I have always loved genealogy, history and family stories. As I gathered facts and data, I often wondered why my ancestors frequently left everything behind and moved to totally unknown locales. To answer this question, I began to research historical events taking place at the time and official court records to retrace their journey. I discovered many interesting facts about our American heritage in the process. One trip led me to Old Plantation Creek on Virginia s eastern shore where my direct ancestor, Mary (Willson) Pattenden (of the Cottingham family) first settled in America. As I stood on the land where Mary stood in 1638, I looked around and my imagination ran wild. What was her life like? How did she face leaving her family? I searched court documents, books, and even visited England for clues and began to formulate a story of her life in my mind. Then I began to write her story, fictionalized of course because we can never really know her true story from cold hard facts. I decided to share her story in my first historical fiction novel. I hope you enjoy reading about the Pattendens life in early America as much as I enjoyed writing RIBBON OF LOVE.

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Alabama Pioneers
Alabama Pioneers is a FREE virtual Alabama Genealogy and History library. Alabama Pioneers is unique, with lots of actual records, digitized images, Alabama History and stories from Alabama members. We are a family friendly, sharing community.The website is like a reunion of family and friends each contributing a slice of their experience and history.