Jabez grew up in Maine, one of twelve children. Family lore says he went to California via the Isthmus of Panama, took a degree at Transylvania University (the records show he enrolled there, but never actually received a degree) and was elected to the Montana Legislature (he was elected but never seated—that’s another story).
The Jacksons and Sam Canon’s family were real people, though there were more children than appear in the novel; many of their descendents are living today, a few in Holt County, Missouri. The cemetery in Oregon, Missouri (the Lick Creek of the novel) holds the graves of many of the characters whose stories are told here.
The events that took place in northwestern Missouri and in Kansas are drawn from historical accounts of guerrilla warfare during the 1850s and 1860s. Jabez did own a newspaper, which was destroyed, did hold secessionist views, was placed under house arrest.
Though I don’t know Agnes’s and Jabez’s true views on slavery and race relations, Dick and Rose MacDonald (her name was actually Mary) were the first black couple to settle in the Bozeman area. The fact that they must have joined the Robinsons in the move to Montana gives me hope that the two couples were truly friends.
The Bigelows—Reuben, Jake and the fish-eyed Willard—are fictional creations. Jabez’s participation in the aftermath of the John Brown massacre is a product of my imagination, as is his connection to Senator Atchison and Charles Robinson, both of whom are historical figures.
Oregon, Missouri, a delightful town, looks much the same as it must have in those early years, with the addition of a new courthouse and a high school. The cemetery and the library are treasure troves of local history and the rolling hills and prairie land around it give rise to all sorts of fancies about how life may have happened back then. Agnes and Jabez, my great-great grandparents, lived and loved and suffered during their time there. I’ve tried to imagine how it all was—I hope I did them justice.
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgements
Finishing this project has long been a dream, and I appreciate all the help and encouragement I’ve received along the way. Thanks go especially to Lida Holmes Robinson Morrow and Irene Costello, both now deceased, who kept the story of the Robinsons alive and passed it on to a new generation. I am indebted to my readers/editors/supporters, particularly Toni Kennedy and Diane Robinson; Carol Kean and the IWW critiquers; and Mike Burgess, Marilyn Burkhardt, Donna Harwood-Martyn, Nancy Turner and Carol Doyle from the TBCC writing group. There are many other supporters who’ve had faith that I could finish this, and I thank them too.
Thanks especially to Kristina Blank Makansi and Amira Makansi at Blank Slate Press who believed in this book and made it so much better.
Thanks most especially to Dan, who suffered through field trips to the midwest and all the other inconveniences that being married to a writer entail.
About the Author
Deborah Lincoln grew up among the cornfields of western Ohio, the product of farmers on one side, doctors and lawyers on the other. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and doesn’t really care which one wins the big game. She and her husband have three grown sons and live on the Oregon Coast.
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