The life of Davenport Padgett spanned part of the 19th century and most of the twentieth. His almost-photographic memory goes back to 1898 when he was four and saw his first train. Beginning with this first memory, he tells the reader story after story that reveal a remarkable man who loved life, appreciated people, and enjoyed every day. He said he lived his life as his father taught him: to treat every man as his brother and every woman as his sister. He also said he believed that people were good if you'd let them be and that love is the most important thing in the world.

With Freedom's Lawmakers, Eric Foner has assembled the first comprehensive directory of the over 1,500 African Americans who held political office in the South during the Reconstruction era. He has compiled an impressive amount of information about the antebellum status, occupations, property ownership, and military service of these officials -- who range from U.S. congressmen to local justices of the peace and constables. This revised paperback edition also contains new material on forty-five officials who were not included in the first edition.In his Introduction, Foner ably analyzes and interprets the roles of the black American officeholders. Concise biographies, in alphabetical order, trace the life histories of individuals -- many previously unknown -- who played important parts in the politics of the period. This useful and informative volume also includes an index by state, by occupation, by office during Reconstruction, by birth status, and by topic.

Thomas Smith (1648-1694) was born at Exeter, England. He married his step sister, Barbara Atkins. They had two sons, 1670-1672. The family immigrated to America in 1684 and settled in South Carolina. He was appointed "Landgrave" in 1691 and granted 48,000 acres of land. Barbara Smith died in 1687 and he married 2) Sabina de Vignon. He died at his Medway Plantation on Back River, twenty miles from Charleston, South Carolina. Descendants listed lived in South Carolina, North Carolina, and elsewhere.

In her diary, Mary Boykin Chesnut, the wife of a Confederate general and aid to president Jefferson Davis, James Chestnut, Jr., presents an eyewitness account of the Civil War.