SHOW NOTES

Episode 1– I chose to make Mary Elizabeth Van Meter, Lavinia’s best friend in Bedford. While Mary Elizabeth is a real person who marries Dr. Samuel Russell, including them into my narrative is pure fiction and the dates are slightly misaligned. I know that the McKinley women were talented dressmakers but Margaret McKinley was not conducting a dressmaking business from her home with Jonathan Brightbill. Her younger sister, Lavinia McKinley is listed on every census as a dressmaker. I also know that the Brightbill family had some domestic help, but created the character of Lizzie. My sources for this episode are Census Records, genealogical documents, and The Bedford Gazette.