The Call of Service and the Trial of War From abolitionists to copperheads, from patriotic volunteer soldiers to deserters, the Pennsylvania Wilds lived up to its adventurous name during the Civil War era. The region not only joined the front lines, but also played its part in the abolition of slavery. Including an extensive Underground Railroad system, many defied the Federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 to help those desperate to be free pass through the region on their way to Canada. The Wilds had average citizens and heroes alike volunteer for service including women who were not nurses but acted as nurses and those who remained on the home-front. Author Kathy Meyers presents stories of how the war came to the Pennsylvania Wilds and how the people of the Wilds responded.

Kathy Myers is a native of Ridgway, Elk County, Pennsylvania. The seventh generation of her family to live in the Wilds, Myers is a historian, genealogist and writer now residing in the Beechwoods of Jefferson County. She is a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD), the founder and past governor of the Winslow Heritage Society, a member of the DuBois Area Historical Society and a member of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Myers is a juried member of the Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania. She was regent of the DuBois-Susquehanna Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Myers has published in local newspapers and in the Mayflower Quarterly, an international publication, and is a contributor to the Watershed Journal, a local literary publication. In 2021 she authored " Historic Tales of the Pennsylvania Wilds ", published by Arcadia Publishing/The History Press.