My Heart Belongs in Galveston, Texas
Page 26
When Jonah refers to the Korean incident of 1871, he is speaking of a real incident where American Naval ships were sent to Seoul in search of an apology for the murders of several shipwrecked sailors and to try and negotiate a treaty that would protect shipwrecked Americans in the future. Negotiations failed, and though there was a small skirmish, the American fleet had to withdraw without any solution to the issue when typhoon season hit.
Regarding the mention of the article in the Galveston Daily News about the party Madeline and Jonah attended, the story chronicling the benefits of Dr. C. McLane’s Liver Pills and the advertisement for the Hazard Powder Company Blasting and Mining Powder actually appeared in the March 26, 1880, edition on the third page. Obviously there was no gossip about my fictional characters in that edition, although there were other interesting articles and advertisements, including one for Jenkins’s Annihilator cure for rheumatism, gout, and neuralgia, and another assuring readers that a cure for opium addiction could be found by purchasing morphine from the doctor who placed the ad. The name of the doctor in the opium cure ad is too blurry to read, which is probably just as well.
During the fictional ball at Ashton Villa, Jonah references Mrs. William Ballenger. Mrs. Ballenger (maiden name Hallie Jack of Brazoria County, Texas) was a real-life philanthropist who served on boards and charities throughout her lifetime.
When Jonah and Madeline discuss possible pirate treasure at Three Trees, they are referring to a place near 14520 Stewart Road that was once the site of a battle between Jean Lafitte’s men and a tribe of Karankawa Indians in February of 1821. The site, also called Lafitte’s Grove, is commemorated by a marker erected by the State of Texas in 1936 near the gates of a property called Stewart’s Mansion.
Beginning in 1867, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word operated an orphanage and infirmary in Galveston. Because the child in my story would have been delivered to the orphanage in 1855, I chose to bend history by a few years so that I could include an orphanage in the story.
Regarding the Smith home, if you are curious as to what Madame’s rented home on Broadway Avenue in Galveston looked like, be sure and look up the Trube Castle. This grand three-story home was actually not built until 1890, and it wasn’t located on Broadway Avenue at all. Rather, the home is located at 1627 Sealey and is now a private events venue. Sadly, the location of the fictional Smith home is actually the site of a loan agency and a laundromat.
And finally, BOI is the term Galveston natives use for people who are Born On the Island.
If you’ve read this far, great! You’re a history nerd too! Scoot over to my website at www.kathleenybarbo.com and email me to let me know! And when in Galveston, be sure and check out the Galveston Historical Society to find out all the cool history behind one of my favorite cities in the world!
Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of more than eighty novels with almost two million copies in print in the US and abroad. She has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award as well as a Reader’s Choice Award and is the winner of the 2014 Inspirational Romance of the Year by Romantic Times magazine. Kathleen is a paralegal, a proud military wife, and a tenth-generation Texan, who recently moved back to cheer on her beloved Texas Aggies. Connect with her through social media at www.kathleenybarbo.com.
Read the series! How many have you read?
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My Heart Belongs in San Francisco, California
My Heart Belongs in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
My Heart Belongs in Galveston, Texas
My Heart Belongs in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (Nov. 2018)
My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge (Jan. 2019)
Coming Next in the Series…
My Heart Belongs in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
(November 2018)
Clarissa Avery Ross has everything a young woman could dream of including the undying devotion of the handsome Kyle Forrester. But she never dreamed a war would take the love of her life away from her. And she never dared hope the war would bring him back again in the summer of 1863.
Paperback / 978-1-68322-740-3 / $12.99
My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge
(January 2019)
A British teacher trying to prove his worth to his domineering father takes on a teaching mission in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and discovers a wild beauty that opens his heart to faith and family. But will he stay long enough to let love bloom among the mountain laurel?
Paperback / 978-1-68322-779-3 / $12.99