Homestead: An Epic Rich with Emotion in the Post Civil War South
by Betsy Bishop Thomas
Category: History

Homestead by Betsy Bishop Thomas gives an intimate look at the struggles and triumphsof people living in rural Northwest Florida in the late 1800s.With no conveniences at their rustic, hand-built homes, and with outside communicationonly by horseriders or the firing of a gun to indicate an emergency, people turned inward - relyingon their families almost entirely.The nearest doctor is many hours away by horseback. Trips to a faraway town?s store orto an equally faraway church are rare. Letters sent to or from the post office might be monthsreaching their destination.Their food comes almost entirely from animals and poultry raised on the homestead andcrops grown on the acreage. Bathing is done in a washtub, when there?s enough rainwater.The women work just as hard as the men - sometimes inside the houses, sometimesoutside in the fields and the barns. Gossip is pervasive, perhaps an entertaining respite from therigors of daily life. Yet, when trouble looms or help is needed, neighbors rally. Thomas follows the lives of Nate and Melissa York, from the time of their meeting,through their marriage with all its hardships and difficulties, including the death of their first baby,up until the time their home becomes a haven for children previously mistreated in otherenvironments.Nate can?t read or write, but Melissa, 17 years younger, teaches him, and both eventuallycome to share a full understanding of religious faith after a series of tragedies and mishaps teststheir beliefs.But while Nate and Melissa may get top billing, the roster of other people also is large. The author?s narrative peels back the many layers of the various characters? heroics, as well astheir shortcomings and perversities, demonstrating, sometimes graphically, that these ?good olddays? were all too often something far from good.Not all the characters are human. There is Dewey, Nate?s horse, in particular, who is trulylike a brother to the man, whose parents lost their lives in a criminal attack when he was just achild.Overall, it?s an interesting read, not just for those who may have been raised in ruralenvironments, but for anyone who likes to explore character development interwoven with aregional lifestyle, speech patterns and culture