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Leah Y. Stimpson
For over three decades, Leah Stimpson has enjoyed exploring a place in Clarke County, Alabama, where the land has witnessed, and still holds stories of people whose lives were culturally different,...view moreFor over three decades, Leah Stimpson has enjoyed exploring a place in Clarke County, Alabama, where the land has witnessed, and still holds stories of people whose lives were culturally different, yet fundamentally similar to ours today -stories of courageous American pioneers, resourceful Native Americans, and of the trials of African men and women forcefully brought to this land. Leah has watched and listened to an older generation tell stories of the river, the highway used by the Native Americans, cotton barons, and Confederate and Union forces.
While viewing a section of the Alabama River from her porch, Leah has spent years absorbing the stories recorded in the Clarke County Historical Society’s Quarterlies. These accounts have brought to life the people of the 1800s and have personally introduced her to many of their lives. People who struggled under oppression, others who carved a place in the wilderness for future generations, and some who were forced to leave their homeland-the circumstances vary greatly, but the common threads of all humanity prevail-stories of love, of failure, of grief, and of joy. What were their personal stories and why were their lives so different? What have we learned from the past that we should apply to our lives today? What was their purpose here, and more importantly, what is ours?
With her three children grown, she has found the time to search for these answers. Red Feather takes us on a journey in the 1830s and reveals in a classic love story the answers found to these complex questions.
Leah and her husband, Richard, spend time on the Alabama River in Clarke County and have enjoyed studying its history and encountering the compelling lives of those who have inhabited the land. Treasures and clues are still being uncovered-arrowheads and pottery, pieces of iron from a Civil War era blacksmith’s shop, and an old map labeled “Red Feather’s canoe route,” found in a grandfather’s attic. All are clues about the lives of those who have gone before us, clues left for us discover.
Now, only one question remains: What will we do with what we have learned from the past to honorably influence our time in history?view less