I know he lived. His tombstone stands among others of his family near the landfill. The report of his brutal murder appears in old newspapers. His corpse was found naked, with one sock on and one off. He had been bludgeoned on both sides of his head. The man inflicted violence on others all his life and died by violence. And he was supposedly the county sheriff in the mid-1800s.
Though the spelling of his name was a mystery to me for a long time, I finally managed to interview the right person who provided that: Robert Right Rae Sr.--not Wright Ray or Wray. But as for his holding the office of sheriff, I can find no evidence. I called the public library, the historical society, the Sheriff Department where he supposedly served more than a 150 years ago, and a local historical site, but to no avail. The Sheriff's office has on the wall a large poster that lists all sheriffs and their term years, but Rae is not listed, nor are there gaps in that record, according to the office staffer who looked. While he doesn't figure prominently in my work-in-progress, he is mentioned, so of course I want to be accurate.
What does a writer do when your research trail lands you flat up against a stone wall--a jail wall, at that? As I see it, I have two choices. I can keep searching for answers, squeezing in some time to travel to the location and pore over old newspapers for hours, or I can accept what I've gleaned from reliable sources and create a fictional character based on the elusive reality.
Brother and sister scribes, what would you do when faced with such a conundrum? Please leave a "Comment."
Don't know if this helps, but i would keep writing him as your research has revealed, and see if anything surfaces in the meanwhile to authenticate.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathleen. Until I can authenticate his dates of office and his death, should I fill in with a ficticious name, do you think?
ReplyDeleteWrite on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon
What is your source that he was a county sheriff? That would be the first question I would ask, is that source reliable.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to writing fiction, I'd say give him another name and then after you verify it was who you thought it was, you can do a find all/ replace all and put it back to your original name. In the meantime, let the creative juices flow and don't stop because you've come across a blip in history.
Hope that helps.
In His grip,
Lynn
If it's fiction, create a character on what you know so far and press on with writing the story. Research is wonderful, but if you're creating a character based off him, then change his name and use some poetic license and don't let this roadblock you. Happy Writing!
ReplyDeleteLynn, Susie, and Kathleen, I'm seeing a general trend in what y'all say. Thank you so much for your prompt feedback. Oh, the joys of writing fiction! It does provide a certain liberty.
ReplyDeleteWrite on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon
If your WIP is fiction, you have free reign, so go for it. And since he is long dead, you don't even have to change his name if you don't want to, although if you use his real name you might consider including something that says the character is "loosely based" on him.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying this is you, but it drives me crazy when fiction writers have the chance to make their characters or events more interesting but refuse to do so because "it didn't happen that way." Leave the accuracy to non-fiction.
'Tis a puzzlement, as the King of Siam would say--and an intriguing story. I think the other critters have given you some sound advice.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a clue: When I scanned for the name Robert Right Rae in Ancestry.com, it found a record of a fellow by this name registering for the WWI draft in Jefferson, IN, in 1917. That makes him too late to be the one you're looking for, but the location is correct and the name is correct. A son or grandson, maybe?
Re:
ReplyDelete"I'm not saying this is you, but it drives me crazy when fiction writers have the chance to make their characters or events more interesting but refuse to do so because "it didn't happen that way." Leave the accuracy to non-fiction."
Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more with this--and for some of us, this sets our teeth on edge. Even if you're writing fiction, if you include a real historical event or person in your book, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't take liberties with what really happened in order to "make it more interesting." It won't make the book more interesting to this reader...it'll make it suspect. Because I will not assume you were trying to spice things up; I'll assume you really don't know what you're talking about, or are attempting to "contemporize" something that shouldn't be viewed through that lens at all. And, at that point, my suspension of disbelief is tampered with...and you've lost me.
Have all the fun you like with created characters. But please, if you use a real one...make it the genuine article, or don't write that person into your book. Use someone "based on" a real person rather than re-creating a personality or an event the way you "wish" it'd been if you'd been writing the story. That does a disservice to what DID, in fact, really happen, and IMHO, it will not help your work one bit.
As far as this mystery man is concerned...I'm with the group. Make up someone based on him, if you like, alter the name somewhat--or do the research based on the WRONG spelling of the name and see what you come up with! It wasn't uncommon in those days for people to change their names all kinds of ways, for various reasons. From the sound of it, he may have had LOTS of reasons for wanting to hide beneath similar aliases to his "real" name, but not use the real one. It's a thought.
JB
If your work is fiction, continue to write and let this character develop (I need to listen to myself here). Continue to do genealogical research on this person but don't let the lack of facts stop you (I need to listen to myself here). And if you are published and then you discover facts, at least you have given the man his day in history. If you are writing non-fiction, then the facts or lack of speak for themselves. “Unlike Heaven, history does not have room enough for all the deserving. Humanity is prone to suppose that everything worthwhile has been written down through the ages, is preserved in literature and that the biographies of all personalities whose lives and works have influenced their respective times are likewise recorded in our histories. This is not so. Immortality of this nature is quite a matter of circumstance.” T Ralph Bennett, PIONEERS OF THE SAN JUAN
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lynn. As an historian, you have to question all the sources. Did the original newspaper article call him the sherrif? Or did it get mixed up. Can you track who officially held the office during the time of his murder? If there's a gap, that might be another clue. Elsewise, fictionalize him.
ReplyDeleteDid you go into town documents? City board minutes?
Hoosierwriter,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that info. I don't have ancestry.com. I know there was a Robert Right Rae Jr. or II, so there could well have been a third. And of course, Jefferson County is near Jeffersonville.
Write on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon
Janny, Kathy, and Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI'm getting ready to reveal what I've decided to do after carefully considering the story, the facts, and the wise advice I received from y'all. I thank you deeply for your advice.
Write on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon
Sorry Janny, but I wasn't trying to suggest that you pass off facts as history. Anybody who knows me understands what a researching fool I am. But what really bugs me is when people let facts get in the way of an interesting FICTION story. I've known too many people whose faithfulness to the truth condemned the story to boredom. And if you notice, I did mention that if she used his real name she should say it is "loosely based" on him.
ReplyDeleteKathryn,
ReplyDeleteI knew what you meant. Though I've changed the names and places to fictionalize it, the events I'll relate happened over and over, and there really was a sheriff (or deputy, which would account for his not being listed on the board at the Sheriff's office) who was an ornery ol' cuss.
Write on!
Because of Christ,
Sharon