Biography of Thomas Smith Gregory Dabney (1798-1885) of King and Queen County, Virginia. His ancestors were French Huguenots of the name of "d'Aubigne," and the surname had various spellings before it became Dabney. Thomas married twice, lived first in Gloucester County, Virginia, and in 1835 moved to Hinds County, Mississippi, where he had a large cotton plantation. When the Civil War ended, he became a vegetable farmer, selling fresh produce to New Orleans. In 1882, he retired and moved to Baltimore to live with a daughter and her family.

Published in 1887, this is a biography of Thomas Smith Dabney, the authors father. This volume paints a picture of life on a plantation in the South and the life of a good slave master, before, during and after the Civil War.