The Mayhew Cabin stood along one of the western routes of the Underground Railroad, part of a quiet network that stretched across much of the country.
Earlier this week I wrote about discovering a family connection to the abolitionist movement and the events surrounding John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. The more I think about that discovery, the ore striking it feels.
For a writer of historical fiction, the nineteenth century can sometimes feel like a landscape studied through documents and biographies. we learn the names, the speeches, the conflicts. But occasionally history shifts from something researched to something inherited.
Knowing that members of my own family were part of the Underground Railroad changes the way I imagine that world. These were not distant figures in a textbook. they were people making decisions in real time, without knowing how history would judge them.
That realization deepens my respect for teh moral courage involved. It also reminds me that the past was lived by ordinary individuals who chose their course in difficult circumstances.
Current projects:
- My book: preparing Chapter 7 for the next reading at Scribes.
- Edward Bryant: continuing to review stories for the next publication.
History often beings as study. Sometimes it becomes family.
Thanks for reading and walking alongside me.
The View From The Imaginarium 