In the spring of 1861, Virginians confronted destiny—their own and their nation’s. Pivotal decisions awaited about secession, the consequences of which would unfold for a hundred years and more. But few Virginians wanted to decide at all. Instead, they talked, almost interminably. The remarkable record of the Virginia State Convention, edited in a fine modern version in 1965, runs to almost 3,000 pages, some 1.3 million words. Through the diligent efforts of William W. Freehling and Craig M. Simpson, this daunting record has now been made accessible to teachers, students, and general readers. With important contextual contributions—an introduction and commentary, chronology, headnotes, and suggestions for further reading—the essential core of the speeches, and what they signified, is now within reach. This is a collection of speeches by men for whom everything was at risk. Some saw independence and even war as glory; others predicted ruin and devastation. They all offered commentary of lasting interest to anyone concerned about the fate of democracy in crisis.

Born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1823, William Montague Browne moved to the United States in 1852 to become an editor of the New York Journal of Commerce. In 1859 he moved to Washington where he edited and finally owned the Washington Constitution. While living there he became an ardent champion of the Southern cause and when Georgia seceded he moved South. During the Civil War he served in several capacities -- Director of Conscription in Georgia, aide-de-camp to Davis, brigadier general -- and was one of those who took part in the defense of Savannah. After the war, Browne moved to Athens, Georgia, where he edited the Southern Banner for a short time, studied law and was admitted to the Georgia bar, and tried farming on a plantation in Oglethorpe County. Later he founded and edited the Southern Farm and Home and became Secretary of the Carolina Life Insurance Co., of which Jefferson Davis was president. After the failure of this company, Browne returned to Athens and was elected the first Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Georgia. - Jacket flap.

Describes 27 homes in Virginia from Toddsbury built around 1690 to Woodside Farm built in 1850 with color photographs and histories of the families who live in them.

Grayson County is famous in southwestern Virginia as the cradle of the New River settlements--perhaps the first settlements beyond the Alleghanies. The Nuckolls book is equally famous for its genealogies of the pioneer settlers of the county, which, typically, provide the names of the progenitors of the Grayson County line and their dates and places of migration and settlement, and then, in fluid progression, the names of all offspring in the direct and sometimes collateral lines of descent. Altogether somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 persons are named in the genealogies and indexed for ready reference.