Anthony family: diversity of religious expression

Last night my husband and I attended our Presbyterian service of Maundy Thursday to commemorate the evening of the Last Supper when Jesus was betrayed. Afterward, we accepted an invitation to participate in a seder meal with the Congregation Etz Chaim, just down the road from our church. As the evening concluded, we prayed […]
Women Whalers

You don’t hear about women whalers very often, even though they were not uncommon in the 19th century. In fact, Annie Osborn Anthony, daughter of a whaling captain from Martha’s Vineyard, had such a seafaring woman in her family. Today’s post references Annie’s sister-in-law Lucy Hobart Osborn, who will represent dozens of women who accompanied […]
Anna Osborn Anthony, Wife of D.R. Anthony

Anna Osborn Anthony (usually called Annie) married thirty-nine-year-old Daniel Read Anthony when she was just nineteen. Only the basic facts and a few tantalizing glimpses remain of her.
Susan B. Anthony sister-in-law honored

Susan B. Anthony’s sister-in-law and brother were honored with a historical marker in Leavenworth, Kansas. This marks their support for women’s rights.
Too much history in Leavenworth, Kansas

This past summer I made my third visit to Leavenworth, Kansas, where there was too much history for me to absorb all at once. Ever since my return home on Labor Day, I’ve been mulling over my discoveries and finding new connections. Starting off from home in Rochester, NY, my husband Jon and I made […]
Posting to a timeline for historical fiction

Posting to a timeline is one of my most useful tools in writing historical fiction. Have a peek at my five-foot-long timeline of the Anthony-Osborn family, beginning in the 1700s and ending in 1930. On it, I have recorded not only events that were significant to the Anthonys but to the United States in general. […]
Historical research: Walk where they walked

When I first researched Susan and her family, I walked where they walked. Wearing a long skirt, wool cape, and boots, I trudged snow-clogged streets of old Rochester. A bit later, I was dismayed to learn that the Rochester home of Frederick Douglass no longer exists. Undeterred, I branched out to visit Seneca Falls, where […]
Civil War Nurse Who Outranked General

For those who prefer to read, here’s the text of the video. I love Mary Ann Bickerdyke for her fierce devotion to the soldiers she called “her boys.” As a Civil War nurse, she was a particular favorite of the soldiers. Bickerdyke set up more than 300 field hospitals for soldiers and made sure they […]
Step into Susan B. Anthony’s shoes

Happy New Year! This holiday I had the opportunity to step into Susan B. Anthony’s shoes and those of Annie, her sister-in-law, as I spent many hours sewing by
Life in the Finger Lakes review

The Truth About Daniel was featured in Life in Finger Lakes Magazine.