"Not prominent enough"

In 1855, the minister of Bethania Moravian Church in North Carolina made the following journal entry:

Yesterday word came of Becky Saylor’s home-going. Today at 11 the funeral was held, not very well attended. She was not prominent enough to bring the people together. Preached on Rev. 7:14,"

which was boilerplate scripture for a harlot.

This was one of the few journal entries made about my great-great-great-grandmother, who bore a son out of wedlock and held land in her own name even after she married. I became fascinated by this apparently very stubborn woman and wanted to write her story back into history.

The result is The Seasoning of Rebecca.