Why a Booktrail?
1894: This is the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sherifffs
Girl Waits With Gun
What you need to know before your trail
Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mould – any kind of mould really. She’s taller than most men it seems, doesn’t care for marriage, and doesn’t really conform to any rules or people’s impressions of her. Her hard exterior has been somewhat strengthened by a family secret which sent her and her sisters from the city to the country more than fifteen years ago.
When a powerful, ruthless factory owner runs down their buggy, a dispute over damages turns into a war of a whole other level. The factory owner sets his gang on their farm and things look bleak. The sheriff investigating matters soon enlists Constance’ help, and it turns out that she has a knack for this kind of work.
Could this be the path that Constance might find herself on and one where she could go far?
Travel Guide
This is a true story and most of what you read did actually happen. The author does point out that Lucy Blake is fictional however as are the stories associated with her. The act of sending children away from their striking parents in the city was true however and many of them did not return.
Constance Kopp’s New Jersey
Constance was born in Brooklyn in 1878 and was thirty-five years old when Henry Kaufman ran his automobile into her buggy. Henry is thought to have been a German immigrant who worked in the Paterson silk industry in the early 1900s before running a factory with his brother.
The author discovered the story when researching another book and she found a story about a Henry Kauffman who had ran his car into the horse -drawn carriage of three sisters. They got into a conflict over payment and the story escalated from there
The title of the book comes from a newspaper headline of the time in which she is said to have spent a night on a street corner with a revolver in her handbag waiting to catch the man who had been threatening her family.
It wasn’t uncommon for sheriffs to include victims in helping to solve the crime apparently. Law enforcement and investigations weren’t planned and precise as they are now.
All of the stories in the book are real and many of them were sourced from the papers of the time such as the New York Times and the Bergen Evening Record.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Girl Waits With Gun
Author/Guide: Amy Stewart Destination: Paterson, New Jersey, New York Departure Time: 1914
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