Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Southern Origins, ca. 1760-1830
2. Migration to the Frontier, ca. 1820-1840
3. Pioneer Life, ca. 1830-1850
4. From Frontier to Mature Farm Settlements, 1850-1870
5. Settlements in Decline, 1870-1900
Conclusion
Appendix: The Southern Origins of 1840 Beech and Roberts Household Heads
Notes
Index

Promotional Information

The little-known history of free black farmers in the Midwest.

About the Author

Stephen A. Vincent is Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Reviews

Vincent's book reflects a trend in US studies—plowing new interpretive ground—to ensure more inclusive ethnic and gender histories, with traditional interpretations revised. Vincent (Univ. of Wisconsin—Whitewater) reveals how African American families moved from Virginia and North Carolina to create mixed race communities (Beech and Roberts) and homesteads in frontier Indiana in the 1830s. In the South before migrating, these settlers were freed people and had been for successive generations. Land in Indiana provided them greater freedom, which few other 19th-century African Americans experienced. As they built community, they made deliberate efforts to marry others, with common heritages. . . Many avoided darker-skinned African Americans with slave heritages [for] they often perceived themselves as a distinct if not unique African-descended people. Although now in decline, these communities and farms share a heritage that passed from one generation to another, and that heritage remains vibrant through family gatherings and annual reunions. For contrast, readers might peruse Joe William Trotter Jr.'s River Jordan: African American Urban Life in the Ohio Valley (CH, Jul'98). Southern Seed is for those with interests in ethnic, sociocultural, family, or economic history. Maps; photographs; appendix; notes. All levels.
*Choice*

Vincent's book reflects a trend in US studies—'plowing' new interpretive ground—to ensure more inclusive ethnic and gender histories, with traditional interpretations revised.September 2000
*Choice*