Legend of the Free State of Jones [Paperback]

Rudy H. Leverett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1984

Legend of the Free State of Jones by Rudy H. Leverett The original, full accounting of a rebellion in the Heart of Dixie. A maverick, unionist district in the heart of the Old South? A notorious county that seceded from the Confederacy? This is how Jones County, Mississippi, is known in myth and legend. Since 1864 the legend has persisted. Differing versions give the name of this new nation as Republic of Jones, Jones County Confederacy, and Free State of Jones. Over the years this story has captured the imaginations of journalists, historians, essayists, novelists, short story writers, and Hollywood film makers, although serious scholars long ago questioned the accuracy of local history accounts about a secessionist county led by Newt Knight and a band of renegades. Legend of the Free State of Jones was the first, authoritative explanation of just what did happen in Jones County in 1864 to give rise to the legend. This book surveys the facts, the records, and the history of the "Free State of Jones" and well may provide the whole story. Rudy H. Leverett was born in an unplumbed cabin in the woods outside of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He had a doctoral degree in education and spent his life writing extensively on the subjects of philosophy and the American South. He died on his birthday in 1999.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The original, full accounting of a rebellion in the heart Dixie --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Mississippi (Trd) (October 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878052275
• ISBN-13: 978-0878052271
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 3.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,463,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Free State of Jones Classic back in print, November 3, 2009

By 

Victoria Bynum - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legend of the Free State of Jones (Paperback)

It is good to see the late Dr. Leverett's classic work on the Free State of Jones back in print. In 1984, the Legend of the Free State of Jones effectively refuted the old myth that Jones County, known far and wide for its community insurrection against the Confederacy, had actually seceded from the Confederacy, drawing up documents to that effect and declaring itself an independent "republic."

With meticulous attention to documented facts, historian Leverett recreates the time frame of events that occurred in Jones County between 1861 and 1865, while at the same time critiquing the works of journalists, folklorists, moviemakers, and yes, even historians, who over the years have perpetuated this myth of secession. Leverett shows that even so prestigious a figure as Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard endorsed such nonsense in 1891.

As the author of my own work on the Free State of Jones, I engaged in a mutually-respectful and fruitful exchange of letters with Dr. Leverett before his untimely death in 1999. We never did agree on whether Capt. Newt Knight was an outlaw or a genuine Unionist (I took the latter position), but we did agree that this important story should be told with respect for a complex past. In ending the shameful institution of slavery, the Civil War constituted an important revolution. At the same time, Leverett shows, the war generated an inner civil war in Jones County, Mississippi (and in many other regions of the South), that resulted in mayhem, murder, and divisions that can be traced to the present.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timing Couldn't Be Bertter, November 3, 2009

By 

Jonathan Odell "Jones County Native" (Minneapolis, MN, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Legend of the Free State of Jones (Paperback)

Once more Jones County has been discovered by fame-seeking journalists, unscrupulous historians and Hollywood greed. So, it's fortuitous that University Press of Mississippi has decided to re-release this seminal book on Jones County and Newton Knight. As a Jones Countian, I am indebted to Dr. Leverett for courageously wresting a true history of the Free State of Jones from the swamps of racial politics, Lost Cause ideology and Hollywood sensationalism. His rigorous efforts to stay within the boundaries of documentation rather than giving in to speculation opened the door for a new generation of historians like Dr. Victoria Bynum (The Free State of Jones, Mississippi's Longest Civil War) to build on his solid foundation.

I hope Leverett's admirable example of sticking to the facts and avoiding sensational conjecture in regard to this fascinating piece of local history will give conscience to those who have recently succumbed to the temptation of twisting the truth for profit and fame.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Legend of the Free State of Jones is the first scholarly book on the history of Jones County, Mississippi, August 16, 2009

By 

Red "Red" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legend of the Free State of Jones (Paperback)

Dr. Leverett was the first to publish a scholarly book documenting the history of Jones County, Mississippi before and during the American Civil War. In Legend of the Free State of Jones, Dr. Leverett showed conclusively that Jones County never seceded from the Confederacy and, moreover, that its residents remained loyal to the Confederacy during and after the Civil War. It is true, Leverett explains, that most Jones Countians opposed the political stance of Southern secession from the Union on the eve of the Civil War. The reason? ". . . Jones County was not part of the Old South of manor houses, river boats, privileged gentry and gracious living. On the other hand, the lives of the people in Jones County were probably far more typical of those of the ordinary Southerner of the times than were those of the plantation artistocrats. And, of course, it was the latter and not the former that went with the winds of the Civil War." Legend at pp. 45-46.

Once invasion by the North seemed imminent, however, residents overwhelmingly aligned themselves with the Confederacy in opposition to the North.

Emblematic of the nuanced views of Jones County residents was Amos McLemore, a school teacher, Methodist-Episcopal minister and merchant whose Southern roots reached back into history nearly two hundred years. Like most of his fellow Jones Countians, McLemore opposed Southern secession from the Union in the months preceding the Civil War -- this despite the fact that his business partner supported Southern secession. Nevertheless when war became a foregone conclusion, McLemore raised and commanded a company in the Confederate army, the Rosin Heels.

Major McLemore was later murdered by Confederate deserter Newt Knight, the purported leader of the alleged "Republic of Jones" of legend. McLemore had been temporarily dispatched back to Jones County from the front in order to round up deserters. Having learned of McLemore's mission, Knight shot McLemore in the back as McLemore and others sat around fireplace at the home of State Representative Amos Deason in Ellisville. Leverett's book presents evidence that, contrary to legend, Knight was in fact little more than an opportunist and criminal who likely volunteered for the Confederacy, then later deserted.