cacakerbamakhlukpolitik

From time to time, different posts have addressed the topic of the origin of the names of various roads, communities and areas in Mill Creek Hundred. In most cases, the names are pretty easy to find the origins for, usually being named for someone who lived in the area, or for something (man-made or natural) nearby. At least one name in the area, though, seems to defy any attempt to uncover its origins -- Corner Ketch. It's a topic I've had in mind for a while, but I had put off writing about it mainly for one reason. That reason was that I didn't like any of the explanations I had ever read as to the derivation of the name. Recently, however, I came across an old newspaper article that gives the most plausible explanation that I've seen yet about how this unique name may have arisen. I don't want to go too in-depth about Corner Ketch in general right now, since it as a community will probably end up being the subject of a future post. There are, however, a few rele...

Our previous attempt to bring Monica Burns to you was countermanded by forces beyond our control. We therefore bring back Ms. Burns and her insightful prose, in hopes of smooth skies and a wider audience. Before I even attempt to discuss history, I’d like to thank Diane and the Hoydens for hosting me here today. I confess intense intimidation when it comes to these knowledgeable women. Seriously, I know next to nothing about history. I really don’t. I’m a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to history and what I know. I just seem to have this knack for picking up the flavor of a location or time period and making it sound like I know the history. Although my knowledge is fairly limited, I’ve a passion for history just like the Hoydens, and it’s wonderful to visit a blog where other history lovers reside. One of the things I love the most about history is the adventure of it all. By adventure, I mean flushing out new information when writing a book. Almost inevitably when I’m working on ...

I’m sure many of you have heard of the massive auction taking place on eBay for romance reviewer Fatin, whose husband was recently murdered in their store. I put several things into the auction, and the critique is on the block as I type. I’ll read 3 chapters (or 50 pages, which ever is more), plus your synopsis (if you have one). I’ll offer historical advice, story advice, line editing, whatever you want, and then I’ll call you to discuss the manuscript. So, historical authors, get your history here.

March Madness, or Spotlight on History Hoydens Hey, look at this: another historical author has highlighted our blog! March Madness Spotlight: History Hoydens Ashley March even listed some of her favorite posts. What do you think of her choices?

The Saliba Family During World War I, the Mediterranean island nation of Malta served as an important site for the manufacture of ships. When the war ended and the number of manufacturing jobs diminished significantly, thousands of Maltese desperate for work left the country. By 1920, more Maltese had immigrated to Detroit than any other city in the United States--as many as 7,000, according to a Detroit Free Press article from December 12, 1920. They settled primarily in Corktown, near Michigan Avenue and 5th Street. Among Corktown's Maltese immigrants were Charles and Benvenuta Saliba. Charles had worked as a mounted policeman back in Malta. The couple came to the U.S. in 1920 with their three young children, Agata, Lena, and Emmanuel. The family first lived on 2nd Street, but by 1921 had moved to 24 Baker (which changed to 1250 Baker when Detroit's address system was reformed in 1921). Mr. and Mrs. Saliba purchased the Buchanan house from the heirs of Susan Buchanan ...

 Abel Jeanes' 1880 Death Certificate A couple months back, I wrote a few posts dealing the the Eastburn-Jeanes Lime Kiln District. In the first of these posts , I indicated that at the time, I did not have very much detailed information about Abel Jeanes, one of the founders of the business there. I did actually have one more piece of information, but decided not to include it in the post (I will include it here). In fact, I didn't even know exactly when Jeanes died, so I assumed that he had died in the early 1840's, around the time that Joseph Eastburn took possession of Jeanes' home. (Joseph, if you'll recall, was the son of David Eastburn, Jeanes' brother-in-law and business partner.) This assumption, I've now found out, was incorrect. Thanks to some excellent research done local resident (and feeder of fascinating information to this blog) Donna Peters, we can begin to piece together the complicated picture of Abel Jeanes. (Incidentally, the reason for ...

I'm in the process of updating my website with the help of my good friend and wonderful web designer Greg for the release of Vienna Waltz and the Kindle release of The Mask of Night . As I blogged about a while ago on my own website , websites are becoming seen as more and more essential for writers. And that writers are using websites not just as static promotional pieces but as a dynamic way to engage in a dialogue with readers and to expand the world of their story beyond the pages of the book itself. One of the things I love about my website is the way it allows me to play in Charles & Mélanie’s/Malcolm & Suzanne's world every week. Besides blogging, each week I post a letter in what I call the Fraser Correspondence . These are letters between the characters from various points before, during, and between the books. I can explore events that happened in the past or “off camera” or get the POV of a minor character or even an historical figure on the action ...

I’m a history geek, so the spark for my book often comes from a real historical event. For the soon to be released RIPE FOR PLEASURE (can’t believe it will on shelf in a little over a month!) the spark was an actual lost treasure. When Bonnie Prince Charlie made his bid for the throne in 1745, the king of France sent a fortune in gold to help fund the rebellion. But as we all know, things did not go well for the prince and his supporters, and the rebellion was quickly quashed and the prince sent feeling back to France. It all happened so quickly that the money never even reached him, and to this day no one knows what happened to it. No there’s an idea for a story. Not just a lost treasure, but a REAL historical mystery to play with! In my version of the world, a cache of letters discovered by the hero at his new estate hints at the treasure being hidden in a house in London. A house currently occupied by a retired courtesan . . . what’s a poor younger son with a new estate he can’t rea...

 The house during the Larson years, 1921-1937  In the last post , we traced the history of the Johnson-Morris House property (Mill Creek Hundred's newest National Register entry ) from the Wollaston family through the Johnsons, ending with Samuel Johnson having the land seized in 1843 to pay off a debt incurred by his father-in-law, Simon Cranston. The property next went through the hands of two absentee landlords, who leased the farm to tenants during their ownerships. In 1843, the land was purchased by Samuel Barr, a coal dealer from Wilmington. It is his name that is shown by the two houses on the 1849 Rea and Price map. Ten years later, Barr sold the tract to a dentist from Philadelphia, Thomas Pedrick. Pedrick owned the house for only two years, and in 1855 sold the property to John Ridgway (1803-1875). Ridgway, along with his wife Sarah, daughter Sarah, and sons David and James moved to Delaware from New Jersey. (Well, if they didn't move directly here, they were at lea...

Susan Buchanan rented out her house at 20 Baker Street after she moved to Clayton Township to live with her sister, where she stayed until her death on July 31, 1919. She evidently signed over the house to Peter B. Lennon (her sister's stepson) on the April 7th before her death, but the deed was not recorded by the Wayne County Register of Deeds until August 6th-one week after her death. However, Susan Buchanan's heirs (several nieces and nephews) filed a claim in probate court and won. Peter B. Lennon's deed was declared void. Miss Buchanan's heirs continued to rent the home until finally selling it in 1924. The following list of boarders is far from complete, and it would contain many fewer names if the old city directories were not digitized and searchable on Footnote.com . However, the result of hours of research is a long, dry list of names and descriptions. I've learned my lesson--the next time I research a home used as a boarding house, I will focus on ...

 Original section of the Johnson-Morris House  Those of you who have read a few pieces on this site may have noticed that I usually attempt to weave some sort of story into my posts, or to put the subject into some sort of context. Rather than simply listing the facts about a house, I try (to the best of my middling ability and understanding) to explain why a site is significant, or how it fits into the larger story of the region. With the subject of this (and the next) post, the Johnson-Morris House on Upper Pike Creek Road, this task is pretty easy. Not only is it tied in with several prominent families, it also neatly follows several larger trends of the past few centuries, and is connected to possibly the earliest (European) settler and one of the earliest milling sites in this part of Delaware. Oh -- and it also happens to be Mill Creek Hundred's newest listing on the National Register of Historic Places. ( Here is a link to the nomination form.) The story of the Johnson-...

If you are as fascinated as I am about things centuries old, you will understand my feeling of reverence about the singing group Kitka. I fell in love with them quite by accident: one day I was driving to the dentist and from the car radio came this wondrous vocal music, unlike anything I had ever heard before. Or since. From that moment on, I was hooked. Kitka means “bouquet” in Bulgarian and Macedonian. The groups comprises from 9 to 12 (currently 8) women who sing traditional Georgian polyphony, Armenian lullabies, and folk songs of Eastern Europe. The painting above, by Niko Pirosmani, portrays a “Georgian woman with Tambourine.” Kitka has earned international recognition for their haunting sound, which involves a driving, very strong sound quality, close harmonies, and surprising rhythms in songs that are unique in drama and emotion. I cannot listen to a Kitka performance of this simple, haunting music without crying. Founded in 1979, Kitka began as an amateur singing gro...

Ever been researching a book and had somebody just keep popping his head up out of the distant past? Every time you looked into a different angle of that time and place, there he’d be, waiting for you, ready to lead you through the winding alleys of what-the heck to the glories of just-what-I-needed. Well, Colonel John Fitzgerald was my guide to eighteenth century Alexandria, while researching THE SHADOW GUARD. He never made it into the book, at least not directly. So I’d like to pay homage to him now by telling a few stories about him just before St. Patrick’s Day. Born in Wicklow, Ireland, John Fitzgerald emigrated to Virginia as a young man via Philadelphia in 1769. He impressed plantation society and was soon elected to the state legislature. Despite the great many languishing glances cast by local beauties, he married a Maryland belle from across the Potomac River who shared his Catholic faith. This truly wasn’t surprising, considering that simply holding a Catholic servic...

Susan Buchanan was fourteen when she left Ireland with her mother and seven younger siblings to live in Detroit in 1851. She never married, and by the 1890s she was living with her three remaining unmarried siblings in the home she owned at 24 Baker Street. In 1896 she had a new house built for the family at 20 Baker Street--the house that stands today at 1242 Bagley. The Buchanan house as it appears in a Sanborn map soon after its construction. Susan Buchanan's brother Patrick and his wife Rosa owned 32-34 Baker Street. On July 13, 1896, carpenter Peter D. Tallant was issued building permit number 591 by the City of Detroit to construct the home at an estimated cost of $2,500. Tallant was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1845 and immigrated to America around 1867. He also constructed the building that is now Nemo's Bar and Grill at 1384 Michigan Avenue in Corktown. Susan Buchanan would live in this home for the next sixteen years. In that time, she she shared it wi...

 Possible Ruins of William Brackin's Barn  * If anyone happens to be interested, there are a few notes at the bottom of this post that might help to explain it a bit. As was mentioned in the first of these posts ( about Loveville ), Mill Creek Hundred, like most of Delaware (or at least, New Castle County), does not have a lot of officially recognized communities, like towns, townships, or boroughs. Instead, there have been a few "larger" groupings -- like Stanton, Marshallton, and Hockessin -- and a lot of smaller communities, most lost to time in all but name. These small hamlets usually grew up around a mill or factory, a crossroads, or, like Brackinville, a tavern or hotel. This particular hotel, of course, was operated by the Brackins for almost 50 years. During its lifespan several other related buildings and several homes sprung up in the area, enough that the area was referred to as "Brackinville". Now, all that's left of this quiet little hamlet (...