DOC Southeast Asian Refugees and Immigrants in the Mill City: Changing Families; Communities; Institutions ― Thirty Years Afterward by From Brand: Vermont in History

Description

Sampson Sanders was the wealthiest landowner in Cabell County; [West] Virginia during the Anti-bellum Period; and the owner of fifty-one slaves that came to him through inheritance. Sanders never purchased or sold a slave; and upon his death; he manumitted all his slaves and provided them with the means and land to start a new life as free men and women in Michigan. This remarkable man taught his slaves to run his holdings rather than hire an overseer; and in defiance of Virginia laws; it is evident that some of his slaves could read; write and cipher. Readers and historians will appreciate this well researched perspective of life on Sander's unique plantation; as well as the history of its slaves. Thanks to nearly complete records; Carrie Eldridge is able to trace family origins back to Hannah; the family matriarch; and reconstruct the history and evolution of an African-American family from 1780 to the present. Numerous illustrations; appendices; a bibliography and indices to people and places enhance the text.