When I decided to pick a time period for my book, A Home for Phoebe, I chose the 1830's. I figured it was a nice "quiet" time of history, in between the big wars. But little did I know of a mini-war that was happening just at that time, in that part of the country. I had to add it to the plot. There was no way to leave it out.
Right in the very county that A Home for Phoebe is set, the farmers were fighting for their freedom to own land. They had been caught in a serfdom under the Rensselaer patroon.
On the very road where I lived, in Hoags Corner, the anti-rent rebels met at a tavern to discuss their stragedies. Alerting each other with tin horns, the farmers (dressed as Indians in calico) tormented the rent collectors. There was never any blood shed, but they stood strong together for their cause.
Henry Christman gathered many documents and journal entries to give us a picture of this interesting event in his book Tin Horns and Calico. The victory of the farmers of the Hudson Valley led to the Homestead Act which opened the West for settlement.
Researching for my writing is so much fun!
I never know what I will learn.
2 comments:
What an awesome tidbit of information for your book. Exciting!
Tooooo Cool!! What fun...I love doing research and the "surprises" that come up!
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