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A Presidential Love Story   

When a young officer newly graduated from West Point met the eldest daughter of a gruff Missouri slaveowner, farmer and land speculator, it was love at first sight. Ulysses Grant and Julia Dent courted at her family farm, White Haven, until he was called away to the Mexican-American War. Secretly engaged, Ulysses wrote tender letters to Julia between daring exploits in battle. Upon his return, they were married. Ulysses’s military career stagnated, and after a miserable period of separation while he was stationed on the West Coast, Ulysses resigned to join Julia at White Haven before his second stint during the Civil War. Authors Vicki and Jim Erwin relate the Grants’ early life, their courtship, their life in Missouri and how that life shaped their future.

Haunted Hoaxes of the Hoosier State

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, newspapers were a major source of ghost stories. Paranormal experiences, no matter how mundane, were newsworthy and entertaining—even when they turned out not to be ghosts after all. A coffin holding a “talking corpse” on a train turned out to be a box of bullfrogs. An overturned automobile carrying white paint resulted in a paint-covered “ghost” wandering the streets, and a spiritualist tackled a phantom haunting a cemetery only to find that it was a fraternity pledge all along.

Revealing that the truth can sometimes be as amusing as the legend, author Ashley M. Watson gathers newspaper clippings about Indiana ghost stories that were not ghosts at all.

The murders that shocked Michigan

In the early morning of Tuesday, August 11, 1931, a Washtenaw County farmer found the smoldering remains of a car. Inside were the bodies of four teens, burned almost beyond recognition. Police immediately began an investigation, even tapping Harry Bennett, head of the Ford Motor Company Service Department, for assistance. Three killers stood trial two days later as a mob gathered outside the Ann Arbor Courthouse clamoring for a lynching. With the mob held back by the Michigan National Guard, Bennett delivered the killers to Jackson Prison by midnight Thursday. At the time, the so-called Torch Murders were deemed the most gruesome act of homicide in Michigan’s history—and perhaps the nation’s.

Peeling away myth from truth, author James Mann tells the story in full for the first time ever.

Northern Ohio’s past is rich and deep, but it also has a darker and odder side.

A police chase for a UFO began in Portage County and stretched eighty-five miles from Ohio into Pennsylvania. Gangster Pretty Boy Floyd met his end in East Liverpool, and infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer began his murderous career in Medina County. The region is also home to peculiar beings such as Orange Eyes, the Melonheads and the armless Charles Mill Lake Monster.

Join author James A. Willis as he forges a trail across Northern Ohio in search of all things eerie, inexplicable and just plain weird.

A work stoppage on the rails led to a fascinating moment in Ohio history.

As the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 made its way into Ohio, the state already had its share of problems. Tramps, men who’d taken to the road looking for work because of the economic depression of the 1870s, seemed to be overrunning the state. Railroads, one of Ohio’s biggest employers, cut jobs. Those not fired suffered from repeated cuts in wages and hours, making their already unsafe work conditions worse.

Strikes in neighboring states, instigated by another 10 percent wage cut on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, became violent and destructive. When they broke out in Ohio, something remarkable happened. Strikers remained mostly peaceful, avoiding the killing, looting, and vandalism seen elsewhere. Much of the credit for the path taken by Ohio must go to its level-headed governor, Thomas L. Young, who used the Ohio National Guard to great effect. 

A work stoppage on the rails led to a fascinating moment in Ohio history.

As the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 made its way into Ohio, the state already had its share of problems. Tramps, men who’d taken to the road looking for work because of the economic depression of the 1870s, seemed to be overrunning the state. Railroads, one of Ohio’s biggest employers, cut jobs. Those not fired suffered from repeated cuts in wages and hours, making their already unsafe work conditions worse.

Strikes in neighboring states, instigated by another 10 percent wage cut on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, became violent and destructive. When they broke out in Ohio, something remarkable happened. Strikers remained mostly peaceful, avoiding the killing, looting, and vandalism seen elsewhere. Much of the credit for the path taken by Ohio must go to its level-headed governor, Thomas L. Young, who used the Ohio National Guard to great effect. 

Authors Cary O’Dell and Richard L. Sprehe lead a literary investigation of a brutal cold-case murder. 

In May 1975, in the small Southern Illinois town of Centralia, the body of one of its best-known residents, John Shakespeare, was found nearly nude, bound, and shot, execution-style, in the basement of his home. Shakespeare, sixty-nine, was a wealthy bachelor, an eccentric, an heir to the Shakespeare fishing fortune, a world-renowned collector of vintage cars, and, maybe, a possessor of a few secrets.

Despite the victim being well liked in the community, state and local police, and eventually even the FBI and Interpol, found a plethora of suspects while investigating the crime. Could it have been his longtime business associate? Or the mysterious hitchhiker seen in town just days before his body was found? Or a long-ago name from his past?

Fortresses of the Frontier

Michigan’s military forts shaped the Great Lakes frontier as European and then American settlers and explorers moved westward. When La Salle’s crew reached the mouth of the St. Joseph River, they built Fort Miami, the first European military post on Michigan soil. Following a humiliating betrayal, Chief Pontiac laid vengeful siege to Fort Detroit for five months, during which he let neither supplies nor man pass through the siege lines intact. Stationed at Fort Gratiot, a young Lieutenant Robert E. Lee had a sweet tooth that forced him to hide in a closet to avoid a local baker demanding Lee pay his past-due bill. A mosquito helped to force the closing of Fort Saginaw.

Author and Michigan native David Wedge recovers the stories of these forgotten guardians.

The Rooms Where History Happened

Before Jefferson City became the Capital, hotels shaped its story. As the town grew from frontier roots, places like the City Hotel served travelers, lawmakers, and locals for over 80 years.

During each legislative session, hotels and boarding houses—like the one run by the Lansdown sisters—were in high demand. Hotels like the Madison and Monroe House became landmarks of progress, constantly expanding and modernizing.

These spaces weren’t just for sleeping. They hosted teas, dances, civic meetings, and debates that shaped the future of Missouri.

From social events to political movements, hotels were at the center of it all.

Local historian Michelle Brooks checks in to tell the stories behind these historic stays.

Perfect for readers who love small-town history, Missouri heritage, and forgotten local landmarks.

Significant members and locations of the Haitian-American community of Chicago are detailed in this book, highlighting the influence and importance Haitian culture has had on the city.

Haitians have always had a place in Chicago history. From Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a Haitian man and the first nonindigenous founder of Chicago; to the Haitian Pavilion built for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition; to Nicole Smith, a gallerist that uplifted Haitian art and artists, Haiti is here to stay in this diverse city.

The book includes information and images featuring Haitian community leaders such as the Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul and Metz T.P. Lochard, former chief editorial writer for the Chicago Daily Defender newspaper; academics; and topics like immigration and religion. Haitians in Chicago is the one-stop guide to uncovering the history, vibrancy, and resiliency of the Haitian community.

Elsie Hector Henandez, a native of Haiti, founded the Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC) in 2012, located in Uptown, a multicultural area of Chicago. The mission of the museum is to promote and preserve Haitian art, culture, history, and community in Chicago and beyond.

The museum is an institution that holds a wide array of programs and exhibits showcasing Haiti’s rich culture and art as well as its complex history. Here is an unforgettable record of the extraordinary impact Haitians have had, and continue to have, on Chicago.

A Presidential Love Story   

When a young officer newly graduated from West Point met the eldest daughter of a gruff Missouri slaveowner, farmer and land speculator, it was love at first sight. Ulysses Grant and Julia Dent courted at her family farm, White Haven, until he was called away to the Mexican-American War. Secretly engaged, Ulysses wrote tender letters to Julia between daring exploits in battle. Upon his return, they were married. Ulysses’s military career stagnated, and after a miserable period of separation while he was stationed on the West Coast, Ulysses resigned to join Julia at White Haven before his second stint during the Civil War. Authors Vicki and Jim Erwin relate the Grants’ early life, their courtship, their life in Missouri and how that life shaped their future.

Lincoln Park has seen many things come and go.

Originally home to the Wyandot and Potawatomi tribes, the area also served Odawa Chief Pontiac for a historic Native American council meeting. European ribbon farms once stretched from Fort Pontchartrain. By the early twentieth century, rapid growth had transformed Lincoln Park into the “Crossroads of Downriver.” Many of the early building blocks and, indeed, the way the land itself was used by the earliest inhabitants have been lost to time. LeBlanc’s Saloon & Store, the Atlantic & Pacific Grocery Store and Lincoln Park Pharmacy are gone. So are Mother’s and Clemente’s, the Sears Shopping Center and many churches, schools and local attractions.

Utilizing resources from the Lincoln Park Historical Museum and Society, author Craig Hutchison strives to tell and preserve these stories.

The Chaldean Church is among the ancient Eastern Churches serving the Chaldean people around the world.

Present-day Chaldeans are the descendants of the ancient people of Mesopotamia (Iraq)—the cradle of civilizations, the bedrock of the Old Testament prophets, and the land of the first Christians outside the ancient Roman Empire. Chaldeans are Catholic in faith, using the ancient Aramaic liturgical rite with the language that Jesus spoke during his earthly ministry. The Chaldean Church has a glorious history with countless martyrs and great missionary enterprises. By the start of the 20th century, Chaldeans increasingly began to flee Iraq in search of freedom and stability. Today, although several generations have been born and raised in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia, Iraq remains an important religious and cultural region. This book portrays important events during Chaldean history, with a focus on the migrant groups in the United States and Canada.