs and hobbies? Do you personally know anyone with a dangerous job that puts their life at risk? How do family members respond when a person they love has a risky job?

*****

Love's Every Whisper

Victoria Donnelly simply wants to do something right, at least once in her lifetime. With five years of failed courtships behind her and the calendar inching closer to another birthday, she's determined to redeem herself and snag a proposal from a wealthy childhood acquaintance, Gilbert Sinclair. But returning to Eagle Harbor stirs up long forgotten memories. And worse, old affection for her betrothed's enemy. 

Elijah Cummings has loved Victoria for fifteen years. But fishermen's sons don't marry shipping barons' daughters. He knows it. She knows it. The entire town knows it. Resolved to keep his distance from Victoria, Elijah focuses on establishing a much needed life-saving station, risking his own life by rescuing sailors stuck aboard shipwrecks. 

He knows how to save drowning sailors, but how is he to save a woman from the biggest mistake of her life—without destroying both their hearts in the process? 

Purchase Love's Every Whisper for $3.99

Purchase Love's Unfading Light (Eagle Harbor Book 1) on sale for $0.99 through 10/2

Lighthouses and Small Towns--Eagle Harbor, Michigan

Last month I blogged about the real historical town of Eagle Harbor, Michigan, which is tucked into the woods on a little slat of land that juts up into Lake Superior. I lso mentioned I had a novel out about the very real Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, and a fictional lightkeeper. Of course writing about a fictional lightkeeper led to some rather interesting research about lighthouses.

 Did you know that lighthouse location was very important to lightkeepers? Even though Eagle Harbor, Michigan was small and isolated in the late 1800s (which hasn't changed much between then and today), being appointed to the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse was still considered a very desirable position for a lightkeeper to have.

The Eagle Harbor Lighthouse is located at the edge of an actual town. A lot of historic lighthouses are in far less pleasant locations. Simply put, wherever there was danger of a ship running aground, a lighthouse was constructed. Sometimes this meant lighthouses sat on little slats of rock in the middle of one of the Great Lakes. Below is a picture of the Gull Rock lighthouse, which is no longer operational today. There's no town surrounding the Gull Rock lighthouse. In fact, even going to to the mainland to get help could be risky and impossible at times. There's one story about the lightkeeper's wife giving birth to a child inside the boat her husband was rowing to the mainland.

To a lightkeeper's way of thinking, the very best lightkeeping positions were located in towns with church and schools and stores. They offered a lightkeeper the chance to raise his family in a community rather than in complete isolation. Eagle Harbor, Michigan was one of those towns, as were several other locations along the Great Lakes. The lighthouses at Copper Harbor, Michigan and Ontonagon, Michigan were also considered good posts to have for this same reason.

Historical lighthouses, along with the ones still active today, served one of two purposes. They either worked as a beacon to guide ships to a harbor entrance, or they worked as a warning signal to keep ships away from dangerous stretches of water. The Gull Rock Lighthouse served as a warning to keep ships away from the rock ridge several miles off the shoreline. The coastline surrounding Eagle Harbor is rocky and rather treacherous, which made the light at Eagle Harbor doubly important. The lighthouse served the duel functions of not only marking where the harbor entrance was but also marking the rocks that rim the harbor. If a ship's pilot missed the safe entrance, then the ship would wreck. And yes, there are accounts of ships wrecking off the coast of Eagle Harbor in calm waters.

Do you enjoy lighthouses? Have you ever toured one before? Have you ever read a novel set at a lighthouse? What about the nature of lighthouses appeals to you?

~.~.~.~.~

On Sale for $2.99

Tressa Danell is finished with men—from the wastrel who left her a widow, to the smelly trapper who keeps proposing, to the banker who wants to repossess her bakery. Every hour is spent working to payoff her late husband’s debt and keep a roof over her son’s head, though it’s doubtful she can do both for very long. But one thing’s certain—she’ll never be beholden to a man again. 

Tired of living in a small town that blames him for actions his father committed ten years ago, Mac Oakton is scheduled to leave Eagle Harbor. So why does the pretty widow at the bakery keep tugging at his heart? He can’t get involved in her predicament when he’ll only be around for two more weeks. 

But when Tressa’s burdens overwhelm her, they both face a decision. Can Mac set his own plans aside to help? And can Tressa accept his support if that means giving up her independence ... and being obligated to a man again?

View Love's Unfading Light on Amazon--on sale for $2.99. For more information about Naomi Rawlings and her Eagle Harbor Series, visit www.naomirawlings.com.

Why Are We Fighting? the Napoleonic Wars

by Naomi Rawlings

War. For as long as people have inhabited the earth, war has existed. While war is always tragic and costly in many ways, there has been so much war scattered throughout history that reading through a list of them is, sadly, exhausting.

England and France were two of the two most prominently warring countries during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Like with most wars throughout history, greed, land acquisition, and strengthening the monarchy were the usual catalysts and goals. But with the advent of the French Revolution (and the American Revolution preceding it), a new mentality regarding war arose among the common people.


Before the American and French Revolutions, commoners fought in wars that served to benefit the aristocracy or monarchy. With these new revolutions, regular citizens and common people had a better reason to fight: themselves. Each man standing in France’s army believed he would have a better life if he was allowed to choose who governed his country rather than be subject to a hereditary monarch.

One thing that the British initially failed to understand about the French and Americans was WHY they wanted to fight. If you study the French Revolution, American Revolution, Napoleonic War and then the War of 1812, you’ll find this misunderstanding for every single war. With the changes in the French and American governments came a type of energy and belief that the mass of the population could fight for freedom, or for a government they wanted rather than one handed to them by a monarch. And Britain failed to grasp these ideals.

If you were to ask a Frenchman in 1793 and 1803 why he fought, he would have given an answer that involved something about freedom and thwarting tyranny. Even if you were to ask this question a decade later in 1813, after twenty years of war, the answer may well have been the same. “We want freedom. We don’t want another Bourbon king.”

Interestingly enough, if you were to ask a British subject in 1793 why he fought, he likely would have answered “because the king wants us to fight.” If you were to ask the same British soldier that question in 1803, his answer might well be the same, or he might say something to the effect of “because I don’t trust that French Consulate and Napoleon.” If you were to ask the same question again in 1813, the answer would likely be, “Because that Corsican Monster Napoleon is trying to take over Europe, and he’ll take England if we don’t stop him.”

For the first decade of war between France and England, the average British sailor and soldier didn’t have a reason to fight beyond “the government wants us to.” The average Englishman had nothing to gain by fighting against France until the English populace began to believe Napoleon Bonaparte a threat to England (part of which was came about as a result of printing intentionally untrue propaganda against Napoleon).

When I wrote my most recent novel, Falling for the Enemy, I paired a French heroine with a British hero. It was essential that I understand the conflicting mentalities toward the Napoleonic Wars so that I could accurately write both characters. This also lead to a lot of fun scenes such as:

If England won this war, France would go back to how it had been before the Révolution. No more liberty or equality for the masses. Peasants heavily taxed while aristocrats lived in excess. 

Commoners starved for bread and clamoring after only a handful of jobs while the queen ate cakes at Versailles. Papa’s first wife had taken ill and died, half from starving and half from illness, during those days. Many others would die of disease or starvation once more if King George had his way. 

’Twas why England’s tyranny had to be stopped. 

’Twas why she never should have agreed to aid Gregory.

~.~.~.~.~

Falling for the Enemy

Betrayed and stranded in France at the height of war, Lord Gregory Halston has few options. After rescuing his ailing brother from jail, they struggle to survive in hostile territory without outing themselves as Englishmen. Gregory hopes the feisty French peasant woman he meets is willing to guide them to safety.

Danielle Belanger doesn't wish to protect any man from the same country responsible for her brother's demise. But there's something about the determined Englishman that makes her willing to try. Though a match between Danielle and Gregory is impossible, their attraction can't be denied. The only thing more dangerous than aiding the enemy…is falling in love with him.

For more information about Naomi Rawlings and her novels, visit www.naomirawlings.com.

Auld Lang Syne--Many Years Ago

By Naomi Rawlings

Auld Lang Syne is perhaps one of the most played tunes around the world on New Year's Eve. The lyrics come from a 200 year old poem written by Robert Burns (of "The best laid schemes o' mice and men" fame). Burns was the most famous of Scots poets, writing in the traditional Scots dialect, and has been hailed as a national hero by many Scotsmen and Scotswomen.

So what does the title Auld Lang Syne mean? Well, exact interpretations vary, though they all carry a similar meaning. "Old long since," "long, long ago," "days gone by" and "old times" are all possible meanings. The "cup of kindness" mentioned in the chorus refers to a drink shared between friends. Below you'll find an illustration of Auld Lang Syne by John Masey Wright and John Rogers.

Robert Burns claims to have written the "old, old song" down rather than created it himself. Indeed, some of his lyrics bear a striking resemblance to a ballad published at the beginning of the 18th Century, though some of them appear to be original. The tune comes from a traditional Scottish folk song, and the lyrics are as follows:

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and old lang syne?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!

and surely I’ll buy mine!

And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,

and picked the daisies fine;

But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,

since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,

from morning sun till dine†;

But seas between us broad have roared

since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!

And give me a hand o’ thine!

And we’ll take a right good-will draught,

for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Here's Auld Lang Syne sung by Dougie Maclean, one of Scotland's most famous contemporary singers and songwriters. Some of the lyrics are in the original Scots dialect.

Do you sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve? When are some other times you think the song might be appropriate to sing? And did you have any idea the lyrics had been written by a famous poet?

From everyone here at Heroes, Heroines, and History, have a Happy New Year!

~.~.~.~.~

A mother of two young boys, Naomi Rawlings spends her days picking up, cleaning, playing and, of course, writing. Her husband pastors a small church in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, where her family shares its ten wooded acres with black bears, wolves, coyotes, deer and bald eagles. Naomi and her family live only three miles from Lake Superior, where the scenery is beautiful and they average 200 inches of snow per winter. She is looking forward to the release of her fourth novel, Falling for the Enemy, in January 2015. For more information about Naomi, please visit her website at www.naomirawlings.com.

Gingerbread--From the Dark Ages to Your Christmas Table

Every year during the Christmas season, gingerbread men, women, stars, and trees fill plates and tables across the world. People spend hours baking and decorating gingerbread houses while children fill their mouths with candy that should be getting glued to the houses. You may not realize it, but gingerbread has been around for over a millennium, first appearing in Western culture during the 10th Century.

The first specific record of gingerbread being introduced to Europe tells the story of an Armenian monk who traveled to France, where he then taught gingerbread baking to French Catholics. From there, gingerbread making seemed to spread throughout Europe via monasteries and convents. In England, gingerbread was also known for it's medicinal properties and increasingly sold in monasteries and pharmacies during the Medieval Period.

Gingerbread Mould

Queen Elizabeth 1 of England is credited with first serving gingerbread biscuits (or cookies) in shapes resembling plants and animals--and possibly even men. These cookies were often decorated with gold leaf rather than the icing we know today, and elaborately decorated gingerbread figures became a symbol of all things fancy and elegant. In fact, gingerbread bakers were a distinct sect of bakers' guilds who made their livings based on their artistry with the food.

While Queen Elizabeth and the English entertained themselves with their gingerbread figurines, the Germans busied themselves by making gingerbread houses. These houses were usually decorated with foil and gold leaf, and they became synonymous with Christmas--a tradition that has stuck around for five hundred years. Gingerbread houses became even more famous in the early 1800s when the Brothers Grimm penned the story of Hansel and Gretel. Do you remember the giant gingerbread house with windows of sugar that Hansel and Gretel start to eat before the witch found them?

Today the town of Bergen, Norway makes it's own gingerbread town every year, while gingerbread house contests across the U.S. and Europe culminate with people spending hours and hours of time on their beloved structures. The world's largest gingerbread house was constructed in Bryan, Texas, as a charity endeavor to raise $200,000 for the children's floor of a local hospital. The house required a building permit and was built much like a normal house with a wooden frame, but over 4,000 bricks of gingerbread were used for the walls.

So what about you? Is gingerbread part of your family's holiday traditions? Do you have any special memories revolving around gingerbread? I'd love to hear them in the comments below.

~.~.~.~.~

A mother of two young boys, Naomi Rawlings spends her days picking up, cleaning, playing and, of 

course, writing. Her husband pastors a small church in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, where her family shares its ten wooded acres with black bears, wolves, coyotes, deer and bald eagles. Naomi and her family live only three miles from Lake Superior, where the scenery is beautiful and they average 200 inches of snow per winter. She is looking forward to the release of her fourth novel, Falling for the Enemy, in January 2015. For more information about Naomi, please visit her website at www.naomirawlings.com.

Justices of the Peace

by Naomi Rawlings

Today the term Justice of the Peace isn't overly common. In fact, your one and only thought about a justice of the peace might be that they can preform marriages, and that is true. Historically speaking, however, justices of the peace had a much more prominent role in society.

In 1880, going before the justice of the peace would be today's equivalent of going to small claims court. Justices of the peace were part of a state's judicial system, not the federal judicial system. Thus the jurisdiction and role that they had in local communities varied from state to state.

In Michigan, a justice of the peace could hear a case that involved a hundred dollars or less. In some southern states, such as Virginia, a justice of the peace only had jurisdiction over cases involving fifty dollars or less. Justices of the peace could hear everything from land disputes to paternity cases to debt disputes. Larger cases would be heard by a magistrate judge, and in rural areas, those often had traveling circuits. 

Justices of the peace were usually elected by popular vote, though once again, this could vary from state to state. In Michigan, four justices of the peace were elected per county. Depending on how populated a certain area was, a man might hold a justice of the peace position as well as another job. Maybe the justice of the peace in a certain county only heard cases on Mondays and worked elsewhere during the rest of the week. And in case you were wondering, in most states, women could not be a Justice of the peace, only men.  

One rather infamous justice of the peace in Texas was named Roy Bean. He called himself "The Law West of the Pecos" and held court in the saloon that he owned. Court wasn't usually held in a saloon, though. It could also be held places like schools, hotels, and town halls--if a town had one. 

Have any of you ever been to small claims court? How do you think things might have been different if you went before a justice of the peace a hundred and thirty years ago? Do you know a justice of the peace today? 

~.~.~.~.~

A mother of two young boys, Naomi Rawlings spends her days picking up, cleaning, playing and, of course, writing. Her husband pastors a small church in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, where her family shares its ten wooded acres with black bears, wolves, coyotes, deer and bald eagles. Naomi and her family live only three miles from Lake Superior, where the scenery is beautiful and they average 200 inches of snow per winter. She is looking forward to the release of her fourth novel, Falling for the Enemy, in January 2015. For more information about Naomi, please visit her website at www.NaomiRawlings.com.

And don't forget about our giveaway. To celebrate the new look for Heroes, Heroines, and History, we're giving away one giant package of books. Today is the last day to enter. Fill out the form below to be eligible.

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My Cousin, Jack--Cornish Immigrants in the Midwest

The United States of America has long been a destination for many immigrants. People from lands across the sea or to the south have, for one reason or another, left their homeland in search of a better life on U.S. soil. Oftentimes bad situations at home fueled this burst in immigration. Some situations were due to natural disasters, others to war, and others to political turmoil.

For the average Cornish man and woman living in the mid 1800s, a lack of jobs as the tin and copper mines in Cornwall played out caused many Cornish to leave their country and head to the mining areas in the United States.

Commercial copper mining started in northern Michigan during the 1840s and continued for over a hundred years. Creating more wealth than the California Gold Rush, the rich, pure copper deposits along Lake Superior's southern shore drew many a Cornish miner to the snowy Keweenaw Peninsula, which came to be known as "Copper Country."

So many Cornish people came to this underpopulated, wilderness region that Cornish miners became known as Cousin Jacks. This was because the men were always asking foremen if the mine would hire their cousin back in Cornwall. And the cousins, more often than not, were named Jack. Jenny proved a rather popular name among the women, and so Cousin Jennys often arrived on U.S. soil with their Cousin Jack husbands.

The numerous mines in Copper Country loved to hire Cornish workers, as the mines were always looking for skilled laborers who understood English. Thus Cornish men found themselves getting mining jobs much quicker than the Italians, Polish, and Finnish, who also immigrated to the area at the end of the Nineteenth Century.


The Cornish brought many traditions with them. Sports included rugby and wrestling. The religion was mainly Methodist, and the food, well, the food is a particular favorite of mine. The Cornish miners would take pie dough and fill it with meat and root vegetables such as potatoes, rutabagas, and onions. The dough was then packed into the shape of a turnover, baked, and sent with the miners to heat over the fire down in the mine shaft for lunch.

Have any of you ever heard of Cousin Jacks or Cousin Jennys? Did you know about their mining heritage and how valued they were by mine owners in the 1800s? Have any of you ever tried a Cornish pasty? They're a staple in the restaurants near where I live.

If you're interested in seeing more of Cousin Jacks and Cousin Jennys in story form, my novel, Love's Unfading Light, releases in the spring of 2015. It's set in Copper Country and features a Cousin Jenny as the heroine.

****

A mother of two young boys, Naomi Rawlings spends her days picking up, cleaning, playing and, of course, writing. Her husband pastors a small church in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, where her family shares its ten wooded acres with black bears, wolves, coyotes, deer and bald eagles. Naomi and her family live only three miles from Lake Superior, where the scenery is beautiful and they average 200 inches of snow per winter. She is looking forward to the release of her fourth novel, Falling for the Enemy, in January 2015. For more information about Naomi, please visit her website at www.NaomiRawlings.com.

The Oldest Settlement in the Midwest

By Naomi Rawlings

Whether it was settled 100 years ago or 1000, every town has its own, unique history. But in the United States, only a handful of towns can claim to be 350 years old. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (pronounced soo saint marie) is one of those places. Settled only 40 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, it became an important fur-trading settlement.

Why trade fur at Sault Ste. Marie, of all places? Because Sault Ste. Marie is located at the rapids of the Saint Mary's River, effectively connecting Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The rapids fall 21 feet from Lake Superior to the lower Lake Huron and necessitate a portage to cross. This afforded a natural gathering place for Native Americans to trade furs collected along the shores of Lake Superior, and the rapids also provided an abundance of fish.

The Native Americans established a village there possibly as long as 2,000 years ago. The first Europeans traveled to Sault Ste. Marie in 1668. This was Father Jaques Marquette, a Jesuit priest who would go on to become the first explorer of the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries. Father Marquette had heard of the Native American village went there to found a Catholic mission.

Sault Ste. Marie grew in prominence as more and more trappers and fur traders flooded the northern Great Lakes. Sitting right on the border between Canada and the United States, it was often fought over between French and British trappers until the area was finally ceded to the United States in the early 1800s.

Shipping remained an important part of the local economy as natural resources were harvested from the wilds of Lake Superior and shipped to more populated areas. In 1855, the first lock in America was built so that ships no longer needed to portage the rapids.

Today, the city of Sault Ste. Marie still exists. There are four locks, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, and they are the busiest locks in the world, transferring more freight each year than the Panama and Suez Canals combined.

Have any of you ever heard of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan before? Are you surprised to learn that this little northern city has been around for 350 years? Were you aware that the locks connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron are the busiest in the world?

*****

A mother of two young boys, Naomi Rawlings spends her days picking up, cleaning, playing and, of course, writing. Her husband pastors a small church in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, where her family shares its ten wooded acres with black bears, wolves, coyotes, deer and bald eagles. Naomi and her family live only three miles from Lake Superior, where the scenery is beautiful and they average 200 inches of snow per winter. She is looking forward to the release of her fourth novel, Falling for the Enemy, in January 2015. For more information about Naomi, please visit her website at www.NaomiRawlings.com.

Before the Coast Guard: An Introduction to the United States Life-Saving Service

Note: This post was originally published in 2013.

At one time in United States history, the US Live-Saving Service was a government agency designed to rescue people (both sailors and passengers) from wrecked vessels. This agency was started in 1848 and lasted until 1915, when it was merged with another agency to form our current US Coast Guard.

While talking about an antiquated government agency might sound old and boring, it's really not. I mean, think of all those cool water rescues on TV that the Coast Guard preforms. They look something like this:

Now imagine those same rescues taking place 150 years ago. No radios. No helicopters. No high-powered speed boats. Just a crew of seven men in either a surfboat or lifeboat, sent to save a whole vessel full of people. It rather looked something like this:

And this:

And this:

No, the men in these old photographs and paintings were not suicidal, or crazy, or inebriated. They were United States Life-Savers and they were actually paid to go out into rough wild seas, sea so dangerous ships were wrecking and people were drowning. Of course, with a team of United States Life-Savers at work, considerably fewer people were drowning on wrecked vessels.

Life-Savers trained every day to go out into stormy seas. They swam. They practiced rowing and sailing. They even practiced capsizing their boat in the water and then righting it again so that they would be prepared were that situation ever to occur during a rescue.

They also had special equipment. The larger of the two boats used by the Life-Saving Service (called a lifeboat), was self-righting and self-bailing. So if the boat capsized or took on water, it would uncapsize and bail itself out. The suits life-savers wore were rubber and rather similar to modern day wet-suits in that they provided mobility and allowed exposure to cold water without endangering the wearer. And for close-to-shore rescues, life-savers even had equipment that allowed them to pull people from wrecked vessels without the life-savers ever leaving the beach.

I'll have more information for you about the Life-Saving Service next month, but I wanted to introduce everyone to this little-known, yet very important agency of the past. Have a blessed day, and thanks for stopping by the Christian Fiction Historical Society!

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A mother of two young boys, Naomi Rawlings spends her days picking up, cleaning, playing and, of course, writing. Her husband pastors a small church in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, where her family shares its ten wooded acres with black bears, wolves, coyotes, deer and bald eagles. Naomi and her family live only three miles from Lake Superior, where the scenery is beautiful and they average 200 inches of snow per winter, and she is looking forward to the release of her next book, in January 2014. For more information about Naomi, please visit her website at www.NaomiRawlings.com.

Taxes--And How People Have Been Avoiding Them for Centuries

Naomi Rawlings here today. And I'm happy because tax season is finally over. (At least, I certainly hope it's over for you.)

It's probably no surprise that people have been paying taxes for millennia. After all, the Bible records Christ as taking a coin and telling people to give to Caesar that which is Caesar's.

Would it surprise you to learn that for as long as taxes have been around, people have found ways to avoid them? Today I'm going to zero in on a very specific part of British history and how its subjects avoided taxes.

Smuggling.

Since England is surrounded by water, it was able to keep track of its imported and exported goods that were taxed better than most countries. But there were also lots of places along the English coast where sailing vessels could harbor and unload their goods away from the watchful eye of the king's revenue agents.

What was smuggled?

Anything that was taxed–which was pretty close to every purchasable good imaginable. Tea and brandy were two of the biggest items, but the list also includes salt, leather, soap, chocolate, fabric, and cigars. Some historians estimate that 75% of the tea in England during the 18th and 19th centuries was smuggled.

Furthermore, during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, French imports were banned from England. And France made things craved by the British upper class, like silk from Lyons and lace from cities such as Alencon and Arras and Dieppe and Le Puy.

And of course brandy.

If there’s one constant in smuggling throughout the annals of history, it’s this: smugglers always deal with spirits.

Where were the goods smuggled?

Though the whole of the English coast was subject to smuggling, smuggling occurred in greatest concentration along the English Channel. A quick little jaunt to France and back allowed for smuggling en masse in this region. The County of Kent, which lies nearest France and at it’s easternmost point is separated only by a few miles of water, was a smuggling hotbed. In the 1780s, the English government burned all the sailing vessels in the town of Deal, claiming there wasn’t a single sea-worthy vessel in the harbor that didn’t engage in smuggling.

How did the smugglers operate?

Answering this question gets rather interesting. The British government did try to prevent smuggling, but keep in mind that the crown needed sailing vessels and sea-worthy men to do this. And while fighting wars with America and France, the crown didn’t exactly have the personnel and vessels to shut down smuggling operations. In fact, it’s often said that the sailors on the kings cutters were people unfit for naval service. There are all kinds of stories of revenue men sleeping on duty and being hired despite old age and missing limbs and a host of other ailments that would make fighting off quick, able-bodied smugglers rather impossible.

In some towns along the coast, such as Hastings and Dover and the smaller towns in between, the smugglers

almost acted like a modern day gang. The smugglers looked out for one another and engaged in illegal activities with each other. Even if the law abiding citizens of the town knew of the smugglers, they’d never turn the smugglers in for fear that their houses would be burned and their families killed.

And yes, sadly, such things did happen. (For more information dealing specifically with smuggling in the Cornish region of England, visit this earlier post by Author Laurie Alice Eakes.

So are you surprised about how the people of England used to avoid taxes? Do you think smuggling would have been so rampant if taxes on imports such as tea and tobacco were lower and taxes on exports like wool were lower as well?

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I bring up British smuggling today because it factors into my most recent book, The Soldier's Secrets. The heroine in this novel, Brigitte Dubios, finds herself tangled in a rather messy British-French smuggling ring. Extricating herself and her children from the smugglers is going to be dangerous and interesting. If only Brigitte can keep everyone safe and manage not to lose her heart in the process . . .

You can read a book description and excerpt at www.NaomiRawlings.com/naomis-books/the-soldiers-secrets.

Facts about the French Revolution

The French Revolution has a rather gory and bad reputation, and admittedly (with a symbol like the guillotine to represent it) some of that reputation is well deserved. But there is also a lot of misinformation about the French Revolution. Indeed, some of the reasons for the revolution are often lost amid tales of blood and gore. At its start, the French Revolution was similar to the American Revolution in many ways, and the French people had some very understandable reasons for revolting against their government.

Here's a few facts about the French Revolution:

Before the Revolution

• Before the Revolution started in 1789, a loaf of bread cost a week’s salary for the peasant class.
• In 1789, the peasantry paid taxes to nobles, the king, and the church, while the aristocrats barely payed taxes.
• The country was bankrupt.
• The cost of France helping with the American Revolution was a contributing factor to its bankruptcy.

During the Revolution

• Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France before the Revolution, never said “Let them eat cake.”
• Marie Antoinette was Austrian born.
• When the Bastille was stormed, only seven prisoners were being held there.
• Most of the France’s aristocrats were ensconced in Versailles and ignoring the famine and economic troubles until a mob of peasant women stormed the castle and demanded bread in August of 1789.
• The ideals behind the French Revolution were so looked down on by other European monarchies that France ended up fighting Prussia, Britain, Spain and Austria all while having their internal revolution.
• The French Revolutionary Government adopted its own calendar based on tens. Each week had ten days, each day had ten hours, each hour had 100 minutes, and each minute had 100 seconds. This meant the peasants who got one day a week off now had to work nine days before their break.

I've written a novel set during the The French Revolution. Actually, I've written three of them, but the second is releasing in a little over a week. The first question people usually ask me after they find out where my novels are set is "Why the French Revolution?"

Oddly enough, I don't find that question hard to answer, and now you know why.

Do any of the facts mentioned above surprise you? If so, share which ones in the comments below. I'll be giving away one copy of my novel The Soldier's Secrets, to one commenter below.

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Brigitte Dubois will do anything to keep her family safe. When she is blackmailed by her father-in-law, his quest for revenge leaves her no choice. To protect her children, she must spy on the man who may have killed her husband. But Jean Paul Belanger is nothing like she expected. The dark, imposing farmer offers food to all who need it, and insists on helping Brigitte and her children. 

Everything Jean Paul did was in the name of liberty. Even so, he can never forgive himself for his actions during France's revolution. Now a proud auburn-haired woman has come to his home seeking work and has found her way into his reclusive heart. But when she uncovers the truth, his past could drive them apart….

For more information about The Soldier's Secrets and the Belanger Family Saga, visit www.naomirawlings.com.