Rohn Federbush: The young-adult series, rooted in Ann Arbor, Michigan history, began with visits to the Bentley and Clemments University libraries to uncover details about the donors of stained-glass windows to St. Andrewâ??s Episcopal Church, which was built after the Civil War but incorporated in 1824. One of the donors, Silas Douglas cleared his name of any wrong-doing (in a dispute about un-accounted university laboratory fees with a Methodist professor) all the way through the Michigan Supreme Court. Silas made sure history kept the record straight by starting the Michigan Historical Society. As a young man, Silas attended the 1818 Maumee River signing of the Indian land distribution treaty needed for the building of President Monroeâ??s Erie Canal. He copied the treaty and the names of the natives from seven tribes into the permanent archives (now housed in the Ann Arbor public library). Based on these facts, my book â??North Parishâ?? follows fictitious consensus-building diplomats around the Great Lakes to secure attendance at the 1818 Maumee Rapids powwow. (57 k) While I waited for various articles to be produced from hidden troves in the librariesâ?? white-glove-only visitor section, I searched abstract indexes for interesting diaries. Most of the entries were described as â??un-interesting tales by religious housewives;â?? however, they contained thorough descriptions of every amenity available to settlers. Among them was the lonesome diary of a Lake Superior lighthouse keeper complete with sketches of a free-standing wooden globe the poor man constructed. He diligently listed the passing ships and frightening storms. â??Floating Homeâ?? incorporates the 1841 romance between an Irish-famine, female emigrant with a lighthouse keeperâ??s journey across the Atlantic, up the Hudson, down the Erie Canal, to Fort Detroit and their final destinies in Ann Arbor (56 k). Among the famous names of 1879 University of Michigan professors, the name Vaughn appears again and again in un-complimentary biographies. â??Loveâ??s Triumphâ?? details the 1879 typhoid epidemic experienced by a young carpenter and an aspiring female law student. (70 k). These three inspirational novels may spark the curiosity of young citizens of Michigan |
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