Unforgiven Destiny - Lanny K Cook

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Résumé :
What possesses a man to leave a wife and family behind without just cause or explanation? What are the inner demons that plague a man, causing him to totally abandon the ones he loves - not just once, but twice in a lifetime? Unforgiven Destiny is an account of the life of John Frederick Williams based on historical fact obtained through family lore and legend. John was a man that learned early in life to run away from problems. As a child he migrated to America from Wales with his mother and sister during the second half of the 18th century. As immigrants to America, they were sponsored by a group of Mormons from Salt Lake City. After living in Utah for a few short years, they narrowly escaped the oppressive life of a polygamist culture. These experiences formed the catalyst of panic that plagued John for the remainder of his life. This consuming panic turned into a deep-seated fear --- causing him to turn tail and run when life became too overwhelming. It was the personal demon that pursued him throughout much of his life.

As a young man living in Nebraska, his adulterous ways allowed him to marry several different women who bore his many children. The responsibility of family was a bondage that sentenced him to an unwanted life of drudgery and sacrifice. Each marriage took its toll on his dreams and aspirations. Ultimately, he was destined to live a secretive life of isolated solitude. In total desperation he would decide to leave his past behind while abandoning those he claimed to love as he set out to live his final years in obscurity.

The story picks up in Gillette, Wyoming during the winter of 1917. After homesteading 120 acres in Gillette, with his second wife and most of his family, John was given a fraudulent check as payment for a large crop of hay from an agent purporting to represent the Western Hay & Grain Company out of Denver, Colorado. On Christmas Eve he headed out to set things straight with the swindler. His family never heard from him again. The circumstance involving his disappearance was a constant mystery, nagging his family and friends. For years they pondered the fate of John, haunted by the circumstance of his disappearance. The little information that was available was a close kept family secret, not to be revealed or unraveled for decades. Finally, after over thirty years of waiting to hear news about his fate, the family received word through a newspaper advertisement that he had passed away while living in Chester, Oklahoma under an assumed alias.

Unforgiven Destiny is a compilation of the folklore from the family of John 'Frederick' Williams. It answers many of the unanswered questions of his life while unraveling the mystery of a man who made it a habit to run from the troubles of his past. While no one can firmly attest to the actual events or dialogue associated with his life after he left the homestead in 1917, this book fills in the missing pieces with calculated speculation. Nearly a century after the known events of his life, Unforgiven Destiny unravels the mystery while exposing the demons that plagued the man known as John 'Frederick' Williams.