Making Choices

One of the greatest advantages I see to blogging the research for my novel is this: questions. I'm hoping to be challenged by my friends, my family and by the casual reader. It's already happened. Following my post about the number of divorces in 18th and 19th century Kentucky, my friend Larry wanted to know how those compared to the number of marriages in the state. That's going to take some quality time at the genealogy library to answer.

My sister-in-law Canticle also asked me a question: Why Polly? The simplest answer is drama. Her life came ready-made with conflict - and I'm living proof she overcame it. But you can be sure of this. Polly McNeff was not the only woman in history to be faced with difficult decisions.

I could fictionalize the life of Jane Craig, my 8th Great Grandmother. It's reasonably certain that her son Toliver was illegitimate - and suspicion lies with a certain Italian sea captain named Taliaferro. He sailed between Scotland and Virginia, and on one such journey around 1703 or 1704, he seduced Ms. Craig. [Craig Genealogy]

I could write about Sarah Cassandra Boone - my 6th Great Grandmother and the older sister of Daniel Boone. She was Squire and Sarah Boone's first child - and she married a non-Quaker name John Wilcockson. This may sound harmless enough, but on June 26, 1742, her father responded to an inquiry from his church. Squire Boone declareth he did not contenance or consent to the marriage but confesseth himself in fault in keeping them in his house after their keeping company but that he was in a great streight in not knowing what to do, and hopeth to be more careful for the future. He wasn't. Turns out Squire's next child and oldest son Israel did the same thing. [From Wilcockson and Allied Familes]

And yet, I dream of Polly. It's a fair question Canticle. All I can really say is that I'm drawn to her. I've always been drawn to her. Maybe if this venture works out, Jane Craig and Sarah Cassandra Boone will be next.