Inherit the Land: Jim Crow Meets Miss Maggie's Will

by Gene Stowe, Carl A. Sergio (Illustrator)

Overview

About the Author:
Gene Stowe is currently head of the writing program of Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, Indiana

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604730777
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	09/18/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	322
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gene Stowe grew up in Monroe, North Carolina, and was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer for twelve years. He is head of the writing program of Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, Indiana. Learn more about the author at http://genestowe.blogspot.com/.

Carl A. Sergio earned degrees in art design and psychology at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently working in Chicago while preparing to attend graduate school.

Table of Contents

Preface     ix
Acknowledgments     xi
Prologue     3
Worlds Apart
The Marvin People     7
The White Man's World of Violence     17
The White Man's World of Power     26
The Court     37
The Rosses
Susan     49
Bob and Dennis     54
Mittie Bell     60
Sallie and Maggie     65
The Neighbors     70
The Tenants     77
The Will     83
The Cousins     90
The Trial
Jury     99
First Witness     105
George Sutton     111
Witnesses to the Will     117
Preachers     126
Frank Crane     135
Harriet Taylor     144
Cousin Margaret and the Cook     153
Visitors     161
Dr. Potts     170
Boarders     175
Alienists     179
Doctors, Neighbor, and Kin     188
News     193
Caveators Rest     198
Propounders Reply     202
R.A. Hudson     212
Character Witnesses     220
Propounders Rest     226
Sikes and Parker     230
A.M. Stack     237
E. T. Cansler     242
Charge and Verdict     248
Reaction     257
New Trial     262
The Heritage
The People     269
The Land     275
The Abundance of Peace     281
White Ross Genealogy     288
Black Ross Genealogy     294
Sources     296
Index     303

Editorial Reviews

In 1920, Maggie Ross, the richest woman in Union County, NC, died, leaving the bulk of her estate to Mittie Bell Houston and Mittie's father, Bob Ross, both of whom she had helped raise. They were black, and she was white, but she considered them her closest kin. Many of Ross's white neighbors were scandalized by her will, and dozens of relatives contested it claiming that no sane white person would leave a sizable estate to black people. The story is intriguing, but rather than providing a compelling narrative, Stowe (writing, Trinity Sch. at Greenlawn, South Bend, IN) writes with painstaking, plodding attention to detail. Much of the text documents the trial and is almost entirely composed of verbatim testimony that reads more like a transcript than a historical account. This book will be useful to researchers, especially for its competent bibliography, but will engage only the most dedicated general readers. Academic libraries with collections in Southern history or African American studies might consider purchasing.-Emily-Jane Dawson, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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