Synopsis "The Old Blue Coat"
Molly was a poverty-stricken, uneducated lass from a small, remote village in Ireland. In 1735, she had the opportunity to sign on for a five year term as an indentured servant to a British official residing on the American frontier in the Colony of Pennsylvania. Her ill, destitute, widowed father, realizing this was her chance to escape their harsh life where they worked their fingers to the bone and never had enough to eat, encouraged her to go. Knowing that distance and cost would prevent her from ever seeing her beloved "Papa" and friends again, Molly reluctantly put her mark on the agreement. On her trip to the new world, everything she saw and experienced was new to her. The book follows the joys and heartaches of Molly through her life as an indentured servant, as a young married woman raising a family, and the family's migration into the Virginia Colony. There, Molly's daughter Twirley leaves the family for an urban life in Philadelphia, and son Edward marries, has children and becomes a Revolutionary War hero. Intertwined into this family saga are some of the political and historical events that had an effect on the American people. A basically true story, the book is based on material in the Elizabeth Murphey Walker and Isaiah Walker Journal housed in the Alabama State Archives, in Edward Murphey's personal file housed in the United States National Archives, in two rare books written by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, in official records found in Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, in the archives of the National Park Service, and on family folklore.
