The Buster Clan: An American Saga
by K.P. Kollenborn
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Pub Date 29 May 2023 | Archive Date 1 Jun 2023
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Description
Imagine Finding Your Roots, Roots Less Traveled, and Who Do You Think You Are presented in a book format.
The Buster Clan: An American Saga does exactly that. It unfolds a trajectory of United States’ events through a collection of Buster narratives and archives, adding authentic and freshly told stories about the American experience.
Buster is an Americanism. It is as good and stereotyped as apple pie. Within these hefty histories are smaller sagas where lives were personally affected by how history played out.
The Busters were, like all things American, pioneers. They began as farmers and slave owners. While being a part of the benefits and consequences of Manifest Destiny, they headed out to Texas, California, and Colorado before the consolidation of the Pacific Railroad and shortly after the gold rushes.
They fought in all American wars, and yes, did family combat on opposing sides of the Civil War. Although once divided, unification prevailed under the Reconstruction of the South, for those who had stayed in the South.
They became entrepreneurs, politicians, bureaucrats, sheriffs, ranchers, teachers, writers, and actors. They were murdered and committed murder. They gambled, embezzled, and served their communities. Touching on social and political themes such as identity, westward expansion, slavery, wars, human rights, technology and Hollywood, readers of history will experience new stories revealed outside of a traditional outline. Instead of focusing on one person in a biography, many people are featured with mini-biographies; more like an anthology of biographies.
The Buster Clan is a quintessential portfolio of histories that embodies American resolve.
Advance Praise
"The reputation of Buster has an alluring history in itself, indisputably so. It's a marvelous read, entertaining as well as educational, and certainly 'busts' through stereotypes!"-- The Buster Genealogy Blog
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9798391711186 |
| PRICE | US$5.99 (USD) |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 98309
The Buster Clan: An American Saga is a fascinating read. I enjoyed reading about this era. I highly recommend it. Five plus stars.
Mark L, Media/Journalist
American History From the Ground Up
K.P. Kollenborn, like many Americans, is interested in genealogy. Like many, she began tracing her ancestry. One great-grandmother was born a Buster; her maiden name was Myrtle Buster. The last name amused and intrigued Kollenborn. She began a hunt for ancestors of that name.
“The Buster Clan: An American Saga,” is the harvest of that search. It traces the descendants of one man, William Bustard, from the 17th century to the present. Because the name is virtually unique, most people today surnamed Buster (the family name changed to Buster in the early 1800s) are likely to have descended from William Bustard.
What results is a history of America from its Colonial Era to the present. Kollenborn begins by introducing William Bustard—records are scarce. Much of this is pieced together and includes inferences. Kollenborn spends the first chapter trying to nail down William’s origins. The best evidence indicates William came to the New World as an indentured servant in either 1701 or 1708. She shows he settled in Virginia and then traces the family forward from there.
A kaleidoscopic history of America follows. The Virginia Busters spread west into Kentucky and from there throughout what is today’s United States. Kollenborn does not create a compressive Buster history. Rather she follows different members through Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico Territory, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. While the family started from English stock, through slavery and marriage it acquired branches with Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian Buster descendants.
Along the way they participated in America’s story. There were slave-owning Busters and Busters opposing the institution. Many were farmers, especially at the beginning. Others became doctors, shopkeepers, drovers, lawyers, politicians, and inventors. They fought on both sides during the American Civil War, participated in the Gold Rush, settled the frontier, and fought Indians. While none became Henry Clay, William Sherman or Henry Ford famous, some Busters played prominent roles in politics, academics, entertainment, medicine and technology over 400 years.
Kollenborn tells their stories, just as she tells the stories of the everyday Busters and the outlaw Busters. She does not shrink from the less reputable aspects of their history, presenting both the good and bad. Without excusing it, she puts slave-owning and the casual bigotry of their lives in historical context. “The Buster Clan” history tells America’s story bottom up, through the eyes of William Bustard and his Buster descendants through 400 years.
“The Buster Clan: An American Saga,” by K.P. Kollenborn, Independently Published, 2023, 441 pages, $26.00 (Hardcover), $18.00 (Paperback), $6.99 (E-book)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com. It appeared in a different form in Epoch Times.
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