Publisher's Synopsis
A skillful dexterity with piles of raw material and fidelity to the facts dominates Edward Haynsworth, Jr.'s account of the banks of this river of history. Adults become infants and the dead live again as the story of these families unravel. Small tales of narrow escapes and young love, transcriptions of historical texts and personal letters, images of the very people who began the epoch that continues today, this book uncovers footsteps on a long journey. Haynsworth follows the lineage of his maternal ancestors back six generations so that his family and future generations can know the people who decided their destinies. It is a privilege of the blissful to live not knowing that their present is a marionette attached to the past. Like an amnesia patient, we forget that our ancestors decided our current condition. Someone made the choice to move to the New World, to raise their children in the Deep South, to marry a certain kind of man or woman, to be a certain kind of person, to push their children toward education, etc. One choice determined what language Morgan's would speak English. The journey-which chooses our parents, their occupation, their education, their social station, even how well they love us-starts before us and will end after us. We now have a few moments to influence the path traveled and history made. This Morgan genealogy documents a family origin and will help individuals locate their destinies.
