"Girl Waits With Gun"

"Girl Waits With Gun" is a novel by Amy Stewart but the three sisters, Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp, who are the heroines of this story are real women and this novel is based on what actually happened to them.

The oldest sister, Constance, was 35 years old in 1914 and all three unmarried sisters lived on the rural New Jersey family farm.  Although their brother encouraged them to move to town to live with he and his wife and their two children, they insisted on staying on the farm after their mother's death. They survived by selling off pieces of the farm, raising chickens, and most of their food.

When their buggy is destroyed by a speeding car, Constance seeks compensation from the owner of the car who is also the owner of the local silk mill.  What would seem like a straightforward request turns into something much more when the girls are blackmailed, threatened with kidnapping, shot at, and more!  As the oldest, Constance takes on the responsibility of getting the sheriff involved.  The sheriff provides them with deputies to keep an eye on the farm and arms the three girls (women) and teaches them how to shoot.

Although history has not said much about Constance, she was the first woman to become a deputy sheriff.  She was also a rarity in her time because she stood 6 feet tall.

Stewart adds her own story line to this true tale but also includes newspaper headlines and articles from the actual events.  The book makes interesting reading as well as insight into the times that these women lived and why what happened to them could have happened.  pazt