I always strive for accuracy with my historical books, as a historian myself, and I have done my best to make my research pertinent and accurate. Any mistakes that have slipped in must be forgiven, as I am but a lover of this era, not an expert.
The 1840s were a time when women were often left widowed due to accidents – or more sinister kinds of death. Alone and often unprotected, children were frequently separated from their mothers in an attempt to keep them ‘clean’ from the types of work that they were forced to take to survive. Gambling was a way of life for many, and it was as detrimental then as it is now. Whether or not someone like Aaron Bryant would have been welcomed so swiftly into his family’s arms . . . I guess that is what makes Sweet Grove so special.