Old photos give historical authors a wealth of information because they give unintentional glimpses into everyday life. Don’t overlook the value of these snapshots. Authors are invited to read my post on Almost An Author where I am a column writer for “History in the Making.”
November 19, 1863: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg for the dedication of a military cemetery. Edward Everett, the main speaker at the event, spoke for two hours. Then the President stepped to the front to deliver the “few appropriate remarks” requested of him.
The President spoke for about two minutes. Applause interrupted his speech at times. Some expressed disappointment over the length of his talk, which was probably highlighted all the more by Everett’s speech. Yet, history records every word spoken by Lincoln to commemorate this important event.
You are invited to read my post about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on Almost an Author.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Only 4% of the prairie grass from fifty years ago still exists today. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas wants to change that statistic by protecting this precious ecosystem. Bison again roam the prairie at the preserve. Plan a visit when you are in the area!
Orchard Knob is now part of the city of Chattanooga. In 1863, the town extended from the Tennessee River on the north and west to the current West 23rd Street and Baldwin Street in the south and east.
During the war, Orchard Knob was a wooded mound outside the town on the Chattanooga Valley plain. With flags flying and sunshine glinting on 10,000 polished bayonets, it was an impressive sight when General Thomas’s troops rushed forward to attack the Confederates on Orchard Knob. Buglers and drummers played tunes to give commands. Puffs of smoke rose from the woods on the hill.
The hill was taken on November 23, 1863. Grant ordered the fortifications to be changed to face the Confederates, an order accomplished that night.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Korn, Jerry. The Fight for Chattanooga: Chickamauga to Missionary Ridge, Time-Life Books, 1985.
Sword, Wiley. Mountains Touched with Fire: Chattanooga Besieged, 1863, St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Woodworth, Steven E. Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns, University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
How far should Carrie go to help one of the Yankees responsible for destroying nearby Chattanooga while her dear father fights for the Confederacy in far-off Virginia?
If you like Civil War history or histfic, give this story a try! Available in ebook, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.
A Stranger On My Land is the book that Sandra Merville Hart will be highlighting during her time at this Facebook Party. Join Michelle Levigne, Sandra Merville Hart, Saundra Staats McLemore, Tamera Lynn Kraft, Carole Brown, Sharon A. Lavy, and Teresa Hooley Slack at a Facebook Party on Thursday, November 17th, from 6 pm to 9:30 pm Eastern. We’d love to chat with you at the Buckeye Christian Fiction Christmas Book Lovers Party!
Elizabeth Bennet fights her growing attraction for the proud yet noble Mr. Darcy in this heartwarming novel.
This version of the classic novel by Jane Austen has added notes in the margin that explain historical or cultural aspects of the story that the modern reader might not know. It also includes tidbits from Austen’s life, romance tips, faith themes, and comments about the characters.
These notes enhanced my enjoyment of the novel so much that I read this version at least twice a year.
I definitely recommend this particular version to lovers of historical romance.
-Review by Sandra Merville Hart
I know that a recipe for stewed carrots from an 1877 cookbook isn’t the most exciting dish, but this dish added a bit of flavor and interest to the vegetable.
The carrots I had on hand were the peeled baby carrots. I sliced a half pound of these once lengthwise. Though I usually steam this vegetable, I boiled them as directed by Mrs. C.T.C. on a medium high heat. They were tender and ready for the next step in about a half hour.
In another saucepan, melt two tablespoons of butter and add about a cup of milk. Salt and pepper to taste and then cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Remove the carrots by the pan with a slotted spoon into a serving dish. Dissolve a tablespoon of flour in about twice as much water and add to the creamy sauce left in the pot. (Use less flour if you don’t want the sauce to be as thick. Next time I will try a teaspoon of flour for pourable consistency.)
Stirring constantly, allow the gravy to boil at least a minute. Then pour it over the carrots and serve.
Both my husband and I liked carrots prepared this way. If you want to jazz up carrots at supper one evening, consider trying this recipe. The preparations took about an hour.
Enjoy! I’d love to hear if you try this recipe.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.
Do you know where the first pizza restaurant was in the United States? Hint: it is somewhere in the state of New York!
Mark Twain and his brother stopped in Great Salt Lake City while on a stagecoach trip to Nevada in the early 1860s. While at the Salt Lake House, a fellow asked if Twain wanted his boots blacked. Twain agreed and paid him a silver five-cent piece when done.
The man laid the coin in his hand and stared as if at a novelty. Stagecoach drivers, mountaineers, and other local folk gathered near to survey the nickel.
Returning the money, the fellow suggested that Twain store his coins in his pocket-book instead of his soul—that way it wouldn’t get so shriveled up!
It was a humiliating lesson that commodities costing far less in the eastern United States were not as cheap in the West. The amount Twain gave was a fair price where he grew up, but not in Great Salt Lake City.
A penny’s worth of goods was available in the East; it bought the smallest amount of purchasable products. The silver nickel was the smallest coin used west of Ohio.
Nothing cost less than a dime in Overland City and, as Twain learned the hard way, everything cost at least a quarter in Great Salt Lake City.
Cigars, peaches, candles, newspapers, and chalk pipes—items that normally cost Twain a nickel—went for twenty-five cents in that western city.
Twain and his brother brought along silver coins stored in a shot-bag; the level reduced at an alarming rate at those prices. Though it seemed as if they blew their money on riotous living, their expense records proved that not to be the case.
The brothers quickly learned the realities of residing in the pioneering West. High costs of freighting goods to the area escalated the prices. Pioneers grew accustomed to paying a minimum of twenty-cents for everything, even blushing to remember paying only a nickel for the same items.
The fellows had a good laugh at Twain’s expense that morning at the hotel, perhaps because the same thing happened to them when they were first confronted with the exorbitant prices in the West.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Twain, Mark. Roughing It, Penguin Books, 1981.
Four heartwarming novellas make up this series by Rosey Dow.
The main characters you learn to love in the first book, Megan’s Choice, are found in other novellas. This allow us, as readers, to spend additional time with lovable characters that we aren’t ready to part with.
Megan Wescott needs a well-paying job to cover the cost of her younger brother’s medical bills. Unfortunately, the only work she can find requires her to leave Baltimore and head west with Steven Chamberlain as his new wife.
Em, who refused to leave the family when the War Between the States ended, will stay with Jeremy. Megan knows Em will care for her brother, but how can she bear to leave? Yet with Jeremy’s bills mounting, she has little choice but to marry a stranger in the hopes of saving her brother.
I loved all the main characters of each story so much that I’ve read the whole book several times. I definitely recommend this series to lovers of historical romance.
-Review by Sandra Merville Hart
