This book is a biography of Florence Adelia Demont and opens at the time of her birth in 1849 in Berrien County, Michigan and continues through her childhood, her coming of age during the American Civil War and the remainder of her life following the end of the war. The story of her life as presented here is based completely upon historical documents and is completely true. Although the story presented here encompasses the entire lifespan of Florence, there is a particular emphasis placed upon the period that began on July 6, 1863, and lasted until April 4, 1864, a period that can be accounted for through the personal correspondence she carried on with her future husband, Nelson Havens (referred to as Nell by Florence). That correspondence consisted of twenty-three letters, the contents of which Florence would faithfully copy into a lined notebook that she had purchased for just that purpose. Each letter would also be inscribed with the place where she had composed the letter and the date. Those letters are reproduced here and have provided the means to delve into her personal life and also offer some perspective of the life that a young lady experienced while coming of age at that most pivotal of moments in United States history - the American Civil War.
The twenty-three letters to Nell were written from the many places Florence resided in or frequented at that time including the Michigan towns of Buchanan and Niles, Bertrand Township, the location of many relatives, and “The Bend” the area between Niles and Buchanan bordering the Saint Joseph River. Letters originating from Ohio included the towns of Painesville and Willoughby. As a just turned fourteen-year-old, Florence was a prolific composer of personal letters. She was also a skilled writer, articulate and informed well beyond her fourteen years. She possessed unending energy when it came to letter writing and in one letter she described how she had spent six hours writing letters and was exhausted. Another letter states that in one day she received six letters from her correspondents.
The outbreak of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, turned the life of Florence upside down. By the time that the most important military engagement of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, had concluded on July 3, 1863, Florence had already suffered the loss of one stepbrother at Vicksburg and other brothers as well as her stepfather were serving in the Union Army. Their absence caused the mother of Florence to relocate from Michigan to Ohio, taking with her Florence and a stepdaughter. The development was disappointing to Florence as the move greatly complicated a developing relationship that she had struck up in April with a young man, Nelson Havens, who resided in Niles Township. To maintain that relationship Florence would undertake correspondence with Nelson. That correspondence would ultimately set the stage for the lifepath of Florence and Nelson and provides the foundation for this study of her life's journey.