Hannah's Journey

HANNAH'S JOURNEY is a masterfully written account of immigration from the Black Forest area of Germany to the New World by the author's ancestor, Hannah Conrad.


Hannah and her husband, Ulrick, survived a perilous ocean voyage only to become consumed by the French and Indian wars.


The story of the captivity of Hannah and her children by Shawnee Chief Killbuck was passed down through generations till author Ralph Coonrod decided to research the plight of Hannah and her family.


The detail is historically accurate and Ralph's visual writing style draws the reader into every facet of Hannah's unimaginable hardship and her will to survive.


As you read HANNAH"S JOURNEY, you slowly realize that the horrible circumstances that Hannah found herself in at the hands of the Shawnee was not unique. Many Americans have ancestors who went through similar tortures, but since most of those accounts have been lost, we take those hardships for granted.


After reading Ralph's account of his ancestor's captivity, you will have a new appreciation for the determination and sacrifice that it took to build America and persevere in the face of incredible tragedy.


Author Bio: Ralph graduated from high school in Frankfort, Ohio. Frankfort was the former site of a Shawnee Indian village and, even earlier, a village of the Mound Builders, an ancient Indian tribe. Some of the mounds are still visible today. It was a village where Joseph was kept during part of the time he was a captive of the Shawnee.

Ralph's father was born and grew up near the town of Knockemstiff, Ohio (yes, it's on the map), just a few miles from the road Hannah and her family were taken west as captives of the Shawnee.


Ralph's family has held many of their reunions at Seip Mound (also built by the Mound builders) in Ohio. It's a few miles east of the Seven Caves area where Joseph made his first escape from the Indians. The Seven Caves is also where Daniel Boone was kept part of the time as a prisoner after the Shawnee tribe captured him.


After he moved to Kansas, Ralph built houses on some of the same land that was given to Blue Jacket's tribe when they were relocated from Ohio to Kansas. The main park in the town of Shawnee, Kansas, is called Blue Jacket Park.


In St. Genevieve, Missouri, the house where Hannah lived when first taken there, is still standing and is on the National Register of Historic Places.


keywords: Indian Wars, Suspense, Adventure, Pioneers, Settlers, Captivity, Shawnee , Early American history, Indian Tribes, Torture