Hannah Crafts

Hannah Bond, according to Gregg Hecimovich of Furman University, was born into slavery. Bond worked for Wheeler's wife Ellen as a lady's maid, and learned to read and write. This was part of the evidence found by Hecimovich that confirmed "Hannah Crafts" had lived at the Wheeler plantation. Bond apparently was able to read and to use the library, as her novel shows influences from other literature; she reflects elements of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott. Other scholars, including investigator Joe Nickell, who authenticated the manuscript, had previously tied Crafts to John H. Wheeler. She had accurately described him as the US Minister to Nicaragua and his duties, as shown by his own diary. Believing that the novel was autobiographical, scholars speculated from its plot that Crafts had married a Methodist minister and lived in New Jersey. Her married name may have been Hannah Vincent, the wife of Thomas Vincent, as they were both listed in the census records of New Jersey in 1870 and 1880. ==Background of book==

Research suggests the book was written some time between 1855 and 1869. For instance, the book shows knowledge of and adaptation from Dickens' novel Bleak House (1853). The surname Crafts, her pen name, was at one time thought to be a tribute to the slaves Ellen and William Craft, whose bold escape in 1848 was covered by the national press. Hecimovich believes it is more likely Hannah took this name after living with a Crafts couple in upstate New York in her early time after reaching the North by the Underground Railroad. Most scholars believe the manuscript was written before the American Civil War. They think Bond would have referred to the war if she had been writing her work during or after it. She referred to other contemporary events, as well as creating fictional ones. ==See also==