Blog shift

Active blogging, such as it is, will shift to http://williamshefski.com

Updates on the progress of Shot Tower will appear there.

Currently the book is available to agents/publisher interested in participating in a best-seller.

SHOT TOWER Complete!

Years of research. Two drafts and two polishes. Auditions for agent and publisher begin.

Polishing SHOT TOWER

Buffing the finishing sheen on the history-mystery Shot Tower.

Here are some items you'll run into in the novel:

The U.S. half-penny.

Silver pieces.

Port Royal. 1861: folk song suite  (part performed)

Second draft iced.

Finalizing

First Draft in the...Box

Missed a Sunday Post but that day was the start of the between-drafts period. In-house readers reading, self-review due, next draft, polish, rewrite then final polish to come. Stand by.

Working on History Girl contribution,which will partly double as submission synopsis. H-Girl site is Jersey-centric, though HG says it is tri-state. That  fits, since Shot Tower, the Novel is Philly-centric - at start - and journeys to some elsewheres. One of which is a district in New Jersey known as Pavonia (now known as Cramer Hill.) And for Delaware, strong mentions and a major historic player appears. You'll just have to read it.

The Black Jacks and Star of the West.

Google Books has an e-book preview of this Black Jacks book. The Black Jacks appear in the historical  novel Shot Tower.

And the Star of the West cotton trading clipper out of Liverpool is in there. Mobile was a port of call. Was Savannah?  Not certain but it will be in Shot Tower.. Mobile Bay itself, if all goes as planned, is projected to appear as a setting in Shot Tower Book III.

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Note Websearchers who may have landed on this pase as a reult of some randow searcg,Shot Tower, The Novel is not published at the time of this posting. check the rest of this site, for instance the Front Page for news of its avaiability. Or heck, check Amazon.com.

Historical Personages in SHOT TOWER, The Novel

Here are some of the historical personalities who appear with the fictional characters in Shot Tower.

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Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont. Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, assembled the largest fleet of U.S. Navy ships ever seen up to that time for the assault on Port Royal Sound.

Col. George Henry Sharpe. Chief of the Bureau of Military Information, first USA intelligence service. Organized to replace the Pinkerton Detective Agency as collectors of Military intelligence. CIA predecessor.

Father J. Patrick  Dunn, Pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, arranged for arms to defend his church in the Southwark Nativist Riot and faced off against public officials armed with pistols.

Gen. George Cadwalader by Thomas Eakins

Gen. George Cadwalader led the Pennsylvania Militia during the Southwark Nativist Riot. It was the first U.S. military unit to ever fire on private citizens. 

Joseph Wood, became the first Philadelphia Chief of Detectives in 1859 and originated the Rogues Gallery.

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Charlotte Forten, sister of Margretta

Margaretta  Forten, Abolistionist, teacher and daughter of prosperous sail maker James Forten.

Henrietta Bower Duterte. first Black Female undertaker in Pennsylvania, smuggled Underground Railroad passengers (escaped slaves) in her caskets.

Historical Fiction Influences; SHOT TOWER Update

Here's a brief sketch of some of the historical fiction I've read in the past, all of which I can say I enjoyed and that made me want to read more of it, and write some of it.

Here's a pretty comprehensive site about a wide-ranging genre: historicalnovels.info.

Earliest I remember -- which doesn't mean it was the earliest I read -- was Julian by Gore Vidal, about a Roman Emperor who tries to reestablish the old Roman religion after Christianity was well-established.

Vidal's Burr is called "snotty" by a politician and strangely enough, upon thinking about all this the last few days for this post, the one "insight" by Vidal that I've retained all these years is that the renegade criminal Burr considered George Washington a pompous half-wit who had a big butt. Kind of snotty. If you look at full-size portraits of Washington you see where Vidal might have gotten the big butt part. But pompous half-wit or not, if that's what it takes to defeat an Empire and launch liberty, so be it.

Then there was I, Claudius, The Name of the Rose,  August 1914, Little Big Man.

Of course The Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian are excellent. Be sure to read them in order. I'm still only about half-way through.

These three Roman epics I read individually way back. Then a few years ago I decided to reread them all one after another, a kind of reading Roman orgy. I forget the order but that was worth doing: Quo Vadis, The Robe,  Ben-Hur.
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Then there's Allen Furst's World War II espionage novels You'll want to read them all. They can be read in any order but I recommend reading Night Soldiers first, or last. It's different. A bit more epic in scope.

Update on Shot Tower. By any measure more than half done this official First draft. Moving in on Chapter 20 of 30 tonight. So by that measure it's about two-thirds done. No promises but I'm pushing to nail down this official first draft next weekend in Philadelphia, home of the Shot Tower. The fast-moving action-packed last 10 chapters of the rough draft make that a possibility. Maybe I'll do the last page edit and save in the shadow of the tower or something nutty like that. Stay tuned.

The History Girl

The History Girl at the Indian King Tavern, Haddonfield NJ.

"This place matters!" the motto and clarion call for The History Girl, whose worthy site may focus on New Jersey but swings around the "tri-state" area -- NJ, PA & DE. For instance this post on Jenny Wade, the only civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg.

We've agreed to do a piece for her on the setting and background of our historical novel Shot Tower, which though it launches in Philadelphia, does swing around a few elsewhere's, such as a spot in New Jersey called Pavonia

That will happen upon completion of work on the current draft.

The Ship Houses at the Old Philadelphia Navy Yard

Shot Tower Project Update

The Sparks Shot Tower

Progress on the historical novel Shot Tower -- if not apace -- proceeds steadily. Rough draft completed two weeks ago and now about a quarter of the way through the first official polished draft. Slow going but getting done. Projecting a May finish.

Took a walking tour of Southwark today -- the site of the Nativist Riot, the Shot Tower and, in sight line of the Tower, the approximate location of main character and family's domicile. It all fits. 

Spoke with members of the family that owns the house on the site of the resident-demolished China Factory. They are into having a historical plaque marking the location of Southwark's most notorious whorehouse.

First had brunch at a kitchen-deficient Catahoula (No fruit for the Garden District Breakfast! No Creole Mustard Hollandaise for the Eggs Ville Plate! Crawfish Bisque sadly lacking in crawdaddies.) What unadorned food there was was pretty good. Pricey but excellent Bloody Mary. 

All is well.

Philadelphia Historic Streets Index

This index, part of PhillyHistory.org, if you're working on fiction or non-fiction that touches on the City, or if your just curious about when your street got its name or what it may have been named previously, is an invaluable resource. 

75th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers

The 75th PA's monument at Gettysburg. This unit, recruited in Philadelphhia, was nearly all German immigrants. It lost 111 men killed, wounded, captured and missing at Gettysburg. Earlier 50 of its number drowned in a raft mishap crossing the Shenandoah in pursuit of Stonewall Jackson. Some of its recruits will make an appearance in Shot Tower.

New Ironsides

A photograph of USS New Ironsides, a masted steamer frigate, built in Philadelphia in 1862 by Merrick & Sons. Their foundry was at Fifth Street and Washington Avenue. This was the first seagoing ironclad in the US Navy, and though it was a year or so behind Britain's HMS Warrior (video), it can be regarded as predecessor to US battleships of the recent 20th century era and perhaps of the modern day missile frigates, it being, after all, itself a frigate.

 According to the nicely illustrated Ships of the Civil War, 1861-1865 by Kevin Dougherty, the short-lived New Ironsides saw its share of action, which included suffering damage from a spar torpedo attack at Charleston. A spar torpedo can be thought of as a bomb on a stick.

 New Ironsides came back to the city for refit, saw more action at Hampton Roads, was decommishioned in 1865 here in Philadelphia then was destroyed by a fire in 1866.

Factor's Walk

Fascinating. I had no idea Factor's Walk existed until yesterday. It was the locus of Savannah's cotton commerce in the 19th Century. The locale has found me and my factor, a character floating in the ether for decades, has found a home. The Internet may have earned an acknowledgement.

Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon

From May 1861, soldiers passing through Philadelphia to and from the South would be welcomed at the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, which stood in a donated factory at Washington Avenue and Swanson Street. There they would receive a full meal, and, if needed, medical attention at the hospital next door.


On short notice the Saloon could seat 1,200 to 1,500, an entire full-strength regiment or multiple depleted ones, and it served over a million meals during the war, while receiving no funding from city, state or federal authorities. It was entirely an effort of the citizens of Philadelphia.

Soon after, later in May, a second such establishment opened nearby on Otsego Street (Water Street) called the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon.

The image above is from a page that has an entry of the Freeman Colby Diary at Live Free and Draw, done comic-style. The Refreshment Saloon makes an appearance on that page. If you want to start the delightful journal from the beginning go here.

Troops from New York and north rode the Camden and Amboy Railway, crossed the Delaware on the Kaign Avenue Ferry to its station at Washington Ave, then marched the short distance to the saloons for their refreshment. The Colby Diary mentions that this was the first food provided since starting out.

Then they rode the horsecar lines (the tracks are visible in the photo  above) or marched west on Washington to Broad Street and the huge station for the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Then onto trains south.

 

And it wasn't only Union troops who benefited from the Refreshment Saloons. Confederate prisoners of war also came through on the way to their "lodgings" at Fort Mifflin.

PhilaBILL: Windmill Island and Smith's Island

PhilaBILL: Windmill Island and Smith's Island: Windmill Island, on the right, and Smith's Island were once one landmass smack in the middle of the Delaware around Market Street. He...

Windmill Island and Smith's Island

Windmill Island, on the right, and Smith's Island were once one landmass smack in the middle of the Delaware around Market Street. Here's a page with the info.

And here's a link to a PDF of a survey of the islands from 1888.

PhilaBILL: Camp-Follower Family Portrait

PhilaBILL: Camp-Follower Family Portrait: The image above is on the cover of the Western Pennsylvania History Magazin e's Commemorative Issue from Summer 2013 , which can be r...

Camp-Follower Family Portrait

The image above is on the cover of the Western Pennsylvania History Magazine's Commemorative Issue from Summer 2013, which can be read online. Yes, families followed the father's camp and from the looks on these faces you could conclude that for this family it was not a hard call. It may have been their only move, depending on the situation at home. If not a necessity it might not be a stretch that it may have been framed as the 19th Century equivalent to the modern "working/vacation."

This could be a family portrait set up for when the family arrived in camp, and to show more about how they are than just what they looked like. Mother has a full basket of, probably, food. Dad poses with tools. Son has the dog and daughter a doll. This is who they are and what they do.

Also note the soldiers in the background. Since photos took so long to set up back then it was simple matter for them to do what today would be called a photo-bomb.

Here's the on-the-cover description about the image from the hard copy magazine: "Wives and even families sometimes accompanied soldiers to the front. In this 1861 photo (one of a pair of stereographs) the 31st (later the 82nd) Pennsylvania Infantry passes time at Queen's farm near Fort Massachusetts/Slocum , five miles north of the White House."

Weccacoe Engine Company vs. Weccacoe Hose Company

Above is the Queen  Street headquarters of the Weccacoe Engine Company, a volunteer fire company founded in 1800. The picture is from 1896 when the building housed the City's  Engine Company #3. Below is the building, which still stands (now a private residence) in more contemporary times. These photos are from the  Philadelphia Real Estate Blog.

Philaplace.Org has a page with a period photo of the Engine Company entertaining firemen visiting from Baltimore and a short piece on how Weccacoe Engine spawned the spin-off company Weccacoe Hose, which set up at Front and Catherine. Among other differences (political, ethnic) Weccacoe Engine was temperate while Weccacoe Hose was not. Volunteer fire companies in all parts of the City  were notoriously competitive and their competition often resulted in violent confrontation. If you suspect that the two Weccacoes had a special rivalry you'd be correct. This from The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower-class Life published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, in an essay by Bruce Laurie entitled "Fire Companies and Gangs."

"In late June of 1844, [Weccacoe Hose] resolved to deliver a coup de grâce and marched to the engine house under cover of darkness. Expecting the visitors, the engine men fired muskets from the upper floor of their house and scattered the mob. The Weccacoes carried their wounded to Diehl's Tavern opposite their hose house and prepared for another assault with a musket of their own."

 Check out the whole piece for more on the fire company phenomenon.

The Great Comet of 1861

The Great Comet of 1861, also known The War Comet, was in the skies over strife-torn North America at the outbreak of the War Between the States.

Vanity Fair Magazine carried the above political editorial cartoon depicting commanding general of the Union army Winfied Scott as the comet. His Anaconda Plan was named by a newspaper editor as ridicule but Scott's waging of economic war is often credited as a crucial component of the North's victory.

First Philadelphia Civil War Death

 

George Leisenring's grave.

George Leisenring, German immigrant, Fishtown resident and early volunteer, was a member of the unarmed, Philadelphia-recruited Washington Brigade that was set upon by anti-Union rioters as it passed thorough Baltimore in 1861. Leisenring was wounded (stabbed) and brought back to Pennsylvania hospital for treatment, where he died. He's buried at the Palmer Burial Ground, Palmer and Memphis Streets in Kensington.

Shot Tower

All right. Here it is. The project is pretty far along.The project being a historical novel. Research must STOP! Thirty-plus years off-and-on should be enough! Two official false-starts and then three strikes and you're out! The photo here is the best and most dynamic of the Tower I've come across so far, for the purposes. The purposes being a candidate for a cover (if acquirable, reasonably.) This is from an informative page about the Shot Tower at a quite interesting site altogether there at Workshop of the World - Philadelphia. The authors may be only slightly, and forgivably, remiss in not noting the cultural significance of the building. Forgivably because it would be a somewhat editorial observation. What you're looking at when you see the Shot Tower is the birthplace of the American arms industry.

As a side note, the tropical-looking vegetation in the photo is known as the Tree of Paradise. Any wandering city boy would know it -- if not by name  -- that species of critter being expert in the flora and fauna of your urban vacant lot. It is tropical in origin but thrives in temperate climates. It's being tagged as "invasive" these days by those who go about such things. But back in the day who knew from invasive? It was here and it was everywhere and it wasn't going anywhere.

Here's another side of it, this bad baaad invasive tree is being used as a Tree of Solace for cancer patients.

Billy Penn's Headaches

Over at Hidden City Philadelphia an informative post with details about the communication uses to which Penn's statue on City Hall has been put over the years. Though for all the talk of debasement and vandalism of a (at the time) notable world class landmark it might be considered that Penn himself, not the statue, might have had strong feelings about the eradication of Centre Square, the centerpiece park of his Greene Countrie Towne, with a massive granite government building.

One clue to Penn's position on this might be noted in the book Lost Philadelphia, by Mauger and Skiba, where Samuel Carpenter proposed the Slate Roof House that would overlook the river "initially Penn resisted  requests to build houses close to the Delaware, hoping to preserve the foliage along the waterfront...." Penn inevitably gave in to development.

Slate Roof House. Razed in 1867.

Then again Lost Philadelphia also mentions how, when Penn returned to the city after his long hiatus in England, he made the Slate Roof House his residence, in effect, making it the City Hall.

Mummers - Philadelphia - 2014 - Happy New Year!

Heading out to the Mummers in a bit, the tradition predates Philadelphia's parade by centuries but is carried on the USA only here, where the fun is taken seriously.  Enjoy the current parade now from anywhere in the world by clicking this link for the live stream provided by WPHL Channel 17.

Notice the umbrellas carried by the wenches, This and the sun shapes you'll see in the themes and back pieces of costumes in many of the other groups marks the day as a celebration of the return of the sun, and so can be traced near-directly to the sun worship of the Egyptians.

Swede and English imported the tradition of masking to Philly and it was made an official event sanctioned by the city in 190,9 but recognition of the tradition goes back to George Washington.

Happy New Year!