This week, while working on family genealogy, I came across something I hadn’t known before–a distant connection to the events surrounding John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.
My great-great-great-grandmother’s youngest brother was an abolitionist living on the frontier. Hie cabin, known today as the Mayhew Cabin, still stands in Nebraska and served as a station on the Underground Railroad. I had known the family had strong anti-slavery convictions, but I hadn’t realized how directly they were involved.
After his death from illness, his widow later married one of John Brown’s lieutenants–a man who would eventually be killed at Harpers Ferry. Other members of her family were also connected to Brown’s circle.
Discovering this thread was striking. When you write about the nineteenth century, the past can sometimes feel distant and abstract. Finding a connection within one’s own family reminds you that the people who lived through those events were not distant figures at all–they were simply people making difficult choices in their own time.
Current projects:
- My book: Chapter 7 prepared for the next reading at Scribes
- Edward Bryant: continuing to review stories for the next publication
History has a way of appearing unexpectedly, even in the branches of on’es own family tree.
Thanks fo reading and walking alongside me.
The View From The Imaginarium 