Sources for the trilogy
Generally my life has been immersed in history as perhaps I took too seriously the slogan over Savannah’s main library doors, "Make Books Thy Comrades".
My trilogy is a work of fiction based on my study of history. Some of my general studies for this book took place at the Georgia Archives in Atlanta and the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah. I covered most of the intriguing writings of Augusta attorney and historian Heard Robertson. The elegant Bee Hive Press publications on Georgia history were another valuable source. Mr. Charlton Hudson's writings including references to Heroes of Hornet's Nest by Louise Fredrick Hays inspired me about the American Revolution in the south. Then go to the Georgia Archives in Atlanta and visit all the cards in their collections of the people mentioned in those works.
I also owe thanks to the Daughters of the American Revolution. They keep the flame alive that reminds us of the sacrifices of men and women who courageously took the risk of being mere traitors but by persistence and against all odds proved to be heroes and heroines.
In his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin related his experiences with the Reverend George Whitefield, founder of Savannah's Bethesda Orphanage. I used Bethesda as a refuge for Mary Willoughby during her pregnancy in Savannah Spell. Historians know it was never used as a refuge for unwed mothers but was rather a magnificently successful orphanage for young males. The freedom of fiction allowed me to bring mention of it into the period of its origin.
Many of the interesting anecdotes of the region's history are repeated as having occurred in Savannah, Charleston and/or Augusta so that it is difficult to be certain of the true origin. One example of that is the story of the production of silk from the worms of the local mulberry trees being used to provide the queen with a silk gown. I've heard Charleston boast recently of that whereas all my life it had been claimed by Savannah. Other events also have references claiming their occurrence in more than one place. And of course the reference of drinking (sorry) urine is found in most seige accounts from middle ages on.
Specifically some of my other non-fiction resources, which readers may find interesting include but aren't limited to:
Abigail Adams: An American Woman. Charles W. Akers. Little Brown and Company. Boston, Toronto, 1980.
A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens. Lawrence Edward Babits. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, 1998.
An Early and Strong Sympathy. William Gilmore Simms. Edited by Guilds and Hudson. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 2003.
Appeal to Arms: A Military History of the American Revolution. Willard M. Wallace. The NY Times Book Co. NY, 1975.
The Baron of Beacon Hill A Biography of John Hancock, William M. Fowler, Jr. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1980.
Caty: A Biography of Catharine Littlefield Greene. John Stegeman, Janet A. Stegeman and Harvey H. Jenkins. University of Georgia Press, Athens, Ga., 1977.
Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman. Don Higginbotham. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1961.
From Savannah to Yorktown: The American Revolution in the South. Henry Lumpkin. University of South Carolina Press. Columbia, SC, 1981.
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation. Cokie Roberts, William Morrow, NY, 2004.
Georgia: A Short History by E. Merton Coulter. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1933.
John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy. Evan Thomas. Simon and Schuster. NY, 2003.
Mon Cher Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of Paris. Claude-Anne Lopez. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 1966 (2nd printing).
Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson. Paula Byrne. Random House, Inc. NY, 2004.
Storm Over Savannah: The Story of Count d'Estaing & the Siege of the Town in 1779. Alexander A. Lawrence. University of Georgia Press. Athens, 1951.
The Private Franklin: The Man and His Family. Claude-Anne Lopez and Eugenia W. Herbert. W.W. Horton & Co. Inc., New York, 1975.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Edited with Introduction by Louis P. Masur, Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, NY, 1993.
The Children of Pride; a true story of Geogia and the Civil War. Letters of Jones, Charles Colcock. Edited by Robert Manson Myers. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1972.
The Gamble Collection (call number 975.8), Live Oak Public Libraries, Savannah.
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789. Robert Middlekauff. Oxford University Press. NY & Oxford, 1982.
The King Who Lost America; a portrait of the life and times of George III. Lloyd, Alan. Doubleday, NY and London, 1971.
The Life of Major James Jackson. William Foster, Sr. University of Georgia Press. Athens 1960.
The Southern Experience in the American Revolution. Edited by Jeffrey J. Crow & Larry E. Tise. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill & London, 1998.
Memoirs: My Various Travels and My Sojourn in the Creek Nation. Louis LeClerc Milfort.Narrative Press 1972.
John Stuart: Memoir of the Indian Wars and Other Occurrences.McClain Printing. Parson1969.
Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida.Bartram, Wm.London 1792.
Virginia Historical Society, 428 North Boulevard, Richmond 23220. Minutes of the Virginia Legislature.
The Colonial Records of North Carolina V I-X. Edited by Wm. Saunders. N.C Archives, Raleigh.
The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia. Edited by Allen Daniels Candler. State Printer, Atlanta.
Letters of Benjamin Hawkins 1796-1806. Edited by C.L Grant. Beehive Press, Savannah, 1980.
