Eliza Benson's portrait is in the permanent exhibit of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History and Culture, Inner Harbour, Baltimore.

School districts are adopting this title and Hollywood is interested!

“I had to write Eliza's story. If I hadn't it might have been lost, and that would never do. ‘No-sir-ree Bob, horsefly in the buggy,’ as Eliza would say.”

“Slaveholder Marse Bradford Harrison, a citizen of St. Michaels, Maryland, gave four-year-old Eliza Ann Benson to his daughter Braddie in 1841. Eliza would be a friend and a slave to her infant owner in Harrison's way of thinking. But a friendship began and a promise was made.”

“Eliza was all good things rolled into one package...and she was smart, too. She could size up a situation and straighten it out 'before you could say boo to a goose.' She was warm when warmth was needed, strong when strength was needed, and brave when only bravery could lift sorrow above heartbreak.”

“That Eliza was born a slave is beside the point. Small in body and monumental in character, she was a ‘Worthy of Maryland’ for three generations.”

...Nan Hayden Agle, Author & Granddaughter of Braddie (now 100 years young)

“A story of black and white which moves far beyond color associations to humane treatment and human lives well-lived, both in times of plenty and in poverty. Definitely not a politically correct story in terms of today's standards, this story intones family, uprightness, steadfastness and virtue. It extols harmony and togetherness in a family which had little else in post-war Maryland.”

...G. Ray Thompson, PhD., Chairperson History Department, Salisbury University
Co-Founder, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture

“Agle has embroidered authentic dialect and assumptive dialogue to produce a very readable and touching story.”

...John Goodspeed, Book Critic, Star Democrat

“It is a beautiful story that we feel is especially needful in these days of racial tension. We would encourage everyone to read, enjoy, and promote this timely book.”

...Carol Connell, Book Buyer

“I found your book charming and sensitive. It's wonderful to see how love conquered the racial barrier. I felt you let us really know Eliza. What a beautiful spirit, compassion, loyalty, honesty and devotion she had. I'm thankful for your efforts to write this wonderful book and letting us meet your family through your words. It's a delightful story.”

...Mary Ellen Petersen, Florida, a reader

A biography of the Rev. Joshua Thomas, born in Somerset County, Maryland, this important historical work chronicles the daily life of one of God's most dedicated messengers. This important work documents the beginning of Methodism on the Chesapeake Bay Islands and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware from the late 1700's to the 1850's.

Includes details about the occupation of Tangier Island/Harbor by a British fleet of 12,000 troops during the War of 1812. It also describes the British bombardment of Baltimore and St. Michaels, Maryland ... when townspeople outwitted the British.

Funds are currently being raised to help restore the Joshua Thomas Meeting House on Deal Island, Md. A portion of the proceeds from the on-line sale of this book will be donated to that important cause.

New to this reprint: Photograph of lst Maryland Infantry Regimental Colors ("Bucktail Flag") presented by the Ladies of Baltimore (Maryland State Archives Special Collection).

Although For Maryland's Honor is a novel, the scholarly research and attention to detail is evident throughout the book. Included are details about Lt. Col. Bradley T. Johnson and his wife, known affectionately by the soldiers as Mrs. Capt. Bradley, who together were successful in recruiting and equipping Marylanders into Confederate service under the Maryland banner. This historical novel is a must read for men and women who seek to feel what it meant to be a citizen of Maryland during the Civil War. Starting with the political fervor surrounding Maryland in October 1860, it carries the reader through the Baltimore riots and most of the Civil War. In For Maryland's Honor, the woman's perspective of the "War for Southern Independence" on the home front is eloquently portrayed by the feisty Miss Marion Palmer who provides both the love interest and conflict...as her loyalty is to the North.

The author was the son of a Maryland Confederate veteran and well-known lecturer and writer on Confederate history. Mr. Everett also co-edited the re-publication of R.G. Horton's, A Youth's History of the Civil War.

“For Maryland's Honor is not primarily a story of campaign and battle, but rather an account of one family's confrontation with the issues & crises of these time. If Everett's book is foremost a celebration and defense of Maryland's Confederate Heritage, it is also very much a romance. The Strength of Everett's beliefs and his veneration for Marylanders who espoused the Confederate cause make For Maryland's Honor an interesting contribution to the literature of the Lost cause.”

...Brian Pohanka, military historian, author, lecturer
Historical and military advisor to feature films
Gettysburg and Glory, Senior Researcher
Writer and advisor on all Time-Life Civil War books
Consultant for the A & E History Channel television documentary Civil War Journal

by Dorothy Pearl Ward Hancock

This story was originally written by a grandmother, Dorothy Pearl Ward Hancock, from Stockton, Maryland, who wanted her grandchildren to know about her own very loving grandmother. Later, it was put into booklet form together with a photographic section of the people and environs mentioned in the story. Original watercolor illustrations by Pocomoke City, MD., artist, William H. Buchanan, further enhance the passages of a by-gone era. This is a charming story that emphasizes family, hard work and fortitude. Older readers have warmed to the author's descriptive scenes as being much like their own childhood. Others find it enchanting as an educational tool to young ones whose often hectic lives barely resemble the life and times of previous generations.

This could be a favorite bedtime story to the very young as they cuddle in a rocking chair with a grandparent who is both reading and telling about his/her own childhood. For grandchildren who live far and wide, one might send the booklet, read it on cassette and then record his/her own remembrances. What an enduring gift that would be!

Also in the same book...

by Dorothy Pearl Ward Hancock

Same author credits this amazing woman as the person who most influenced her life. This pioneering multiple-business owner led a full life yet always found time to help others in need. Her belief in women voting and higher education made her very unique among her family and community. Great descriptions of daily life in the then bustling railroad towns of Franklin City/Greenbackville, Va. Photographic section of Davis, Ward and Hancock families born in the mid-1800's into the 1900's.

Included in both stories are births, deaths and marriages of the Ward, Davis and Hancock families. This publication could also serve as an example of how to begin your own family memoirs!

by Rev. Randolph McKim—Formerly 1st Lieut. and A.D.C., Third Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia

This historical booklet is a compilation of research from the Enoch Pratt Library, Baltimore and data in private collections. The Oration was given at the State House in Annapolis on the occasion of a captured Maryland Confederate Regimental Battle Flag being returned to it's homeland by the State of Ohio. This unifying, patriotic speech was given before an audience comprised of veterans from both the Union Army and Army of Northern Virginia.

Excerpt: "Fellow Citizens, the people that is ashamed of its heroic past—the people that forgets its heroic dead—is already dying at the heart and we believe it will make for a greater strength and glory of the United States if the sentiments that animate us today shall be perpetuated generation after generation."

Included are copies of General Orders of Gen. Jos. E. Johnston and Maj. Gen. Ewell; Rosters and casualties of Co. H., 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA and Co A, 2nd Maryland Infantry, C.S.A.; names and ranks of known Marylanders who served in units in other States' regiments plus patriotic poetry.

A portion of the proceeds from sale of this booklet will help benefit a scholarship fund to send a deserving high school student to The Civil War Institute held annually at Gettysburg College, PA.

Edited by Rev. Joseph F. DiPaolo

This well-researched book explores the religious, social and cultural life of Delmarva before & during the Civil War through descriptions of slavery and freemen, camp meetings, country weddings, funerals, tourism, transportation as well as interaction of blacks and whites. Indexed, footnotes.

“The recollections of circuit rider Adam Wallace are a fascinating window on religious and social life on the Peninsula in the 19th century. With painstaking research the editor, Joseph F. DiPaolo, has not only provided an excellent text, but has also supplied invaluable context and explanatory detail in the notes. This is a work that secular and church historians will find very useful.”

...Charles Yrigoyen, Jr., General Secretary
General Commission on Archives and History
The United Methodist Church

“Little has been written about Methodism on the Delmarva Peninsula, save for the biography of Joshua Thomas, also written by Adam Wallace. In the early days, the Methodist were not meticulous record keepers and much of the history has been lost, or so we thought. This magnificent effort of the Rev. DiPaolo of producing writings of Adam Wallace, annotated for the modern reader, unveils the Peninsula from the remaining two decades of the antebellum period. There is much social and political history to be mined for this material which has been heretofore unavailable. My Business Was To Fight The Devil is a good read for those interested in religion, family, political and social history of the region.”

...Rebecca Miller, Director
Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture, Salisbury Univeristy

“To ride the circuit with Adam Wallace is to remember and celebrate again and again the wonderful presence of God that enables extraordinary, life-changing, world-changing ministry through faithful people in every generation.”

...Bishop Peter D. Weaver
The Philadelphia Area United Methodist Church

Crossings is a collection of Eastern Shore stories that delve into the complex relationships and histories that exist here on the Delmarva Peninsula. These stories look at the tumultuous bond between man and nature and the price man must frequently pay for his naive mistakes. Extensive research and interviews result in intriguing stories about Franklin City (now a ghost town), Chincoteague, Crisfield, Stockton and more.

Fowler is the 2001 recipient of the Sophie Kerr Prize, given to the Washington College (MD) senior with the most literary promise. The Sophie Kerr prize is the largest undergraduate literary award in the United States. Several of the stories in Crossings were part of that award-winning collection.

A well-known figure in the Delaware Valley region, Rev. Andrew Manship (1823-1892) was, in the words of a contemporary, "a remarkable man." An ordained Methodist preacher, he was a passionate evangelist, savvy businessman, popular author, publisher, church builder, and active supporter of the Union and its soldiers during the Civil War. As a native of Maryland's Eastern Shore, Rev. Manship's relationships with African Americans, slave and free, both reflected and transcended the norms of his day. His story captures the spirit of so many risk-taking individuals who built America, and shaped the evangelical faith of the people during the mid-19th century.

“Those who experience this work produced by Rev. Joe DiPaolo will, as I did, have your hearts strangely warmed as you too take this miraculous and intriguing glimpse into the life of this revolutionary, captivating and compassionate man's journey in life and ministry.”

...From the Foreword by Bishop Violet Fisher

The author, Joseph F. DiPaolo, is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. He serves as senior pastor of the Wayne UMC and teaches at Palmer Theological Seminary and Evangelical Theological Seminary, both in Pennsylvania.

by Dr. Clara L. Small and Rev. David Briddell

This compilation of meticulous research educates the reader about the political and social climate of the Eastern Shore of Maryland which, at the time, constituted one of the largest slave-holding areas in Maryland. Recruitment practices and bounties offered give important historical background to who, when and how slaves and freed blacks enlisted and fought for freedom, justice and equality. Included: Names of 1284 U.S. Colored Soldiers from Worcester, Somerset and what is now Wicomico Counties; name of owner of each manumitted slave, date of manumission, age, if a freed black, name of regiment and company, date soldier died, disability, history of regiments and more. Illustrated with maps, photos and documents.

“Rev. Briddell and Professor Small have truly provided a much needed historical account of such brave African-Americans, those freed from their bonds and volunteers, who went forth into battle to secure liberty for all.”

...Joseph Moore, Esq., Berlin, MD

“This book is a powerful revelation of documented history of African-American men from the Eastern Shore who want to know some of the history of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. This book also speaks to the roles and contributions that African-American men made toward the freedom of themselves.”

...Mr. Gabriel Purnell, Berlin, MD

“...a first, very important step toward understanding the changing nature of slavery on the Lower Eastern Sore of Maryland...A comprehensive little-known roster of African-Americans who served in the Union forces during the Civil War with data on health, age, ownership. This is a most invaluable source for families tracing their roots.”

...G. Ray Thompson, Ph.D. Professor of History and Director, Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD

“For the genealogist, the hundreds of names and notes regarding the military service of these Eastern Shore men offer families new opportunities to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of their ancestors. For the historian, the variety of dispositions cited stimulates the researcher to delve further into the complex lives of those who fought bravely for a government in which they were still second-class citizens. Small's and Briddell's clear documentation dares the reader to leave these stones unturned.”

...Chris Haley, Director
Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland
Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD