Where in Indiana?
Where exactly did this story take place?
shareSouthern Indiana, but which specific county, I can't tell off hand. I'd have to cue up the film to look for clues. I don't remember if they're referring to "the Ohio," the river, or Ohio, the state, when Jess and Josh set off on their trip. But they're worried about rebel raiders, so I would say they're getting ready to cross the Ohio river into Kentucky, somewhere around Owensboro or Paducah, maybe. Or, it's possible that they travelled east to Indianapolis, and then south towards Louisville.
You can probably figure it out by going to jessamyn.com, which is the web site for Jessamyn West. Many of her stories were based on those told to her by her Quaker relatives.
I always expected that it was telling the story of Morgan's Raid into Southern Indiana on July 10 and 11th of 1863. I would suspect it's Vernon, IN located in Jennings County.
shareI think you’re correct, because Jessamyn West was born in the Vernon/Jennings area.
A web site called “Our Land, Our Literature” (I mistakenly gave you the wrong web page previously) states:
"Both The Friendly Persuasion and Except for Me and Thee are collections of short stories written about the same fictional Quaker family in southeastern Indiana, on the banks of the Muscatatuck River."
Another site says that Vernon is an embarkation point for canoe and raft trips on that river, so you pretty much nailed it, I’d say!
You can see the "Jennings County Fair" in a scene in the movie and the book is explicitly set there.
The battle that takes place is an invention of the movie... Morgan demanded the town's surrender and there is an account or two of some very minor skirmishs, but Morgan or less moved on when he saw the town was fairly well defended.
Pardon my ingorance, but wouldn't that engagement between the North and South be a skirmish, not a battle? Due to its size? I'm not sure how one defines these things.
sharehopefully.
"You have to live life to its full chorizo!"-Mario Batali🏄