There is just too much information to pack in. by Doubleday. The State of Jones is a true story about the South during the Civil War—the real South, an authentic, hardscrabble place where poor men were forced to fight a rich man’s war for slavery and cotton. … The following month, Confederate Maj. Amos McLemore arrived in Ellisville and began hunting them down with soldiers and hounds. I really like stuff about the Civil War and love stories that are from unpopular and generally untold viewpoints. Downtown has some old brick buildings with wrought-iron balconies. Significant, Obscure in Civil War History [full disclosure: main character, Newt Knight, is my first cousin, 4 times removed] short ad for movie released today 6/24 from Smithsonian mag: Matthew McConaughey thought the Free State of Jones script was the most exciting Civil War story he had ever read, and knew immediately that he wanted to play Newt Knight. I would have gave this a better review if the chapters had not been so long. Some were staunch Unionists. “There was no Free State of Jones,” he concluded. And while it was not unusual for a white man to father children with black women during this time, what Newton Knight did was VERY unusual -- he not only acknowledged his children and his union with Rachel, but he went out of his way to make sure that Rachel was able to inherit a share of his land. A Confederate colonel named William N. Brown reported that corrupt tax officials had “done more to demoralize Jones County than the whole Yankee Army.”. It is a true story, and his life and family had far reaching effects in the years that follow. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. It really is a story of the poor yeoman farmer in the South who had little in common with the upper elite of the Confederate army who ultimately came to the conclusion that the Southern motive were not worth fighting and dying for. Modern Ellisville is dominated by the sprawling campus of Jones County Junior College, where a semiretired history professor named Wyatt Moulds was waiting for me in the entrance hall. Here's a book to confound your sense of the Civil War era deep south as "unified, racist & Confederate". Some scholars think he was pressed back into service for the Siege of Vicksburg, but there’s no solid evidence that he was there. It’s part of the culture here. “It’s generational,” he said. “I can’t be certain, but a 90-year-old man named Odell Holyfield told me this was the place,” says Gavin. This sounds really interesting. In effect, “Free State of Jones” is a three-part film, about the Civil War, the Reconstruction era, and the mid-twentieth-century civil-rights movement. It was also Rachel who had probably been single-handedly responsible for keeping Knight alive when he was first on the run. Newt’s right-hand man, Jasper Collins, came from a big family of staunch Mississippi Unionists. The authors did a good job of combining the general history of the war with the particular history of Jones County, although sometimes the sections on the general history seemed to take an over long time to explain. The State of Jones - Kindle edition by Jenkins, Sally, Stauffer, John. She has alleged her constitutional rights were violated and that the December raid at her home was an act of retaliation for speaking out. This was the era that the term "A rich man's war & a poor man's fight" was first coined. Yes. He gave that single long interview in 1921, revealing a laconic sense of humor and a strong sense of right and wrong, and he died the following year, in February 1922. I heard the authors on NPR and thought that the story sound intriguing. A fictionalised account of the life of Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), who deserts the Confederate army after the 1862 Battle of Corinth. It’s not even past.”. Ross thinks Knight’s character and beliefs are most clearly revealed by his actions after the war. The first thing he did was take a canoe trip down the Leaf River, to get a feel for the area. There is a lot about Newton Knight that we will never know. Before the Civil War, Jones County, Mississippi's population was only 12% slave, fewer than any other county in the state. We can only speculate about his reasons. Free State of Jones is a noble, quiet, solemn and slow historical drama -- polite words for saying it's duller than dirt. |, (© 2015 STX Productions, LLC. What happened to American loyalists in the South after secession? I think the details of what happened to the soldiers and slaves is what kept me reading. Jones, 36, an Owings resident and graduate of Calvert High School, becomes the first African American female from Calvert to represent the county in the state legislature. You'll be introduced to a brand new cast of characters, the South's view of some important battles (Vicksburg just to name one), and the "evolution" from slavery to segregation. Why do those who love the confederacy, especially in Mississippi, not wave the Bonnie Blue Flag for historical purposes? “Or they’ll be nice to us in private, and pretend they don’t know us in public,” added Marsh, who lived in Washington, D.C. for decades. I heard the authors on NPR and thought that the story sound intriguing. This is the story of the Unionists who fought on the side of the Union even though they were deep in Confederate territory and formed independently of the Union Army. I won't rehash the plot. A solid mid-range historical work written for a general audience. “He was a family man all right!” said Marsh. It is a swampy, rural area, dotted with churches and blue-collar establishments. Its secessionist candidate received only 24 votes, while the “cooperationist” candidate, John H. Powell, received 374. After many decades of living in the outside world, they are back in Soso, Mississippi, dealing with prejudice from all directions. With a company of like-minded white men in southeast Mississippi, he did what many Southerners now regard as unthinkable. Knight and his fellow insurrecti. Joseph Hosey is a Jones County forester and wild mushroom harvester who was hired as an extra for the movie and ended up playing a core member of the Knight Company. There was some very modest cotton production in the area, and a small slaveholding elite that included Newt Knight’s grandfather, but Jones County had fewer slaves than any other county in Mississippi, only 12 percent of its population. I would have gave this a better review if the chapters had not been so long. I have read numerous civil war books, but this tale was unfamilar to me. In the middle of the Civil War, after participating as a Southern soldier in two losing battles, Newton Knight left the Confederate Army and returned to his home in Jones County, Mississippi. After seeing the film ( which I loved) I decided to give the book a try. In 2006, the filmmaker Gary Ross was at Universal Studios, discussing possible projects, when a development executive gave him a brief, one-page treatment about Newton Knight and the Free State of Jones. Free State of Jones Trailer: Matthew McConaughey In The Civil War The first trailer has been released for Free State of Jones, the Civil War tale starring Matthew McConaughey, based on the true story of Newt Knight. Sadly it also points out. Free State of Jones is a noble, quiet, solemn and slow historical drama -- polite words for saying it's duller than dirt. A Small Georgia Town Was Trying to Play by the Rules. Ross talks about these scholars in a tone of worship and adulation, as if they’re rock stars or movie stars—and none more so than Eric Foner at Columbia, the dean of Reconstruction experts. Although I knew that there were Unionist yeoman farmers who opposed the Confederacy in North Carolina from some other reading I had done, I knew nothing about such people in the deep Southern state of Mississippi. The story continued with what happened to the loyalists during Reconstruction. “And ol’ Newt was skinny-dipping in the wrong pool.”. Powered by JustWatch Gary Ross ’ “Free State of Jones” is based on one of the most fascinating true stories of the Civil War. Unheard of at the time. I knew nothing about the particulars of the story of Newton Knight and his fellow countians/Mississippians who fought in Mississippi to preserve the Union. (At the urging of Ross, Stauffer and co-author Sally Jenkins published their own book on the Jones County rebellion, in 2009.) In the new film "Free State of Jones," Matthew McConaughey plays Confederate soldier Newton Knight, and depending on whom you ask, Knight was either a hero or a … They were able for a short time make Confederate civil authorities flee the county. Soon afterward, there was a mass meeting of deserters from four Piney Woods counties. Newton Knight is a strong character with a definite worldview on things. It is also the story of Newton Knight who was a member of the Jones County Unionists and also a white man who "married" an African American woman and raised a family, who he acknowledged as his own, with her. The book does a great job presenting the class differences of the South, which sometimes gets lost in the discussion. This was unheard of in Mississippi at that time! They were deep in the swamps, being supplied with food and information by local sympathizers and slaves, most notably Rachel. “He was a Primitive Baptist who didn’t drink, didn’t cuss, doted on children and could reload and fire a double-barreled, muzzle-loading shotgun faster than anyone else around,” said Moulds. They vowed to resist capture, defy tax collectors, defend each other’s homes and farms, and do what they could to aid the Union. ”, Matthew McConaughey thought the Free State of Jones script was the most exciting Civil War story he had ever read, and knew immediately that he wanted to play Newt Knight. Perhaps as important, “The Free State of Jones” suggests that there is a way forward in any society with deep divisions of class and race: that commitment, understanding, shared goals, and collective struggle can overcome prejudice, parochialism, and reaction. I’m still reading history books all the time. It is both heartbreaking and inspiring!! From what I can tell, the title is well-resear. I drove past many small chicken farms, a large modern factory making transformers and computers, and innumerable Baptist churches. “The Free State of Jones” emerges at a time when the number of TV shows and movies about American slavery has reached critical mass. New York Times bestselling author Sally Jenkins and distinguished Harvard professor John Stauffer mine a nearly forgotten piece of Civil War history and strike gold in this surprising account of the only Southern county to secede from the Confederacy. Not only does he … This book mixes fact with some pretty accurate sounding conjecture. Free State of Jones. From 1863 to 1865, most of the southeastern part of Mississippi was opposed to the Confederacy and the then government of the state. Yeomen--poor whites farming small patches of land and owning no slaves--had nothing to gain from secession or war. There is just too much information to pack in. The state of Jones by Sally Jenkins Publication date 2009 Topics Knight, Newton, -- ca. In the spring of 1864, the Knight Company overthrew the Confederate authorities in Jones County and raised the United States flag over the county courthouse in Ellisville. Jones, 31, was arrested on Jan. 17 and accused of breaking into a state messaging system and encouraging people to “speak up” about COVID-19. He was “a man who lived by the Bible and the barrel of a shotgun,” McConaughey says in an email. Thus, I wanted to read something else by this skilled and careful storyteller. Knight was a Confederate soldier who deserted and led a packet of like-minded soldiers in guerrilla warfare against The South. When the book reached the end of the Civil War, there were still three hours of audio left, and I wondered what else could be told. Laurel, the biggest town, stands apart. If you like Southern history, especially the Civil War era, this drawn out account might be a good bet for you. The grand old columned courthouse has a Confederate monument next to it, and no mention of the anti-Confederate rebellion that took place here. Additionally, I searched for the Compiled Military Service Record for Newton Knight in the CMSRs of Confederate Soldiers (M269) from the State of. Particularly Mississippi after the war was horrific. So Hosey drove up to the locked gate, and then swiped up the relevant photographs on his phone. “They were making an effort to be mustered into the U.S. Service.” Indeed, several of the Jones County Scouts later succeeded in joining the Union Army in New Orleans. We make our way around the lakeshore, passing beaver-gnawed tree stumps and snaky-looking thickets. Edit. He gave me ten minutes on his family tree, and when I interrupted to ask about the Rosin Heels and Newt Knight, he stopped, looked puzzled, and began to chuckle. A white man was convicted of being black; the conviction was overturned; he became legally white again. This is one of the more intriguing tales of the Civil War. Dirt farmer Newton Knight was none of these things. 39 $18.00 $18.00. Yes No. With Bob DeVito, Jonna Humphries, Daniel Hymanson, Sauvion Morkunas. “It never existed.”. Knight was ostracized even by his comrades in arms who fought against the Confederacy. And scandalous, even to -- or rather, ESPECIALLY to -- members of Knight's own white family. However, you do not have to lose one to embrace the other. The worst of it comes from within their extended family. Apparently the book is in the process of being screen scripted to be made into a movie. There are so many books about the Civil War that I'm surprised to find one that is totally unique. Hosey really wanted to take me to Newt Knight’s grave. Some of the documentation of Knight during this period and after is sadly fragmentary, because, after all, while the Confederacy lost the Civil War, her racists essentially won the peace, & had everything their own way for about the following hundred years. The Free State of Jones by Victoria E. Bynum, December 8, 2000, The University of North Carolina Press edition, Hardcover in English Some of the material, like Grant's gritty siege of Vicksburg, is familiar ground to us Civil War buffs. 4.0 out of 5 stars 100. With two rat terriers trotting at his heels, and a long wooden staff in his hand, J.R. Gavin leads me through the woods to one of the old swamp hide-outs. The sadist part of the story was the rise of the clan and the suppression of the blacks in the 1870s, as former le. He was a nightmarish opponent in a backwoods wrestling match, and one of the great unsung guerrilla fighters in American history. 1829-1922, Unionists (United States Civil War) -- Mississippi -- Jones County, Jones County (Miss.) She thinks he relished being a soldier. The history of individual families, black and white, from those years who lived through the worst of the violence, particularly in the deep south states like Mississippi, is one of terror and violence, fear and death, with a twisting of politics, history, culture, language, and geography so intensely tangled that it was easy to forget, or hard to remember, who had won the great Civil war and why it had been fought. It's the true story of a poor white farmer from Mississippi who deserted from the Confederate army in the Civil War. The State of Jones is a true story about the South during the Civil War—the real South. In the middle of the war Jones county was the center of Confederate deserters who were pro-union. After Reconstruction, with the former Confederates back in charge, the Klan after him, and Jim Crow segregation laws being passed, Knight retreated from public life to his homestead on the Jasper County border, which he shared with Rachel until her death in 1889, and continued to share with her children and grandchildren. But I am condensing a story which Jenkins & Stauffer tell much better. Terms of Use The two sisters sitting across the table were gently amused. Though it was once the site of the most revolutionary Civil War rebellion, its residents now favor a more conservative approach. There were a considerable number of anti-slavery, pro-Unionists living in southern Mississippi, some of whom took part in guerilla warfare against Conferderate forces. 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A direct descendant of Newt Knight’s grandfather, he was heavily involved in researching the film and ensuring its historical accuracy. They had seen this many times before. Continue The write up on the cover is misleading when it says the Jones county seceded for the Confederacy. Does a good job at showing the nature of backcountry fighting and how the home guard units operated in the south. “I wouldn’t have him in my house. The old county seat, and ground zero for the Free State of Jones, is Ellisville, now a pleasant, leafy town of 4,500 people. I’m here in Jones County, Mississippi, to breathe in the historical vapors left by Newton Knight, a poor white farmer who led an extraordinary rebellion during the Civil War. It is the story of southerners who believed in the Union, who not only refused to fight for the Confederacy, but actively fought against it. So I went and did Hunger Games, but always keeping an eye on this. “This was before Lincoln and 12 Years a Slave, and it was very hard to get this sort of a drama made. “I’m not that guy.” (Turns out he is Doug Jefcoat, without the “e.”), He laughed uproariously, then settled down and gave me his thoughts. He resented, naturally, being conscripted into a Confederacy which did not represent him nor his interests, nor the interests of the poor people with whom he lived. See 2 questions about The State of Jones…. It wasn’t just the starvation rations, arrogant harebrained leadership and appalling carnage. Philip B. Kunhardt III, co-author of Looking for Lincoln Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer tell the fascinating tale of an unforgettable figure–6’4” Mississippi yeoman farmer Newton Knight, and his beguiling “second wife” and former slave, Rachel. California Do Not Sell My Info At first I mistook him for a preacher, but he’s a retired electronic engineer who writes self-published novels about the rapture and apocalypse. The premise, a white man "married" to an African-American lady, in race-torn Mississippi during the reign of Jim Crow is an intriguing one. What happened to American loyalists in the South after secession? Jenkins and Stauffer show how a country man changed the course of the Civil War and racial relations in the postbellum years and into the mid-20th century. After the war, Newton Knight not only married a black woman but he fought a decades long battle to see to it that their children could own their own land and have access to education. TheFree State of Joneswas a small self-proclaimed "free state" that existed from 13 October 1863 to May 1865, consisting of both white and black rebels who seceded from the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The Free State of Jones, Movie Edition: Mississippi's Longest Civil War (The Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies) by Victoria E. Bynum | Jan 25, 2016. “Now I’m going to say something that might offend you,” he begins, and proceeds to do just that, by referring in racist terms to “Newt’s descendants” in nearby Soso, saying some of them are so light-skinned “you look at them and you just don’t know.”, I stand there writing it down and thinking about William Faulkner, whose novels are strewn with characters who look white but are deemed black by Mississippi’s fanatical obsession with the one-drop rule. “I’m not a racist, OK, but I am a segregationist,” he said. This part of Mississippi was dubbed the Piney Woods, known for its poverty and lack of prospects. After he and Serena separated—they never divorced—Newt Knight caused a scandal that still reverberates by entering a common-law marriage with Rachel and proudly claiming their mixed-race children. Showing all 15 items Jump to: Filming Locations (14) Filming Dates (1) Filming Locations. Co-author Sally Jenkins writes some hard-hitting columns for the Washington Post Sports. Did Jones County, Mississippi really secede from the Confederacy during the Civil War? Saw the author on the Daily Show. In the spring of 1864, the Knight Company overthrew the Confederate authorities in Jones County and raised the United States flag over the county courthouse in Ellisville. I liked the book ( and coming from a person that mostly reads fiction) it was engrossing. “His job was to defend the rights of freed African-Americans in one of Mississippi’s bloodiest elections. This is the topic at hand for a new roundtable discussion conducted by Guitar World. It depicts Jones County as Davis County, and Ellisville as Leesburg. “I’m one of the few liberals you’re going to meet here, but I’m a Piney Woods liberal,” he said. The Registered Agent on file for this company is Thalia Jones and is located at 1620 Butler Creek Rd, Ashland, OR 97520. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. This book tells an amazing story and is written in such a way that it is almost like a novel and not a history book. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Ross was instantly intrigued, both by the character and the revelation of Unionism in Mississippi, the most deeply Southern state of all. These were disconcerting in a history book, but all in all I thought this was a very good story told well. This book mixes fact with some pretty accurate sounding conjecture. There was a real "Free State of Jones," but it more represented an extreme case (which actually came to violence in the form of military skirmishes) of the inherent internal divisions of the efforts to create a decentralized slaveholding Republic. And like all poor, white, ignorant trash, he was in it for himself. Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer talked about their book The State of Jones (Doubleday; June 23, 2009). The authors used documentation to support, when available, the story of county of Jones and its resistance to the authority of the Confederacy. But he didn't just desert. “I guess that’s why he had three of them. Known as the City Beautiful, it was created by Midwestern timber barons who razed the longleaf pine forests and built themselves elegant homes on oak-lined streets and the gorgeous world-class Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. He wanted to meet me at Jitters Coffeehouse & Bookstore in Laurel, so he could show me an old map on the wall. The movie intrigued me and I found this book very satisfying. The Knight Negroes, as these children were known, were shunned by whites and blacks alike. The county was known as the Free State of Jones, and some say it actually seceded from the Confederacy. 「The Free State of Jones」の作品情報や特集、ニュースなどの一覧 マシュー・マコノヒー、南北戦争で黒人奴隷を率いたヒーローに！2月日本公開 Dirt farmer Newton Knight was none of these things. “When you grow up in the South, you hear all the time about your ‘heritage,’ like it’s the greatest thing there is,” he says. In Knight’s defiance of both the Confederate Army and the deepest taboos of Southern culture McConaughey sees an uncompromising and deeply moral leader. Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer mine a nearly forgotten piece of Civil War history and strike gold in this surprising account of the only Southern county to secede from the Confederacy. Written and directed by four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross (THE HUNGER GAMES, SEABISCUIT, PLEASANTVILLE), and starring Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey. ス … By October, he had captured more than 100 deserters, and exchanged threatening messages with Newt Knight, who was back on his ruined farm on the Jasper County border. But the leading scholar of the Knight-led rebellion, Victoria Bynum, author of The Free State of Jones, points out that Knight had enlisted, under no threat of conscription, a few months after the war began, in July 1861. From what I can tell, the title is well-researched and spot on. Newt’s grave has an emblem of Sal, his beloved shotgun, and the legend, “He Lived For Others.” He’d given instructions that he should be buried here with Rachel. Some of the material, like Grant's gritty siege of Vicksburg, is familiar ground to us Civil War buffs. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Sadly it also points out the post war Mississippi that refused to even ratify the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution until 1995. “If someone—no matter what their color—was being mistreated or being used, if a poor person was being used by someone to get rich, that was a simple wrong that needed to be righted in Newt’s eyes....He did so deliberately, and to the hell with the consequences.” McConaughey sums him up as a “shining light through the middle of this country’s bloodiest fight.