Happy Dreams of Liberty: An American Family in Slavery and Freedom
R. Isabela Morales
Oxford University Press
When Samuel Townsend died at his home in Madison County, Alabama, in November 1856, the 52-year old white planter left behind hundreds of slaves, thousands of acres of rich cotton land, and a net worth of approximately $200,000. In life, Samuel had done little to distinguish himself from other members of the South's elite slaveholding class. But he made a name for himself in death by leaving almost the entirety of his fortune to his five sons, four daughters and two nieces: all of them slaves.