Rose ~ thanks so much for reading "A Sparrow Alone." Although I don’t typically respond to reviews, I did want to mention that in one of my reference books, Frank Waters’ biography of Winfield Scott Stratton, "Midas of the Rockies," published in 1937, Mr. Waters writes the following: “It was remembered that although [Winfield Scott] Stratton kept a picture of his father there were none of his mother in his house. He had never been known to speak his mother’s name. Indeed nothing was known about her. Then the story began to circulate. Stratton had once stated in confidence that his mother would never have her picture taken because she was so dark. Stratton himself had been growing darker.… Someone remembered one of his odd habits: he would sit looking at the heel of his hand. In a Negro’s there is a visible color-line running down the flesh from the base of the little finger.”
Stratton was born in 1848 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, which is right on the Ohio River across from Kentucky. Jeffersonville, a booming, prosperous town, was a haven for runaway slaves prior to the Civil War. Many slaves were quietly 'absorbed.' Was Mary Stratton? We'll never know for certain, but it seems highly likely. The poor woman remained at Myron Stratton's side until her own death, after bearing twelve children, most of whom died in infancy.
Stratton was born in 1848 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, which is right on the Ohio River across from Kentucky. Jeffersonville, a booming, prosperous town, was a haven for runaway slaves prior to the Civil War. Many slaves were quietly 'absorbed.' Was Mary Stratton? We'll never know for certain, but it seems highly likely. The poor woman remained at Myron Stratton's side until her own death, after bearing twelve children, most of whom died in infancy.