Malice Towards None By Daniel C. Munson

The Washington County Historical Society invites you to join us for Daniel C. Munson and his work, Malice Towards None: Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, the Homestead Act, and the Massacre – and Heartwarming Survival – of the Kochendorfers.

Thursday, August 6

7:00pm – 8:00pm

Washington County Heritage Center 

This Minnesota story begins when a gravestone inscription leads the author on a search through early Minnesota history, and then U.S. and Civil War history. He discovers that four siblings orphaned by the Dakota War commissioned that inscription in memory of their parents and younger sister, and that their many descendants now live all around him. Those quiet descendants have kept many wonderful family records, and in those letters and photographs he learns that those four brave orphans lived lives of tolerance and gratitude, lives that answered President Lincoln’s hopes in that Second Inaugural Address. 

Reviews for Munson’s works include: 

 “Malice Toward None is a fascinating and heart-warming book about four orphaned children that carries a message of forgiveness and charity that is truly timeless.”      -John Lindley, Ramsey County Historical Society.

 “One of the most detailed explanations of events leading up to the Dakota Uprising that I’ve ever read…An excellent history book that also deals with the impact of major events on one family.”     -Bob Jensen, Maplewood Area Historical Society.

 “Malice Toward None…chronicles the Kochendorfers’ clash with the bloody history of their times and tells the inspiring survival story of the four kids…Munson’s book evenhandedly tells the tale, using one family’s story as the spine of a narrative that captures the complexities of the U.S.-Dakota War”     -Curt Brown, Minneapolis StarTribune.

 “This is not a bare-bones account, but rather a rich portrait of the lives of four brave orphans, supported and filled in by original authentic letters and photographs preserved by their descendants.”      -Sarah Bell, Hennepin History Museum.

“I was really impressed with [the] writing. Excellent work.”    -Jeff Williamson, Bloomington Historical Society and the Pond-Dakota Heritage Society.