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(Genre:Historical)
This epic western saga tracks the fictional Josiah Rohrer, a Pennsylvania Dutch youth growing up in the mid 1800’s, from his childhood in Lebanon County through his action-packed adventures in the post-Civil War West.
In Josiah’s first journal, he tells of growing up in a small “behind the mountain” family in Green Point, Northern Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. As Josiah matures from a small boy to a strong young man, he learns vital skills and life lessons from his family and community. From his father, he learns about hard work, integrity, hunting and marksmanship, and a keen business sense. His mother and two aunts, Cora and Annie, teach him about “doctoring” with herbs and Pow-wow, a Pennsylvania Dutch healing ritual. Josiah’s family instills pious values typical of the area. As Aunt Cora put it, “People often make judgments by appearance and first impressions are seldom reversed. Often one will tell another person and even though you haven’t met them, they, too, will have an impression about you.” These values will serve Josiah well in later years.
Josiah acquires proficiencies as a blacksmith, apprenticing under the nearest blacksmith, John Soliday. He also learns beekeeping and uses for honey from a bear of a man named Vic. Josiah’s As Josiah matures, so does his sense of wanderlust. He decides to head for Philadelphia to seek employment as a blacksmith. In Germantown, he is employed by a sour man known as Jonathan Sparks, a bumbling yet criminal-minded blacksmith. When Sparks plots to trap young Josiah into a dismal seven year indenture, he sets off a dangerous chain of events that pits him as Josiah’s nemesis throughout Josiah’s long journey. This journey eventually pulls Josiah into the Civil War and to the new frontier out West (Journals Two through Five).