Customer Reviews

Zury: The Meanest Man In Spring County

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I ordered and read this book because I recently learned that the character of Zury was based on my great-great grandfather, Usual Holford Meeker, a prosperous farmer from Fountain (not Spring) county in Indiana (not Illinois). The choice of the pseudonym Prouder (for Meeker) was also clever. While the biographical material was ficticious the descriptions of his personality follow pretty closely to what has been passed down through the family. He was an extremely shrewd business man who wasn't afraid to take risks. As a money lender he didn't hesitate to foreclose on a mortgage. He was a very hard worker who started with nothing and became one of the largest land owners in the county. He only had one wife, Sallie Dudley,(not three)and she bore him 6 children (who lived). She ,like the character of Anne, was an educated woman. She was the daughter of a minister. The Dudley family was descended from Thomas Dudley, an early Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. While Zory had the reputation of being "mean" she was loved and respected by everyone and softened his edge considerably. Joseph Kirkland's use of the Hoosier dialect enchanted me.