Major Gilmore's life was fashioned and modeled after the life and challenges of his racially mixed father, Alonzo Gilmore. Alonzo, as a young teenager, witnessed the horrific death of his mother, Leah. Leah was struck by lightning while chopping cotton on the Gilmore Plantation. At the approximate age of 15 and the calendar year of approximately 1915. Alonzo, along with half-brothers, Benjamin and James, walked away from the Gilmore Plantation. The Boys set out for the state of Illinois. During the journey, James died and was buried somewhere in Arkansas. After a two-year journey, Alonzo and Benjamin settled in the bootheel of Southeast Missouri on the Smithfield Plantation. The Boys adjusted into life, as day laborers, on the Smithfield Plantation where Alonzo met and married Rose Broussard. Alonzo and Rose instilled in their seven children, four girls and three boys, with John being the youngest son, the values of education, along with the principles of hard work, and commitment to family.

Note: This novel expresses the violence of war, sexual and religious content.