On Blueberry Hill: The 19th-Century Boyd vs. Bender Feud, On Blueberry Hill: The 19th-Century Boyd vs. Bender Feud

In 1811, Handy Boyd, aided by an ancient Lenni Lenape Indian known as “Man,” finds a home site for himself and his young bride on a remote blueberry-rich hill in Sullivan Country, New York. Man provides essential support for Handy and Henrietta and their growing family—first Chester, followed by Elmer, Henry, Aida, Blue Boy, Jacob, Peter, and Blue Belle. The last is born blind and looking like a withered blueberry in 1840 at great cost—the death of her mother. Widower Handy has never been a hunter or a farmer; he is a gatherer of blueberries, some of which are sold in the canal town of Wurtsboro. Aida, filling the role of her late mother, runs the show at the stone house built by Elmer on the west side of Blueberry Hill. Blue Belle, who seemingly has supernatural powers, provides spiritual support. Besides Blue Rock House, the Boyds do not wish to disturb their hill’s natural blessings—trees, bushes, spring water, and fieldstones. And then along comes the Benders. Jeremiah “Red” Bender, onetime friend of Chester Boyd, rises to prominence as a boat captain on the Delaware & Hudson Canal. His brother Alexander makes money with the newly arrived railroad. The Benders purchase the large Drake Tract that includes the forty acres on the east side of Blueberry Hill. Those two Bender brothers, their equally ambitious sister Eunice, and the relentless handyman who becomes her husband cut down trees to build a massive house “the Bend” that dwarfs Blue Rock House and establish nearby sawmills, tanneries, and quarries. The Boyds’ peace and quiet has been ruined, but it is the two families’ differences on how best to use the land that triggers a lasting feud with periodic flare-ups of violence. Can there be an end to it? Can peace finally reign on Blueberry Hill? Can a Romeo and Juliet-style romance somehow make that happen?