Legend of the Free State of Jones, by Dr. Rudy H. Leverett

In Legend of the Free State of Jones, the first scholarly account of events in Jones County, Mississippi before and during the American Civil War, Dr. Leverett definitively put to rest the myth that Jones County, Mississippi, seceded from the Confederacy.  Even so, having little stake in slavery most Jones Countians did indeed oppose the policy of Southern secession from the Union on the eve of the Civil War.  Nevertheless, once compelled to pick a side, Dr. Leverett shows that most residents of Jones County aligned themselves with the Confederacy as they battled bands of Confederate deserters hiding in the swamps of their home turf.

One such Jones County resident was Major Amos McLemore, my great- great-grandfather.   Although opposed to Southern secession, once war was inevitable Major McLemore volunteered to raise a company, the Rosin Heels, and became its commander.  He was shot dead by deserters after returning home on a mission to round them up and return them to service in the Confederate army.  (The family's struggles following Maj. McLemore's untimely death -- his widow, Rosa Lavinia, was left to raise five children under age 12 -- is the subject of this blog.)

Dr. Leverett's book, originally published in 1984, is now available in reprint.

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Free-State-Jones-Leverett/dp/1604735716/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255272635&sr=1-1