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Home Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust

Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust

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Mary & Jacob

Mary & Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust by Benjamin DeGrow, a penetrating historical novel, unpacks the relentless struggles of the nation’s bloodiest conflict through the eyes of two participants united and permanently shaped by its events.

Mary & Jacob is the story of the author’s great-great-great grandparents as they navigate the cruel calamity of America’s Civil War. Readers accompany the humble Buffingtons as they come of age, marry, struggle to break in their fledgling Ohio farm and persevere through the challenging separation of wartime military service.

Starting in the pivotal year of 1860, the story follows the title characters as they are drawn into the maelstrom of war. Mary Austin, a Potawatomi young woman raised by white settlers in Michigan, evades prejudice and potential scandal, seeking purpose and connection. Jacob Buffington, an illiterate Ohio farmhand, flees the shambles of poverty and dysfunction into the volunteer army defending the republic.

The unlikely meeting and lifelong bond of two outcast souls kindles a spark of hope. The young couple copes with wartime scars and privations, as they forge friendships with neighbors around shared tragedy and the need for mutual support. Economic demands draw Jacob back into the army, leaving his wife and infant daughter. He fights under General William T. Sherman in the 1864 campaign to capture Atlanta and sees the conflict to its finish on less-familiar fields of battle.

This biographical novel blends known facts with a rich vein of drama that imagines the painful push and pull of a war that tore more than a nation apart, all through the eyes of real flesh-and-blood people. Forgotten outsiders with the feel of an authentic and compelling tale bring this trying period of our nation’s history to life.

Abraham Lincoln often described his frontier upbringing as the “short and simple annals of the poor.” The tale of Mary and Jacob compels readers to wonder if there’s more to those annals than first meets the eye.

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  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mary and Jacob: From the Forgotten Dust
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition
  • Sleep Deprivation and Parental Controls: How to Ensure Your Kids are Safe from Media Exposure
  • 8 Original Ways To Leverage Influencer Marketing
  • Why Every Single Business Needs A YouTube Channel

Colorado News

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
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  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
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  • World Magazine

Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
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Christian Commentary et al.

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Other Sites

  • Technorati
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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