- For character names, I found a set of tax and constable records from 1772 Philadelphia and analyzed them. I was looking at the list and decided David would perfect for him. Cassandra’s name was chosen because I was looking at some historical fiction and was reminded that Jane Austen’s sister was named Cassandra—and in Greek mythology, Cassandra was tragically ignored. Perfect for someone who wants so desperately to not be ignored!
- Dr. Benjamin Rush is a real Revolutionary Era figure. While his actual appearances on the pages are fictionalized, the facts listed about him are true. While he was respected and very knowledgeable at the time, reports indicate that he was pretty quick to administer bloodletting and emetics for his patients, yikes. Let’s look instead at this portrait of him from 1783 was painted by our favorite portraist, Charles Willson Peale. Rush also comes up in later books afer he wrote an anti-slavery pamphlet in 1773. But by 1776, he and David are no longer friends.
- We knew early on that Josiah had come to the Americas to fight in a war. Initially, we’d said it was the Seven Years’ War, but later we realized that war didn’t even start until after Temperance and Patience were born. Fortunately, European powers were having wars all the time, so I just found an earlier one that was fought in North America: King George’s War. Technically it’s the third of four French and Indian Wars and part of the War of the Austrian Succession. Europe, man, it’s a trip. Fought from 1744 to 1748, King George’s War is named after George II, grandfather of his successor, George III.
- David and Cassandra read from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, which was published in 1719. To pick his book, I searched for what books were popular in the 18th century. (Tristram Shandy (1759) and Gulliver’s Travels (1726) were also contenders!) The list I picked it from said this about Robinson Crusoe: “This rollicking yet existential adventure with deep religious undertones begins with fatherly advice: pursue a stable career. But the wastrel son denies his father because he is tempted by the sea.” Naturally, I loved a book about a young man going on a sea adventure against the advice of his parents!
- Dr. Drinker is named for Elizabeth Drinker, a wealthy Quaker woman who lived in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary and early Federal periods. Her diaries feature a number of accounts of smallpox cases and inoculations. He’s going to need his own happy ending for sure!
- Verity was originally name Charity. But between Cassandra and Constance, it was just too many C names. So now we joke that Charity (along with some others, like Purity and Repentance) is another cousin on the Hayeses’ mother’s side!