Annals of the Dear Unknown: A verse-tale

Catherine Chandler's poetic history reminds us that we are the sum of our ancestors' tales, known and unknown. She has brilliantly captured the essence of the old Connecticut Yankee settlers through the eyes of Rachel, Diah and Wilmot Munson, bringing light to the stories that were once dark.

-Anthony T.P. Brooks, Director and Curator, Wilkes-Barré Preservation Society



Catherine Chandler has undertaken in-depth research into America's early pioneers as well as her own family history to create a vivid and detailed account of life on the frontier. Reaching beyond facts and dates, this story helps to humanize and memorialize the long-ago people and events that ultimately formed the country we know today.

-Mark G. Dziak, Author, The Battle of Wyoming: For Liberty and Life



Annals of the Dear Unknown is a beautifully written and thought-provoking look at the lives of Diah Munson, his wife Rachel Tyler Munson, and their children. It is a story of perseverance and the will to survive. Catherine's words weave a tapestry of the early American pioneering spirit, taking us for a walk in the footsteps of her Munson forebears as they face new beginnings, challenges, and adventures setting down roots in the Pennsylvania wilderness.

-Catherine McNulty Bell, Historian, Thomas Munson Foundation



Catherine Chandler's Annals of the Dear Unknown reveals a brutal and forgotten tale: the destruction of Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley during the eighteenth century. The book is a considerable achievement in the writing of poetry, history, and anthropology.

-James Najarian, Author, The Goat Songs



In Annals of the Dear Unknown, Catherine Chandler combines historical insight and poetic imagination to create a verse narrative that traces the lives of her distant pioneer ancestors. This chronicle, rich in detail and characters, resurrects a personal family history, and in doing so reminds us, as an old Russian proverb says, "You live as long as you are remembered."

-Richard Meyer, Author, Orbital Paths