and the outlying farms.  So many dead, he couldn’t build a coffin for each of them.  Family members were buried together deeper than usual; who knew how many would be in each grave.  He was tasked with the grave markers, while the ladies sewed burial shrouds.  What else could be done?  He was only one man, no apprentice wanted to learn the trade. 

Rory survived, not many young ones did, and Jacob was ever grateful.  As a doting father, he ensured Rory was educated by the best teachers available in town, not just the reading, writing and arithmetic, but also music from the lovely Miss Bowen, and comportment from the unrelenting Mrs. Temple.  The boy, on his own, arranged his first apprenticeship to Geordie Kaplan, accountant, and then to Doc Anderson.  He didn’t take to...

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