Chapter 18

Epilogue written by Judith Thompson, granddaughter of Jacob Stellinski:

It has been 27 years since Haven was founded. My grandfather has finally died within the past week, and we are all shaken by that event. We have planned a State Funeral and invited delegations from all countries who have recognized Haven, especially those from our early days. Under his leadership, Haven has grown to encompass 37 former Georgia counties, three from Florida, and two from Alabama.

The Confederacy is falling apart, and there is rebellion of some sort or another in every county in Georgia. I will not be surprised to see a growth spurt for Haven in the next year. Every day we pick up new citizens, many of whom are former slaves and serfs. Of course we are also adding all other classes of citizens, except for the aristocracy. Albany has already outgrown itself, and we were struggling to accommodate all of those people who wanted to join us.

Even our Indian population is growing rapidly. Those Indians who are intelligent enough to see where the Confederacy is headed and have had all of the abuse that they can take from the aristocracy have headed to Haven. Previously, they had headed to Florida to join the Seminoles, but Haven has become much more attractive, especially to the Cherokees and Creeks. Most of them are astounded to learn that even their women can vote in Haven, and that makes it a lot easier for their matriarchal societies to merge into the mainstream of Haven life.

Of course, that was one of the gains that all we women in Haven made after the defeat of the GSA at Fort Gaines. Georgia had so many problems besides Haven that we kind of got lost in the shuffle, and were glad for it. Grandfather always kept his word, and he rammed through Congress the constitutional amendment that let women vote, despite some of the conservative opposition. Grandfather simply proved that he could not be stopped when he set his mind to a goal.

Anyone, male or female, who is a citizen of Haven and over the age of 17 can vote in any election of his or her district, and there are few people who do not vote at every opportunity. The majority of office holders are men simply because most women are too busy with raising children and running the home to spend a significant amount of time in elected office.

Our military is the envy of all who know us well. The one requirement of citizenship that does have its detractors is that everyone must spend three years on active duty with the Haven Army and 20 years in the active reserve. Actually, very few people complain about those requirements because the main duty of the reserve is to spend one hour a week in target practice with the S2 rifle or whatever other weapon might be appropriate for their military job—artillery, sapper, or observation balloonist. Most people, male or female, treat this as a mini-vacation and enjoy the party held afterward, no alcohol allowed.

Our economy is very strong, and Fort Gaines now rivals Atlanta for population size. It is well on its way to becoming the most important city and seaport in this area. We have dredged the Chattahoochee River deep enough to handle ocean-going ships as far as Fort Gaines, despite some complaints from places like Mobile and New Orleans. Fie on them; let them treat foreign goods the way we do, and their economies should improve.

The railroads in Haven have all converted to the standard gauge of 56½ inches, and our railroad service is among the best to be found anywhere in the world. A few railroads in the Confederacy have also converted or are in the process of doing so. That is so that they can route freight from Fort Gaines through to its destination without having to make the changes to their rolling stock or else shift the loads from one freight car to another. Either one of those operations is just too expensive.

Grandfather Stellinski left a large family. He and my grandmother had two more children, and the children had a total of six more. There are 21 of us grandchildren, and we are hard at work increasing the number of their descendants. My uncles have continued Grandfather Stellinski’s political and gun manufacturing career. There is now an air-powered machine gun that is selling well in Europe, especially to the Germans and French. Of course, the USA is a steady customer, but the CSA just will not spend the necessary money—I suspect it is because they just do not have it available.

Anyway, there is talk of Haven applying for entry into the USA as a new state. That will really frost the CSA. At the rate we are growing, Haven may well take over all of what used to be Georgia and a significant portion of Alabama and Florida. I hope I live long enough to see that happen.