When I started trying to locate all of
Marilyn Meredith’s books, I discovered several I didn’t know about. One was Trail to Glory: One Family’s Journey
West. This
historical novel is based on the journey of her maternal ancestors. Some of the
incidents in the book are based on family legends. After reading this exciting
book, I wanted to know what was true and what was fiction. Marilyn agreed to
answer my questions. Next week, she’ll do the same for Two Ways West, the story of her paternal family’s
journey.
Thanks
for giving me (and my readers) the “inside scoop” on this book.
I
have to ask about Half-face. He was one of the most memorable characters in the
book. I so want to think he is based on someone the family actually knew. Was
he?
Sorry,
no. Made him up. Needed an exciting scene and he filled it and then went on to
be even more important a bit later.
Was
William actually killed as depicted in the book (no spoilers)? This is one of
the most haunting scenes.
I
have no idea. Much of the early part of this “fictional” historical saga was
based on things I learned about when I researched what was going on during that
particular time in that place. Some family members thought it happened.
Although
the book says the older girls were given to a neighbor to raise, you told me
they were adopted by three other families. Did they stay in touch with the rest
of the family? Did they live nearby? (BTW, I have instances of this same thing
in my own family. When my great-grandmother died, some of her children were raised
by relatives, and one of the older children raised the younger ones. When my
grandmother died, this same sister took her three children.)
In
the beginning the neighbor took the girls, and she was the one who changed
their names. Again, I wrote this book so long ago I don’t really remember all
the details.
Did
Ethel actually suffer injury during her birth? Did she really endure such
tragic losses? Did she really raise her sister’s child?
No
Ethel didn’t suffer the injury—I borrowed it from what happened to one of my
cousins. And yes, she did suffer the tragic losses in the story. She did raise
her sister’s child, but I made up some of the details surrounding what
happened. It seemed like it could have been what transpired.
You
wrote a beautiful—and fanciful—account of what might have happened to
Wilhelmina. You said the family had other theories. What were they?
My
mother always said Wilhelmina was stolen by gypsies. I couldn’t find any
history of gypsies in the area during the time period.
Did
Will actually stay in touch with the family when he disappeared, or did he just
vanish? Did you write his story to have some closure?
Will
did keep in touch with the family, but the story about him I made up. No one
could remember much about him.
I
know you were descended from Desdemona (Minnie). Did she really hate her
nickname so much? (My own grandmother’s birth name was Mary Ann, but she was
always called “Minnie.” This is the name on her headstone.)
Desdemona
(Minnie), my great-grandmother, did not like her name. I got to meet my
great-grandmother when she came to my fifth birthday party (I have a photo of
her there), and we spent a Christmas in her home. I don’t remember much about
either occasion.
I
know losing children during childbirth and shortly afterward, as well as from
illness and accidents was quite common. Did your family really suffer all these
losses?
Yes,
because that was the information I got from the genealogy and what my mother
and aunt remembered from family stories.
Congratulations
to your sister for all her hard work in tracking down the multitude of family
members! I do a lot of genealogy as well. Before Ancestry.com it was a labor
intensive pursuit. I’m grateful for the pooled information now available online.
She
did it back in the days of using the census, birth, marriage, and death
certificates. I wonder if she did it again using Ancestry.com if she’d find out
more information.
For
the other book, I looked up a character when you didn’t have the name of his
wife—and I found her! So, I suspect even more information is now available.
Next
week, we’ll look at the truth of Two Ways
West.
