OK I am seeking all opinions ~
In writing historical fiction is it ok to go with a myth of a story even if it doesn't match up with the historical facts? I am stuck in my research and just want to start the story. The problem is that this story I have heard does not line up with the facts I have heard.
I know that my several great grand mother was full blood cherokee. The story is that she was adopted off of the trail of tears. Problem: Dorcus Tabitha "Morning Star" Atterbury is shown in all records to have been born 1798-died in 1808. Then there is record of this same person marrying Caleb Briggs in 1830 and children born after. The Trail of tears happened in 1831 - 1839. Dorcas "Morning Star's" father James Atterbury was rumored to have been in the army, all accounts point to militia as there is no formal record of his service.
I am thinking that a child died at the age of 12 named Dorcas and was replaced by a cherokee child of the same age? I am so totally confused! But the trail of tears must have been a mistake by those passing down the story?
I have also found a record of a Dorcas "Morning star" in a different ancestry record who was adopted by a white family. This story goes that the mother escaped from the trail of tears and was cared for by a missionary couple. The mother was ill and when she passed away the couple raised the child as white. this account is about the same timeline and the birth/death of this girl does not line up with the trail of tears. I question if this could be the same story or just a similar one??
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The key word is "fiction". I suggest you pick whatever chain of evidence you need to write the most compelling story you can. Historians don't always get it right. Tell a good story and, who knows, it might turn out to be what really happened.
Dan
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