Lineage (Hurd)

This book lays the author's family tree against events in history with the presumption that individuals from the author's genealogical past were present and participated in the events. The author's family tree includes, inter alia, notables such as Aaron Burr, courtiers in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and accomplices to Charles II's escape from England. It also includes family situations that involved murder, the Great Depression, and every war that Americans have fought in since the French and Indian (Seven Years) War in the mid-18th Century. Because this is the first book in the series, the stories are laid out in thirteen stand-alone vignettes, each of which is the foundation for a full-length novel in the future. Roughly five years of research went into developing the author's family tree; it was at the end of that research that a decision was made to memorialize some of the intersections with history in novel format. The author took great care to ensure the historical accuracy of the events contained in each chapter, while at the same time inventing the fiction behind the family's involvement.

Germans, either by nationality or ethnicity, made their mark on the United States in the late Ninteenth and early Twentieth Centuries in the two decades leading up to World War I. Taking up mostly agricultural pursuits, some settled in Southwestern Michigan, and Berrien County in particular. Where did they come from? How did they get to Michigan? What difficulties did they face? Emma Waldheimer and Freddie Fenstermacher were of the first generation born in the United States. They grew up in German farming families. A chance meeting at a fruit market near the beginning of the Great Depression was enough for the two of them to fall in love. Eloping on Emma's eighteenth birthday, the young couple was quickly catapulted into adult life with all of its trials, tribulations, and conflicts. The Germans tells the story of how two ethnic German families emigrated from Imperial Russia to Berrien County Michigan, were eventually joined by marriage, and assimilated into American life. Most realized early on that this assimilation and especially the mastery of English was the essence of survival and prosperity. The one area that retained its German flavor was worship. The German community, wherever they settled, established churches and generally conducted services auf Deutsch, making it their own language of faith, not unlike Latin was to Roman Catholics.

England's King Charles II was defeated by the forces of Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. He was a fugitive in England for approximately 6 weeks before fleeing to France. Along the way, he is assisted by some unusual individuals who quickly become confidantes and part of his inner circle. They eventually rejoin Charles in France, only to be rebuffed by Lord Wilmot, Charles's closest courtier. From there, the story twists and turns, leading to New Haven in the Connecticut Colony - and beyond. Michael Paul Hurd was born in Michigan in 1959. He is the son of Paul S. Hurd and Carolyn J. Hurd (both deceased). Married to his wife, Sandy, since 1980, they have two sons and three grandchildren; however, their eldest son, Adam, passed away from cancer in 2010. During his formative years, Michael Hurd lived in Michigan, Virginia, and New Hampshire. He graduated from Hopkinton High School, Contoocook, NH, in 1977. Hurd is a veteran of the United States Air Force, serving from 1978 until 1992, and was Honorably Discharged as a Technical Sergeant. While on active duty, he earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Maryland/European Division during an assignment to England. After discharge, he was employed for another 26 years by the United States Government as a civilian and retired in 2018 along with his wife. It is during this time that Hurd developed a love for the written word and the deep research that was needed to author first book, "Lineage." The "Lineage" series was inspired in part by Sara Donati's "Wilderness" series and the many works of James Michener. The original "Lineage: A Novel" was constructed so that each of the chapters could be spun off into a full-length book. Michael Hurd is an avid fisherman, has hiked nearly 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail in four states, and is a slow-but-steady road bicyclist. The Hurds currently reside in Maryland, within 10 miles of all three grandchildren. They travel extensively and are huge fans of the Disney Cruise Line.