Wilmont Kreis

Book Eight: Sugar. Well before the start of World War One, people like Simon Shands and Harry Auerbach foresaw prohibition. They also realized the importance of sugar in the simple production of cheap booze. Early on they became involved in what was known as the Oakland Sugar House. Although it may have begun as a legitimate enterprise, the involvement of these men and others soon made it otherwise. Its fame became such that the infamous Purple Gang was also known as the Sugar House Gang. I could not find an image of the Sugar House but here is a shot of some investors. Read More 

Book Eight: WWI. There can be no discussion of this era without including this low point in western civilization. A conflict that began over minor issues—with horses, rifles, and trenches ending with airplanes, modern weapons and a struggle that just would not end. The United States avoided most of this debacle by sitting on the sidelines until the bitter end. Bud Forton is a typical farm boy drafted into a conflict which he will never understand. Leaving the farm for Paris, he encounters things he would never find at home, sophisticated women and a level of violence and evil he would never have experienced on the farm. Read More 

Book Eight: Automobiles. It would be inconceivable to write history of Detroit without mentioning this icon. From Ransom Olds in 1898 to post WWII, it permeates the city. Henry Ford’s interaction with the Allards is relatively accurate and he did purchase the lakefront of Moses Allard’s family farm where the Edsel Ford Estate stands today on the banks of Lake St. Clair and the Milk River. Today it is a museum well worth a visit. Read More 

Book Eight: Walpole Island. Located across the channel from Harsens Island, this First Nation Reserve is located within the geographic boundaries of Canada. However it remains independent of Canada and the U.S. It remains a haven for fishing and duck hunting both of which have found their way into a number of the Allard Series Books. It is claimed the famous Shawnee Chief, Tecumseh, is buried here. He is also buried in Book Five: The Medallion of the Allard Series. You can visit his resting place on the island or in the book. Read More 

I hope you enjoy 1634, Return to the New World, but I need to get back to The Allards Book Eight: The Chief
Harsens Island: This jewel of a swamp has found its way into The Allard Series since Book Four: The Voyageur. Located where the St. Clair River enters Lake St. Clair, it is still reachable only by water. First owned by Dutch immigrant, Jacob Harsen in 1783, it continues to be a haven for fishing, boating, and duck hunting, and the Allard family along with many other Detroit residents have enjoyed it even before Jacob. Following WWII my mother’s cousin, Earl Brown started Brown’s Tavern which endures today and is worth a visit. Another famous Island eatery was The Blue Goose which was moved from the island to St. Clair Shoes by towing it on the ice. The Blue Goose and many of its namesakes have found their way into the Allard Series and it is also recommended by the author. Read More 

1634
RETURN TO THE
NEW WORLD
Upper North America, 1628: Françoise Grenier’s life had been a combination of bad circumstances, worse luck and even poorer choices. Orphaned near Paris at the age of twelve, she became a street urchin. At fifteen she fell in with an older man who convinced her to follow him to the new world of Québec where he would marry her. Instead he abused her. Only when he failed to return from trading with the natives and she heard they had killed him, did she find herself liberated.
Taken in by the few women of Québec, she was just recovering when English privateers captured the failing colony, sending its few inhabitants, including Françoise, back to France. One of the ladies gave her a letter to deliver in France which led her to a new life, allowing her to return to help rebuild the colony five years later. It was here she prospered, beginning one of the early prominent families of Canada, helping to forge a great nation from the frozen wilderness.
If you enjoyed Fearful Passage North, The Allards Series, and the author’s ability to bring history to life, you will love this one. Read More 

Book Eight: Bishop Union School. Set on the east side of Detroit, the Bishop Union School was already in poor condition when Clara Shands came to teach in 1898. Generally referred to as simply “Bishop,” it had already acquired a well-deserved reputation as the end of the road for poor students. Although some prominent Detroiters did emerge from the institution, most of its students were doomed to fail before they began. This made a perfect setting for young gangs and it was the early setting and prep school of sorts for a group of New York immigrants who would eventually become the infamous Purple Gang. Read More 

Book Eight: The Detroit Interurban Railway. Detroit prepares to enter the 20th century with the advent of this marvel of modern transportation that premiered in September 1898. Henry Ford was working for the electric company and met Oscar Kreis at the opening of the Railway which will help force Detroit into the modern era. The tales of the railway in Book Eight are based on fact, (at least according to my grandmother). Read More 

Book Eight: the Schvitz bath house near Paradise valley in Detroit. (Near Beaubien, Oakland and Hastings in Detroit). It is here that Simon Shands and his colleagues in crime, Sol Bernstein and Harry Auerbach meet to plan the future of their crime empire, including Dice in the black neighborhoods and clubs with gambling and girls in the others. Read More 

I have been away for two weeks doing research. 1634 RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD is now available in print and kindle through Amazon.com. Readers who have questions about the characters, events, etc. in this new historical fiction action novel can ask them on my website wilmontkreis.com, or e-mail wkreis@sbcglobal.net. I will try to answer them from time to time on my blog at the website or on Facebook, Wilmont Kreis Author. Next week I will return to Book Eight: The Chief. Read More