Besides asking about the cover art, a few people have also asked how I ended up with the name of Limery as the book’s leading character.
Here’s my answer: One of my favorite research resources for this novel was a series of books titled Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, published in 1896.
The series tells a history of each township in Ohio’s Western Reserve, but instead of focusing on the deeds of the menfolk, it focuses on the womenfolk and the fascinating, often heartbreaking, details of their daily lives. The books are rare and no longer in print, but I was fortunate to snag them on eBay several years ago.
The Umberfields were early settlers to Burton, Ohio, Geauga County, arriving in 1798. Limery Umberfield is mentioned on page 21 of Part One, Volume One: “It was into this howling wilderness, in the month of May in the year 1798, that Mrs. Thomas Umberfield came with her husband, bringing with her four blooming girls–fifteen-year-old Limery, and toddling Polly, with Stella and Betsy dividing the years in between.”
The text goes on to explain that Mrs. Umberfield brought with her a bag of sand for scouring and also an enslaved boy (which may be surprising to some). The boy is referred to as a “last relic” of old Connecticut slavery, and he died not long after arriving in the Western Reserve.
The Umberfield girls were “said to have been very fine looking,” and a Native American chief offered Mr. Umberfield a large tract of land and three hundred pieces of silver in exchange for Stella Umberfield. He wanted Stella to become the bride of one of his sons. The offer was refused, but supposedly threats were made to “steal her,” so she was “closely watched by her friends.”
I read these books when I was in my early 20s, long before I started writing my novel, but the name Limery stuck with me. When it came time to select a name for the character who was inspired by the real-life Frances Maria Buell, I recalled the name Limery and decided it would be a good fit. I wanted something unusual that would stand apart from more familiar names.
A Google search tells me the surname Limery exists in Wales, England and France, so I am assuming perhaps Limery Umberfield earned her unusual name from a family surname somewhere in her lineage.
The real-life Limery–Limery Umberfield (later Umberfield was changed to Humphreyville)–was born June 4, 1786 in Chesire, New Haven, Conn., and died at age 49 on Oct. 20, 1835 in Burton, Ohio. At 19 years of age in April 1806, she married Simeon Rose, and they had two children, Malinda and Joel.
Below is a photo of Limery Rose’s tombstone courtesy of the Find A Grave web site.
