Book excerpt: The history of Jackson County, Michigan, brims with colorful characters and noteworthy episodes nearly lost to time. Jackson abolitionists used their barns, houses and hidden compartments to harbor freedom seekers traveling on the Underground Railroad. One even repelled an armed posse from Kentucky. A prominent druggist murdered his mother in 1889 and a jail guard in 1893.Evidence suggests he murdered his father too. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to Brown's Lake for relaxation in 1935, but a media mob had other plans. A popular Blackman Township roadhouse has a longstanding tradition of entertaining pioneers, stagecoach drivers and mobsters, but its secret guests are even stranger. Join local historian Linda Hass as she delves into these and other entertaining and often-overlooked stories.