O'er the Land of the Free

At the young age of 13, Virginia Hensley is told the family secret. For nearly five years the farm she loves and feels safe at has been a stop on the Underground Railroad. Virginia’s parents request that she help in the dangerous and illegal activity of transporting and hiding runaway slaves. Unforeseen situations arise, forcing the Hensley family to take risks that put the entire family in danger. In the fall of 1860, Abraham Lincoln is elected President. Soon after taking office in March of 1861, a battle is fought at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The dividing line is drawn, as eleven southern states secede from the Union, and the South becomes the Confederacy. The Underground Railroad comes to a halt, but Reuben, the oldest Hensley son, answers the call to go fight for the Union forces. A heartbreaking four year war follows as fellow countrymen take up arms against one another, resulting in mass casualties and destruction.