Acknowledgments

I am indebted to my great-grandmother, Elisa Bolli Buffat, and my great-grandfather, Alfred Buffat, for writing the memoirs that gave me insight into the lives they lived.

I am also indebted to David Babelay, himself a descendent of the French-Swiss in East Tennessee, for compiling all the memoirs, diaries, and letters of this brave colony of immigrants into two volumes: They Trusted and Were Delivered: The French-Swiss of Knoxville, Tennessee.

A special thank-you to David and to Alyson Shaffer, age twelve, for reading this manuscript and giving me their thoughts. Most of all I am grateful to my father, John Alfred Parker, who instilled in me respect for and curiosity about all those who came before.