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.

Kentucky Divorces

An ACT for the relief of Polly M'Neff
Approved December 6, 1804

This act authorised her to sue in Washington County, for a divorce from her husband, John. T. M'Neff, and to obtain it on a jury's finding that he had a wife at the time he married her, and that he had deserted her for the space of two years, or failed to contribute anything to the support of herself and her children, or that he had since married to, or was living in adultery with another woman.

There's an index of Kentucky divorces from 1795 - 1850 online here. It's where I first discovered that all may not have been rosy in the McNeff household. I have quite a bit to say about 17th and 18th century divorce, but I just spent the last two hours pretending to know *something* about statistics. It's not my strong suit. Still, I hear so many people say, "but divorce was so uncommon back then."

Consider this:
In 1804, there were 7 divorces in Kentucky - the same number there had been in 1798. Granted, there were some years you couldn't find a divorce in the state - and you'd be hard pressed to say the same today. In 1843 the number was 104, and in 1849 it was a whopping 156. Divorce certainly existed. The reasons were many - and varied. My "favorites" are the two poor women whose husbands up and joined the Shakers. It was a sect that required celibacy of its members - and the Shakers actually created rules to prevent a person from joining their church to escape the "duties" to his or her spouse.

Glenda Riley wrote an excellent book called Divorce: An American Tradition. I've just finished reading it. I'm excited about some of the things I've learned. Stay tuned ...

Want to read more divorce acts? It might make you think differently about your own life ... click here

Obsessing on Polly

I was on my way to the coke machine this afternoon at work, and I was thinking about Polly. I think a lot about her these days. I wonder if her chestnut hair was unruly. I think about her pale, hazel eyes. I imagine how her clothes would fit me - if her shoes would be uncomfortable - walking in the woods on a humid, Kentucky day.

Polly Wright is my 4th great grandmother, and here's what I do know about her. In Springfield, Kentucky, 1798, she married John Thompson McNeff. In 1804, she was awarded a legislative divorce from him. It's not much to go on.

I've always wanted to know her. So, a few months ago, I decided I'd write an historic novel about John T and Polly. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say I decided I'd research an historic novel about John T and Polly. I've been reading books, taking furious notes and doing a lot of day-dreaming.

But it was on the trip to the coke machine that it struck me. I have to start writing about the McNeffs regularly. And so, another blog is born.