Israel on the Appomattox

June 21, 2004
In 1796, a few months after writing his will manumitting his 90 slaves and granting them 400 acres, Richard Randolph died; this meticulously researched book is an account of the aftermath of that gesture. Ely, professor of history and black studies at William and Mary and author of The Adventures of Amos 'n' Andy
, accumulates extraordinary detail about everyday life, encompassing the family histories of the former owners and the former slaves of Prince Edward County, Virginia, and the community the African-Americans built: Israel Hill. Ely scrutinizes how work was performed, marriages made, houses built, children reared, English spoken, medicine practiced, crime punished, names acquired and the extent to which "free blacks and whites interacted, even cooperated, in almost every manner we can conceive of. Except in the political realm and the jury box." Evidence of interracial marriage and of blacks bringing and often winning lawsuits against whites are just two significant finds. But while historians will be grateful for Ely's attention to uncommon sources ("the unusually dry annals of highway maintenance") and useful minutiae (midwives charged "either $2 or $3 per delivery"), plowing through his cullings will be daunting for all but the most dedicated readers. 43 illus. Agent, Richard Balkin of the Balkin Agency.