| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 309 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Cover; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Prologue; PART I: Worlds Apart; 1. The Marvin People; 2. The White Man's World of Violence; 3. The White Man's World of Power; 4. The Court; PART II: The Rosses; 5. Susan; 6. Bob and Dennis; 7. Mittie Bell; 8. Sallie and Maggie; 9. The Neighbors; 10. The Tenants; 11. The Will; 12. The Cousins; PART III: The Trial; 13. Jury; 14. First Witness; 15. George Sutton; 16. Witnesses to the Will; 17. Preachers; 18. Frank Crane; 19. Harriet Taylor; 20. Cousin Margaret and the Cook; 21. Visitors; 22. Dr. Potts; 23. Boarders; 24. Alienists |
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25. Doctors, Neighbor, and Kin26. News; 27. Caveators Rest; 28. Propounders Reply; 29. R. A. Hudson; 30. Character Witnesses; 31. Propounders Rest; 32. Sikes and Parker; 33. A. M. Stack; 34. E. T. Cansler; 35. Charge and Verdict; 36. Reaction; 37. New Trial; PART IV: The Heritage; 38. The People; 39. The Land; 40. The Abundance of Peace; White Ross Genealogy; Black Ross Genealogy; Sources; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y |
| Summary |
"In the early twentieth century, two wealthy white sisters, cousins to a North Carolina governor, wrote identical wills that left their substantial homeplace to a black man and his daughter." "Maggie Ross, whose sister Sallie died in 1909, was the richest woman in Union County, North Carolina. Upon Maggie's death in 1920, her will bequeathed her estate to Bob Ross - a black man who had grown up in the sisters' household - and his daughter Mittie Bell Houston. Mittie had also grown up with the well-to-do white women, who had shown their affection for her by building a house for her and her husband. This house, along with eight hundred acres, hundreds of dollars in cash, and two of the white family's three gold watches went to Bob Ross and Houston. As soon as the contents of the will became known, more than one hundred of Maggie Ross's scandalized cousins sued to break the will, claiming that its bequest to black people proved that Maggie Ross was mentally incompetent." "Revealing the details of this case and of the lives of the people involved in it, Gene Stowe presents a story that sheds light on and complicates our understanding of the Jim Crow South. Stowe's account of this famous court battle shows how specific individuals, both white and black, labored against the status quo of white superiority and ultimately won. A portrait of an entire generation's sins, Inherit the Land hints at the possibility for color-blind justice in small-town North Carolina."--BOOK JACKET |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 296-301) and index |
| Notes |
English |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Ross, Maggie, -1920 -- Will
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Ross, Maggie, -1920 -- Family
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Ross family.
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| SUBJECT |
Ross family fast |
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Ross, Maggie, -1920 fast |
| Subject |
African Americans -- Segregation -- North Carolina -- Union County -- History -- 20th century
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Inheritance and succession -- Social aspects -- North Carolina -- Union County
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Racism against Black people -- North Carolina -- Union County -- History -- 20th century
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Racism -- North Carolina -- Union County -- History -- 20th century
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations.
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Minority Studies.
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African Americans -- Segregation
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Families
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Inheritance and succession -- Social aspects
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Race relations
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Racism
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Wills
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| SUBJECT |
Union County (N.C.) -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century
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Union County (N.C.) -- Biography
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| Subject |
North Carolina -- Union County
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| Genre/Form |
Biographies
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History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2005032820 |
| ISBN |
9781429460644 |
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1429460644 |
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9781604730777 |
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1604730773 |
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1283434458 |
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9781283434454 |
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9786613434456 |
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6613434450 |
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