That summer, Henry Pratt announced his intentions to leave home after Christmas. Ethan and Epsey were married two weeks after his departure, and they moved in with the Nischmans. Ethan continued helping his father in the shoemaker’s shop and received a small salary that was enough to meet his new family’s needs.

One day Mr. Pratt surprised Ethan by offering him a larger portion of the profits and telling him that he would someday own the shop, but Ethan replied that he and Epsey planned to join Henry as soon as he was settled in North Carolina. The Pratts were disappointed and angry, but Epsey’s father was delighted with the decision. The Nischmans were obsessed with evangelizing the American Indians, and they were happy for their daughter and son-in-law to be living and perhaps doing missionary work in the backcountry.

CHAPTER 2

Sons of Liberty in Norfolk

1765

When Henry Pratt left Philadelphia, he took with him only what he could carry on his back: his clothes, some shoemaker’s tools and supplies, and forty-three silver Spanish pieces of eight he had been able to save during the previous five years. His ultimate goal was to settle in North Carolina, but he was not in a hurry. He followed a relatively good road down through Delaware and Maryland, paused to spend two days in Annapolis, and then crossed over the Chesapeake Bay to Virginia on a ketch that served as a ferry. After wandering around the town and observing the bustling trade in leather goods, Henry decided to spend a few months in Norfolk.

His first visit, early on Monday morning, was to the largest and obviously most successful shoemaker shop, where he insisted on speaking directly to the owner.

When Mr. Carlyle arrived shortly before noon, Henry judged him to be a serious businessman and explained to him that he had been a shoemaker in Philadelphia and wished to continue his trade in Norfolk. He added, to avoid any misunderstanding, that he was not an apprentice, but had years of experience.