The weather was pulling the devil by the tail that night in 1826 when they dragged the town blacksmith in off the street. He had been butchered on Old Street, in Petersburg, Virginia not twenty yards from his residence. No citizen of the town felt safe after dark. Bolts slammed down across heavy doors at dusk to shut out the terror of the assailant who thirsted for blood.
Sceva Thayer worked long and hard to become a master craftsman blacksmith in Braintree, Massachusetts. In 1796, he made the tough decision to leave his family and move to the town of Petersburg, Virginia to establish his business. Along the way, he faced many trials to make a life and family in the southern, tidewater town. One fateful night, he is brutally attacked with an axe.
Rumors ran rampant through the town like weeds in a neglected garden as the reality of the truly shocking event began to set in among the townspeople. In the days that followed, several suspects began to emerge. As fingers pointed and evidence mounted, Henry Thayer, son of the blacksmith, was accused of the crime and taken into custody. An ominous shadow settled over the Thayer home like a pall thrown over a casket. The long journey into a nightmare began.
Much like brittle iron is annealed to become strong cold iron, this is the story of the Thayer family, the town of Petersburg, and its enslaved people who must run the gauntlet of fires, floods, jealousy, humiliation, rage, imprisonment, and death to emerge strong and indestructible.