{"id":682,"date":"2023-10-01T20:08:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T19:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/?p=682"},"modified":"2023-10-02T18:52:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T17:52:31","slug":"blueink-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/?p=682","title":{"rendered":"BlueInk Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/strong>Searching for Charles: The Untold Legacy of an Immigrant’s American Adventure – BlueInk Review<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 9, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this detail-rich account of his family history, Stephen Watts shares what he has learned, but perhaps just as importantly, how he has learned it, about his great-great-grandfather Charles, the man responsible for bringing the Watts family to America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 1835, 23-year-old Charles left England for America, arriving in New York City in January 1836 after a grueling voyage in steerage. Traveling extensively in search of work, he eventually settled down in Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book\u2019s core consists of 22 expressive letters from Charles\u2019 correspondence with his family back in England, particularly his brother Edward, whom he constantly urged and eventually persuaded to join him. That said, he doesn\u2019t sugarcoat frontier life\u2019s privations, reporting that in winter \u201cMy house is considered a warm one [but] we sometimes have water frozen in one night \u00bd an inch thick in the Pail.\u201d<\/em> But, Charles passionately argues, America is the land of opportunity compared to \u201cthe stagnant waters of Europe\u201d still polluted by \u201cfeudal despotism and ignorance.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers also read illuminating letters from other family members, most memorably Charles\u2019 son Alfred, a Baptist minister who settled in Florida. His surviving correspondence reveals a less high-flown and sometimes amusingly colloquial voice. Talking about a fellow preacher whom he dislikes, he says the man\u2019s congregation eventually realized \u201cthey had a small Elephant<\/u> on their hands and they didn\u2019t know how to shove him off!!\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Watts gives a thorough and informative accounting of how he, and before him his father, Wayland, reconstructed their family saga over five decades of work, which involved trawling through documents, writing to archivists, and visiting the places where family members lived or were laid to rest. This section may appeal less to general readers, but it\u2019s a helpful how-to for Watts\u2019 fellow amateur genealogists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the book is a heartfelt, often-revealing look at one family\u2019s American story. General history buffs will be intrigued by this presentation, while family history buffs, especially, will be delighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also available in hardcover and ebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Searching for Charles: The Untold Legacy of an Immigrant’s American Adventure – BlueInk Review May 9, 2023 In this detail-rich account of his family history, Stephen Watts shares what he has learned, but perhaps just as importantly, how he has learned it, about his great-great-grandfather Charles, the man responsible for … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","latest_post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":686,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions\/686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingforcharles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}