I was about twelve years old. Pastor Davis had come from the pulpit to stand front and center of the congregation, calling on all who wished to accept Jesus as their personal savior to come on down. I rose from my seat, and side-stepped over my neighbors, finally reaching the center aisle. I walked down … Continue reading Professing Faith, Confessing Allegiance
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The Cruel War Was Raging, Anderson Had to Fight
Reckonings come with a whoosh of adrenaline. Stinging insights fall over, around, under questions, like water tumbling over stones. The poet Wendell Berry wrote (1): It may be that when we no longer know what to dowe have come to our real work,and that when we no longer know which way to gowe have come … Continue reading The Cruel War Was Raging, Anderson Had to Fight
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How The Words Were Passed: Reappraising
I've been reading, and re-reading, Clint Smith's remarkable book, How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. This series of posts is the outgrowth of my underlined pages and margin notes, inspired by Smith's stories, prompted by his questions. My words will be an attempt to reckon with the … Continue reading How The Words Were Passed: Reappraising
Amanuensis Day: The Last Will and Testament of Happy Stone
North Carolina, wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 for Happy Stone, Franklin County; accessed digitally on ancestry.com, 20 August 2021. On a Tuesday morning in March three springs before her death, Happy Stone sat with H. H. Davis and Robert Mannas and dictated the terms of what should happen to her farm and estate upon her … Continue reading Amanuensis Day: The Last Will and Testament of Happy Stone
Amanuensis Day: Happy Stone’s Land Goes to the Next Generation
Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of North Carolina, 1823; digitally accessed from the UNC library, North Carolina Maps, 18 Aug 2021, (https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ncmaps/id/178). My 4x great-grandmother, Kerenhappuch "Happy" Stone watched the sun rise from her home on Cypress Creek, Franklin County, North Carolina. Today, as I wait for the sun to peek from behind Storm Fred's … Continue reading Amanuensis Day: Happy Stone’s Land Goes to the Next Generation
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 