Well, I started out with the idea to write a book about Elizabeth Charlotte LaPorte, the daughter of John and granddaughter of Bartholomew, one of the founders of Azilum. She is the first character introduced, and she will be a major player in the book and its story. But the bulk of the first several chapters, at least--I'm on chapter nine, at 13,400 words right now--is all about Bartholomew!
He's a pretty fascinating guy, and I am imagining a lot about his character and personality since those types of details are few and far between. But because he was associated with Omer Talon in the founding of Azilum, and got to know Morris, Nicholson and a bunch of others who were involved in the land purchase for the location of the town, I've had to do quite a bit of research.
And I'm still learning. The other day I was looking at ship's logs from that era to get a feel for what a transAtlantic crossing would have been like in 1792-3. Then I had to learn all about early Philadelphia, including where some houses were, like Morris' house that was actually the President's Residence during this time! Today I was researching canals.
It was an interesting time full of interesting people with grand ideas. Some, like the men who invested in what would become Azilum, had money, or could borrow money. These are the people who took chances on things like the French Town and on canals and later, railroads. The chances some times turned out. And some times they didn't.
Which ties in neatly to the story of Elizabeth and her husband...later.
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