I like to spend Sundays doing historical and family history research. I made a kind of big find this past Sunday, so that is the thrust of this post. It’s longer than most and off topic of mildly humorous family incidents. But it is family—Benjamin Franklin Carter is a distant cousin, as is his wife.Continue reading “Benjamin Franklin Carter, Henry Johnson, and the Stories We Tell”
Tag Archives: slavery
April Is the Cruelest Month
He was raised in the home of Master Baker Boswell DeGraffenried and only knew himself as Hank. His mother was a housemaid to Mrs. DeGraffenried, and she went by Ginnie. It wasn’t until he was nearly ten that he heard a field hand call her “Virginia,” and he said, “Why does he call you that,Continue reading “April Is the Cruelest Month”
Angel Glow
As the light faded, so did the sound of artillery, and the musket fire was only sporadic. The sounds they had been masking all day now pierced the night–the moans, howls, screams, and curses. The man was sitting up against a tree, his left thigh useless from a wound, his right shoulder blade also immobileContinue reading “Angel Glow”
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 