“The Gates of Hell shall not Prevail”

 By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…”

The Declaration of Independence was formatted in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The United States of America started with thirteen states: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Little did the world know the magnitude of what a ragged band of minutemen armed with high ideals could accomplish. The Declaration provides Americans with the window of our founding fathers’ determination, hopes, and ideals. The Declaration ends with the words;

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Our Founders incorporated this government, with a prayer on their lips and faith in their hearts that God would honor their requests. Disagreements ping-ponged across the discussion table on how to elect the president of The United States. Some favored a national popular vote, others wanted Congress to elect the president. The compromise arrived at—the popular vote and an Electoral College.

A popular vote coupled with the electors of each state would incorporate the desires of every state. Establishing the Electoral College would prevent larger states from dominating the presidential elections.

The decision of an Electoral College showed wisdom far beyond human comprehension. Each state has as many “electors” in the Electoral College as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress. The district of Columbia has three electors.

The elector's ballots will be certified; however, the votes will not be opened until January 6th. At that time Congress will meet in a joint session at 1 p.m. to tally the votes. The sitting Vice-President presides over the meeting and not the Speaker of the House. The Vice President opens the vote for each state alphabetically. He will pass the votes to four tellers, two from the House and two from the Senate. The Vice President then announces the new President and Vice-President.

During this joint session, lawmakers can object to individual electoral votes or

even the state returns as a whole. A written objection must be presented and signed by one Representative and one Senator.

The Joint Session recesses and each chamber considers the objection separately but for no more than two hours. Then each Member may speak for five minutes or less. Each house votes on whether to accept the objection. If both chambers agree to the objection, the votes are not counted.

There have been five times in America’s history that a president won the popular vote, however, lost the presidency because of the Electoral College.

Thirteen states eventually mushroomed into fifty states! How could our founding fathers know—or was it the hand of Divine Providence who provided the wisdom needed to instate an Electoral College—for such a time as this?

The founders of the Constitution had no idea what lands would be annexed, what people would occupy those lands, or how their actions would sustain this country through devastating wars and economic hardships. Only God knew.

Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio joined. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought 828,000 square miles of wilderness, rich with natural resources. The stark wilderness evolved into the states of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and included most of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Minnesota. Soon Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Michigan, and Florida joined.

The immortal words written in our constitution, some hundred years before, were etched upon every red-blooded American’s heart. Who can forget Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and the frontiersmen’s determination to stamp out injustice and battle with their last breaths in the battle at the Alamo, wrestling Texas from the dictator of Mexico, Santa Anna? Texas attained its statehood in 1845.

With the California gold rush, came a galloping increase in population—and a huge

need for civil government. Californians sought statehood. However, there was a heated debate regarding the slave issue. Eventually, California did acquire statehood under the Compromise of 1850 as a free non-slavery state.

The steadfast valor and faithfulness of Americans seeking God’s guidance as stated in the Constitution’s inequality and their unalienable rights were the cornerstone which had many a senator and congressman wrestling with their conscience on the thresholds of admitting new states—free or slave.

This issue would become the springboard to a civil war that would threaten the United States foundations even after the climax of this devastating war.

In the 1876 election, neither Ohio Republican Governor Rutherford B. Hayes nor New York Democratic Governor Samuel Tilden had the 185 votes needed in the Electoral College required to win because there were contested returns from southern states Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina.

The election had turned violent in southern states eleven years since the Civil War! Former Confederates and white Democrats attempted and succeeded to suppress Black and Republican voters.

The outgoing Republican administrations in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina sent their Electoral College returns to Congress showing Hayes had won. The incoming Democratic governors sent election results showing a Tilden victory. Republicans in Capitol Hill staunchly refused to count the Democratic returns.

In a heated response, the congressional Democrats challenged the constitutionality of one of the electors from Oregon. Congress had a dilemma on their hands. They faced a constitutional roadblock. The combined twenty votes in the Electoral College from four states were contested, Hayes had 165 votes and Tilden had 184.

Democrats controlled the House and Republicans controlled the Senate. Instead of allowing the House to decide the winner, Congress created the Federal Electoral Commission in January 1877. A bipartisan tribunal made of Senators, Representatives, and Supreme Court Justices. After weeks of testimony and debate, the commission declared Hayes the winner.

By the glow of candlelight, our forefathers battled forgery, greed, and deception to amass the truth as to the election of 1876. Should charges of foreign influences, unconstitutional behavior, late counting or any irregularities arise—they have the right and the duty to object. That is their constitutional right and their Christian duty.

Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum Address of 1838, rings as true today for America as it did 183 years ago:

“Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity swear by the blood of the Revolution never to violate in the least particular the laws of the country, and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and laws let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor — let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty…Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest, as the rock of its basis; and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution, ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’" 

Swept into Destiny: 

A penniless Irish immigrant and a gutsy Southern belle find they are more alike than different.

“…Brakefield writes a story with the same flourish as Margaret Mitchell and Louisa May Alcott… My husband purchased this book for me and I cannot wait to read the three other period books in this series. I would recommend this book to adults and teens who like to read a realistic story about history…” Daniel Lemond

Catherine is an award-winning author of the inspirational historical romances Wilted Dandelions, Destiny of Heart, and Waltz with Destiny. Her popular Destiny series include: Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, and Waltz with Destiny.

She has written Images of America; The Lapeer Area, and Images of America; Eastern Lapeer County.

Her short stories have been published in Guidepost Books, Baker Books, Revell, CrossRiver Media, and Bethany House Publishers.

She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) President of the Great Lakes Chapter (GLC 2017-2020). Catherine lives with her husband of 45 years, has two adult children, and four grandchildren.

See https://www.CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information about her

books and travels.

https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Electoral-College/#:~:text=After%20the%20experiences%20of%20the,the%20other%20for%20Vice%20President.

https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/  

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/lyceum.htm

Alamo Battle painting Texas State Library N Archieves

The Electoral Commission in session, Washington, D.C., February 16, 1877; from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 10, 1877.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital file no. cph 3b43606)

Declaration of Independence, oil on canvas by John Trumbull, 1818; in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Washington, D.C.

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave - Catherine Howard 5th Wife of Henry VIII

Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, and the first cousin to the famous Anne Boleyn, had Henry nearly giddy with her. She won Henry over and he was quite pleased with his new wife.

Catherine Howard

By Hans Holbein the Younger - https://libsvcs-1.its.yale.edu/strawberryhill/oneitem.asp?id=552, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38166866
 

Prior to  her marriage with Henry, Catherine Howard led a promiscuious life. While she lived with her father's step-mother, Agnes Tilney at Chesworth House, she had an affair with the music tutor, Henry Manox.

When Catherine tired of Manox, she turned her affections to a relative and secretary, Frances Dereham. The two not only consummated their relationship but also called each other husband and wife and promised marriage which in the eyes of the church was as good as a marriage.

Manox found out about the relationship and told Agnes Tilney about her step-granddaughter and Dereham. Upset over the impropriety of Howard, Agnes sends her granddaughter to court and Dereham to Ireland.

Once at court Catherine served as lady-in-waiting to then queen, Anne of Cleves. Henry never really attracted to his fourth wife was quickly interested in his wife's new lady. Before his divorce to Anne, Henry started courting Catherine Howard and soon after was giving her gifts for all to see.

Henry had his marriage to Anne annulled, executed Thomas Cromwell who encouraged the marriage, and married Catherine Howard. The couple seemed happy and everyone believed a child would soon follow. The new queen was not experienced like her cousin or others of the king's other wives in the art of Court. She was young in comparison and naïve.

But when Henry became sick, Catherine was sent away for her safety. Unwisely, she has her two ex-lovers, Madox and Dereham brought to court to serve there. Some believe this could have been to silence them about their relationship with her. It's thought that it's at this time, while away, Catherine begins a her adulterous relationship with Thomas Culpeper.

Jane Boleyn

By English school - https://thetudortravelguide.com/2019/09/21/hever-castle/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106756494

Culpeper was not a nice man. He'd been charged with brutally rapping a ground's keeper's wife as he ordered three servants to hold her down. He then murdered a villagers who tried to intervene.  

Jane Boleyn, the widow of George Boleyn who had been executed with his sister Anne, helped arrange the meetings for the queen and her lover. The gossip of course begins and soon reaches Henry's ears. But Henry refuses to believe the accusations.

Henry VIII
By After Hans Holbein the Younger - eAHC0d0WiemXSA — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21878559

But when Dereham and Culpeper confess under the Kings torture, Henry's fears are realized. Cramer interrogates the young fearful queen. The archbishop feels pity on her and encourages her to admit to a precontract of marriage to Dereham in hopes Henry would annul the marriage and Catherine's life would be spared. But due to lack of council and her youth, Catherine thinks this will bring about her execution and so refuses to admit to it.

Dereham and Culpeper are put to death. Dereham is hung, drawn and quartered while still alive. Due to his rank, Culpeper is spared the terrible death and beheaded. Their heads are put on the London Bridge. Catherine is stripped of her title and put away for two months. But Henry shows no mercy on her and she is beheaded as well as Jane Boleyn who helped arrange her meetings with Culpeper. 

Sadly, Catherine Howard died a mere eighteen months after becoming queen, leaving no children and no real mark in history. 

 

A broken heart, a controlling father, and an intrusive Scot leave Charlotte Jackson reeling. Accused of stealing an heirloom pin, she must choose between an unwanted marriage and the ruin of her family name. With the futures of her three younger sisters at stake, as well as her own reputation, Charlotte must navigate through injustice to find forgiveness and true happiness.

Eager to find the traitor that caused the death of his brother, Duncan Mackenzie comes to America and attempts to fit in with Charleston society. But when the headstrong Charlotte catches his eye, Duncan takes on a second mission—acquiring the lass's hand. After being spurned several times, he uses unconventional ways of winning her heart.

Debbie Lynne Costello is the author of Sword of Forgiveness, Amazon's #1 seller for Historical Christian Romance. She has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina with their 4 horses, 3 dogs, a miniature donkey, and 6 pekin ducks.

From Circleville to Chillicothe on the Ohio-Erie Canal

by

 

I wasn’t sure what to think when a friend asked me to join a historical novella collection about the Erie Canal. But this historic achievement soon captured my imagination. I became even more excited when I discovered that the Ohio-Erie Canal connected Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes, to the broad Ohio River.

 

My ancestors settled in Ohio way back in the late 1700s when Virginia gave land to their Revolutionary War veterans instead of paying them in cash. The Virginia Military District, consisting of more than four million acres, was north of the Ohio River between the Little Miami River and the Scioto River. This was before Ohio became the 17th state in 1803. 

Fun Fact: President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower signed Ohio’s official statehood documents in 1953, retroactive to the March 1, 1803 date. 

 

Getting back to the Ohio-Erie Canal, here are the basics:

·      Date of Construction: 1825 through 1832

·    Length: 308 miles

·    Lift Locks: 146

 

Two towns located along the canal’s route, Circleville and Chillicothe, have connections with my childhood so I chose them as settings for my novella. During my research, I learned fascinating information about both.

 

Circleville

 

My Connection

When I was growing up, my mom and her nine siblings held our annual Christmas get-together at the local high school with a potluck and gift exchange. Multiple cousins and their families still live in the area.

 

The Town's History

 

In 1810, the streets were laid out in a circle on top of a Hopewell Indian mound on the eastern bank of the Scioto River, hence the name of the town. 

 

As time went by, the residents complained about the odd layout. They didn’t like going around in circles or how the circular streets formed irregular lots. 

 In the late 1830s, the Ohio General Assembly created the Circleville Squaring Company which was tasked with changing the streets into a grid layout and to rebuild the curved buildings.

 

The town’s modern-day claim to fame is the popular Circleville Pumpkin Show. It's marketed as the "Greatest Free Show on Earth," and held the third Wednesday through Saturday in October. 

 

Chillicothe

 

My Connection

 

My paternal grandparents lived for a time at the end of a “holler” south of this historic city. I loved visiting my grandparents and often spent a week or two with them during the summers. But I didn’t like driving through Chillicothe to get to their house. The century-old paper mill located there emits a very unpleasant odor. The locals euphemistically call it the smell of money, but I always held my nose!

 

History

 

Chillicothe, first settled in 1796, is also located along the Scioto River. The town has the distinction of serving as Ohio’s first capital (1803-1810) and its third capital (1812-1816). 

 

In the years prior to the Civil War, Chillicothe’s free black community played a vital role maintaining stations along the Underground Railroad. In my story, the heroine and hero help runaway slaves escape the hunters who wanted to take them back across the Ohio River.

For the past thirty-plus years, Chillicothe has hosted the annual Feast of the Flowering Moon Festival, a three-day event celebrating Native American culture, with music, arts and crafts exhibits, and various demonstrations. 

 

The city also hosts the annual Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival. Though the multi-day event only began in 2004, the history of storytelling in the region has a long tradition that includes the Shawnee and Mingo tribes, early settlers, and travelers along the Underground Railroad. All these groups passed stories from one generation to the next.  

My story in the Erie Canal Brides Collection is called "Journey of the Heart" and takes place in 1852. The heroine, Charity Sinclair, secretly writes abolitionist pamphlets while thwarting architect Tavish Dunbar's effort to redesign her father's post office--a hidden stop on the Underground Railroad. When a slave hunter captures a runaway, Charity vows to rescue the fugitive. But can she trust Tavis with her secret...and with her heart?

The Trouble Tecumseh Stirred

by Denise Weimer

Tecumseh

As we turn from 2020 to 2021, my focus gravitates to 1813. Why? It’s the year my April 2021 release, Bent Tree Bride, is set. Travel with me as I draw back the veil on a little-known era of U.S. history, the Red Stick portion of the War of 1812. Our backdrop will be the Southern states, present-day Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

In the early 1800s, the United States became caught up in the war between Britain and France. Our fledgling country resented British trade restrictions and naval impressments and feared Native Americans in the Northwest Territory who had decided they needed British support to prevent further American settlement. One such Native American leader was Shawnee war chief Tecumseh. After surviving multiple destructions of his boyhood villages during the American Revolution, he joined a band attacking settlers’ flatboats on the Ohio River. Eventually, he became a leader, while his brother, Tenskwatawa, became a prophet who predicted an apocalypse that would destroy the settlers. In 1808, at the confluence of the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers, they established Prophetstown, a multi-tribal village. 

Tenskwatawa

In September 1811, Tecumseh traveled to Creek Indian Territory (modern-day Alabama) to stir support for his British-allied union of tribes. They performed the Dance of the Lakes at Tukabatchee, principal Creek town on the Tallapoosa River. Days later, Tecumseh revealed a vision of his brother’s that said they should kill their cattle, destroy spinning wheels, and cast aside plows. “The white people have no right to take the land from the Indians, for it is ours. The Great Spirit gave it to us. Let all the red men unite …” He then presented the Creeks a bundle of red sticks which he pointed out could not be broken because the sticks were joined together. When Chief Big Warrior responded with skepticism, Tecumseh declared, “Your blood is white! You have taken my talk, and the sticks, and the wampum and hatchet, but you do not mean to fight.” He stormed out after stating he’d return home to shake the ground. The extensive tremors of the New Madrid earthquake in December of that year convinced some that Tecumseh was right.

It’s said someone threatened him not to repeat his speech in Cherokee Territory (where many progressive chiefs embraced white ways), or they’d kill him. Some speculate this could have been Cherokee Chief The Ridge, who was the Cherokee ambassador at the Tukabatchee meeting. Thus, Tecumseh traveled home without stopping in Cherokee Territory. Facing great division and confusion, The Ridge had his work cut out when his people met in council at their main town, Ustanali.

 

Massacre at Ft. Mims

When the Red Stick Creeks (those who sided with Tecumseh and the British) began attacking National Creeks (those who did not want war), the National Creeks called to the Cherokees for aid. Meanwhile, the American militia entered into conflict with the Red Sticks at Burnt Corn Creek and Fort Mims, near Mobile, and the governors of Tennessee and Georgia called for Cherokee volunteers. The Ridge failed to sway the council from its neutrality until a Cherokee woman was killed by Red Sticks. At that point, he helped round up five to seven hundred volunteers for The Cherokee Regiment, which would come to serve under General Andrew Jackson. And there begins my story, Bent Tree Bride.

Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s a managing editor for the historical imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and the author of almost a dozen published novels and a number of novellas. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses! 

Connect with Denise here:

Monthly Newsletter Sign-up

Website

Facebook

Twitter

BookBub

For more information, Toward the Setting Sun by Brian Hicks and Forging a Cherokee-American Alliance in the Creek War: From Creation to Betrayal by Susan M. Abram

Who Dropped the Ball?

By Kathy Kovach

We’ve all done it (stayed up until midnight eagerly awaiting for the ball to drop in Times Square)—unless you are one of those early birds who can’t last past ten o’clock. In that case, I pray for you nightly. We’ve watched the ball drop at Times Square in New York precisely at midnight to usher in the new year. Kissed that special someone. Toasted with Welch’s Sparkling non-alcoholic white grape juice. Or is that just me? Afterward I’d finish watching the third movie of the night and go to bed happy to have survived...er...been blessed to see another year.

This year, once my brain cleared up after two flutes of Welch’s, I started thinking about this strange tradition. Why a ball? Why a drop? Why New York?

The usage of the time ball dates way back before it became the centerpiece of the world’s largest party. In the 19th Century, a large, wooden ball would drop from poles mounted at observatories and harbors at the same time every day to help ship navigators synchronize their chronometers to the correct time. Using this inspiration, the Western Union building in downtown New York also dropped a ball everyday at noon. In my day, we simply called a phone number that gave the time so we could adjust our errant kitchen clock.

In 1904, the New York Times moved into a new building—the second largest skyscraper in the city. It perched on a triangle of land in Longacre Square, soon to be renamed Times Square, and the address of the tall tower became One Times Square. This same year, the subway line opened, and the newspaper’s publisher, Adolph Ochs, felt a hefty celebration was in order to commemorate the exciting changes and growth. He commissioned Ukrainian immigrant and metal worker, Jacob Starr, to set up a tall sign boasting the numbers of the new year. At precisely midnight, the electric numbers were to be turned on and fireworks would be set off from the base of the building.

However, the firework celebration ended after only a few years due to hot embers falling on the revelers below. In 1907, Ochs again consulted Starr, who was working at a sign-making firm called Strauss Signs to come up with a better display. Remembering the use of time balls, they, along with New York Times chief electrician, Walter Palmer, devised the now infamous ball drop.

Even though electricity wasn’t a new concept at the turn of the century, many houses were still lit with candles and gas lights. That first ball had to be spectacular and something no one had ever seen before. The 700-pound iron ball was five feet in diameter, and fitted with 25-watt lightbulbs. It descended down the pole, and the moment it landed on the rooftop, the lights were turned off and the tall sign displaying 1908 turned on, making it seem as thought the ball had magically become the numbers denoting the new year.

The ball drops behind the numbers, goes dark and the new year numbers spectacularly light up

The ball has gone through seven transformations over the years. It went from five

feet in diameter to the twelve-foot one we see today. It’s been made of wood, wrought iron, and aluminum. Light bulbs to strobe lights to LED lights made it extraordinary. In the 1981-82 event, it was transformed into an apple thanks to then Mayor Ed Koch and his “I love New York” Big Apple campaign. Hand-drawn pulleys made way for automated machinery. Unfortunately, it went dark for two years during World War II as a blackout had been ordered for the city skyline in case German submarines lurked in the harbor. As of the turn of this century, the six-ton structure has become permanent as a visual extravaganza to be seen nightly throughout the year, featuring Waterford Crystal and Phillips LED lights that can create every design possible on the orb.

Whatever your tradition of ringing in the new year, whether toasting with sparkling Welch’s white grape juice or snoozing in a warm bed, the Times Square Ball Drop symbolizes leaving the old behind and embracing the new. A new time, a new day, a new future.

MissAdventure Brides Collection
Seven daring damsels don’t let the norms of their eras hold them back. Along the way these women attract the attention of men who admire their bravery and determination, but will they let love grow out of the adventures? Includes:
"Riders of the Painted Star" by Kathleen E. Kovach

1936 Arizona
New York City artist, Zadie Fitzpatrick, who no doubt witnessed many New Year ball drops in her time, is commissioned to go on location in Arizona to paint illustrations for an author of western novels and falls for the male model.

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother, though much too young for that. Kathleen is a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.

Website

Blog With A Giggle
CraftCinema

Facebook

TEXAS: Not Your Usual History

 One Hundred Seventy-Five Years of Statehood

by Martha Rogers

I've always loved my state, having been born here 85 years ago in June, 2021. Because of that love, most of my novels and novella are set in the Lone Star State. In doing research, I've come across interesting people and events I didn't learn about in seventh grade Texas history classes. Some of the things I found have fascinated me, so I plan to share a few with you over the next few months.

Most people know about the Alamo, Battle at San Jacinto, Sam Houston, the six flags that flew over Texas, and Washington on the Brazos, but so many other people and events molded and shaped Texas into the state it is today.

Texas is full of myths and legends that have arisen from actual events, and that makes the stories even more interesting. One of those is the Parker family and all the folklore that surrounds that family.

The Parker clan, headed by John, built a fortified stockade out of cedar thinking it

would keep them safe from Indian raids. However, in May of 1836, a band of Comanches rode up to the fort and attacked. Both old and young people were
slaughtered, and they took captives. One of those was nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker, and her younger brother.  

                                 

Her capture and then "rescue" twenty-four years later, 160 years ago last month, became the stuff of stories and legends picked up by newspapers, books, and

magazine because of its tragic tale. The tale was even picked up by the movies, and the movie The Searchers starring John Wayne was born. So much is known about Cynthia Ann and her son, Quanah, but what happened to her six-year-old brother, John Richard Parker, who was captured with her? His story is almost as legendary as his sister's, but John managed to elude the spotlight, so his story is not as familiar.

John, as did his sister. grew to adulthood among the Indians. While on a raiding party with his tribe, John fell in love with a Mexican girl, Dona Juanita. She returned to Texas with him, but he fell ill with smallpox, and was abandoned by his tribe. She nursed him back to health, and they returned to Mexico. 

One account of his life describes John being found at age 14 by his uncle and returned to his mother, but later going back to the Comanches where he felt he belonged. After being abandoned and recovering from small pox, he began his life as a stockman and rancher,  a member of the Confederacy, and as a scout. These events have all made for more legends and stories. 

Years later, the story goes that Quanah Parker visited his uncle at the ranch where Quanah was gored by a bull. John treated his nephew with peyote, and historians say, without much question, that is how the use of peyote started among the Indians. John died in 1915 on his ranch.

Back in 1969, in an episode of Death Valley Days, William Smith plays John, and in the story line, Parker gets the small pox, is left dead by his fellow Comanche warriors, and is then rescued by his future wife who is named Yolanda in the story. So we have a little fiction based on fact to make a better story. 

John Richard Parker was an elusive man, but his story is one of which Texas legends are born.

The old family fort is now a State Park located near in Limestone County near Mexia and the county seat, Groesbeck, Texas.

 

Is there an interesting story or legend associated with your state? If you're from Texas, what's one of your favorite stories or legends about our state?

My latest release is a tale of a prodigal's return to his home in Texas with a twist.  After a life-threatening accident causes Joshua Thornton to rethink his life as a riverboat gambler, he has a chance encounter with the one man, a minister in is home town, whose unforgiving spirit chased Joshua away from his home after a foolish prank injured the minister and damaged the church. With the reverend is his daughter, Alicia, the one girl who captured Joshua’s heart years ago and has never left it.  When Joshua learns his father’s shipping company may be in financial trouble, he decides to return to Havens Port in hopes of helping his father save the business. Alicia, who has always loved Joshua, is forbidden to have anything to do with Joshua because of his sinful past life. When tragedy strikes the town, Joshua proves himself to be a hero, but is it enough to transform the heart of the man Joshua scarred for life and allow two young people to follow their hearts.                                                                      

Martha Rogers is a multi-published author who lives in Houston, Texas with her husband Rex. They have been married 61 years and have three sons who have given them nine grandchildren. Three of the grandchildren are married to provide Martha and Rex with six great-grandchildren. Her books are both historical and contemporary romances along with a cozy mystery series set in a senior living community. Martha is a member of ACFW and writes the Verse of the Week devotional for their loop. Visit Martha on Martha Rogers Author on Facebook, martharogers2 on Twitter, and martha.rogers on Instagram. www.marthawrogers.com

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell 1849

 

By Suzanne Norquist

Elizabeth Blackwell didn’t always want to be a doctor. In fact, she said she “...hated everything connected with the body, and could not bear the sight of a medical book...” However, when a dying friend said she wished she’d had a woman physician, Elizabeth changed her mind about medicine. She became the first woman to receive an M.D. degree in the United States.

She was born in England in 1821, the third of nine children, one of five sisters. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was eleven years old. Six years later, her father died, leaving the family broke. That’s when Elizabeth began a career as a teacher. Her mother and two sisters were also teachers.

When she decided to become a physician, she consulted two doctors whose families she had boarded with as a teacher. They allowed her to study medicine under them informally. Everyone told her it would be impossible for her to receive a formal education in the field. She accepted the challenge.

Twenty-nine medical schools rejected her application. A professor at one of the schools suggested she disguise herself as a man or go to Paris to study. She refused to do either.

Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York accepted her application, believing it was a practical joke perpetrated by a rival college.

She faced numerous obstacles. Some professors forced her to sit separately and refused to allow her to participate in labs. Her attendance upset the townspeople, both women and men. Eventually, her fellow students accepted her. She later wrote, “I soon felt perfectly at home amongst my fellow students.”

In 1849, she graduated first in her class. Though she was the last one called up to receive her diploma, the crowd burst into applause. Her thesis on typhoid fever was published in the Buffalo Medical Journal, the first by a female student from the United States.

She worked in London and Paris for a couple of years. Unfortunately, when treating an infant with an eye infection, she accidentally spurted some contaminated solution into her own eye. She lost the eye and couldn’t work as a surgeon.

She returned to New York, believing she would face less discrimination since more medical schools were admitting women in the United States. Still, no one would hire her. She finally opened her own dispensary in a single rented room to serve the poor. It grew into a thriving practice and eventually became the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. One of her sisters, also a doctor, joined her. Their mission included providing positions for women physicians. During the Civil War, the Blackwell sisters trained nurses for Union hospitals.

In 1868, Elizabeth opened The Women’s Medical College in New York.

Soon after, she left her sister in charge and returned to London, where she became a gynecology professor at the new London School of Medicine for Women.

She passed away in 1910. Then, in 1974, she was honored with a commemorative stamp.

So, when someone tells me my dreams are impossible, I will remember Dr. Blackwell and press on.

***

“Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection

Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting. 

Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers, and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?

For a Free Preview, click here: http://a.co/1ZtSRkK

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class. 

She authors a blog entitled, Ponderings of a BBQ Ph.D.