A Stranger and a Sojourner: Peter Caulder, Free Black Frontiersman in Antebellum Arkansas [Hardcover]

BILLY D. HIGGINS (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

This book tells the extraordinary story of Peter Caulder, a free African American settler in the Arkansas Territory. After serving as a rifleman in the war of 1812, Caulder established a community of free-born African Americans in northern Arkansas and was largely accepted by his white neighbors until an 1859 expulsion law forced the community to flee the state and settle in Missouri. To document such a man's life, and to determine how he thrived within a slave society and came to join a free black backwoods community, Higgins has skillfully interwoven oft-neglected primary sources--many of which are reproduced here--from around the country; and through the information revealed in these materials a fascinating--and groundbreaking--account of Caulder, his family, and his community has emerged.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Higgins presents a more complex and nuanced picture of life for blacks in the antebellum South in this portrait of a black frontiersman who lived and thrived in the Arkansas Territory. He traces Caulder's military service as a young man in the War of 1812, his membership in the South Carolina militia, and his eventual settlement in the Arkansas Territory among whites who accepted him as an equal citizen. Supporting a wife and many children, he lived peacefully for more than three decades until the tensions leading to the Civil War. Using numerous historical resources, Higgins reconstructs Caulder's life as an independent, though engaged, citizen of the territory. He also portrays the number of other free blacks who lived in tentative peace and self-sufficiency among white neighbors until the murder of a local white man, the expulsion of free blacks, and the threat of enslavement forced Caulder to flee to Missouri. This well-researched book adds new dimension to portraits of the lives of blacks before and after the Civil War. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Highly profitable reading. . . . This is an important work that is based upon incredible research and written with clarity, grace, and sensitivity. The story of Caulder, his family, and his associates is not only inherently interesting, but it is also a story with broad historical implications.”



—Willard B. Gatewood, Alumni Distinguished Professor of history emeritus

at the University of Arkansas and author of Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880—1920 and Smoked Yankees and the Struggle for Empire: Letters from Negro Soldiers, 1898—1902.



“Higgins has performed a remarkable achievement as well as a great service by piecing together the life of Peter Caulder, an obscure but fascinating figure whose biography gives us a new perspective on the racial aspects of the antebellum Arkansas frontier.”



—S. Charles Bolton, author of Arkansas, 1800–1860,

and co-editor of A Whole Country in Commotion,

writing in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette



“Billy Higgins, detective-historian of remarkable merit, has put together one of the more intriguing stories I have ever read about the Antebellum South in all its complexity. Peter Caulder, an illiterate free black, defied all our generalizations about race as he served with distinction in the United States Army, repeatedly crossed the color line, and became an Arkansas yeoman farmer, thriving and respected by white neighbors until he fell victim of new discriminatory legislation on the eve of the Civil War. It is essential reading for students of African-American and Southern history.”



—Don Higginbotham, professor of history at the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of George Washington: Uniting a Nation



“Higgins presents a more complex and nuanced picture of life for blacks in the antebellum South in this portrait of a black frontiersman who lived and thrived in the Arkansas Territory. . . . Using numerous historical resources, Higgins reconstructs Caulder’s life as an independent, though engaged, citizen of the territory. He also portrays the number of other free blacks who lived in tentative peace and self-sufficiency among white neighbors until the murder of a local white man, the expulsion of free blacks, and the threat of enslavement forced Caulder to flee Missouri. This well-researched book adds new dimension to portraits of the lives of blacks before and after the Civil War.”



—Booklist (American Library Association)



“A painstakingly reconstructed account of a remarkable life, one that reveals the interwoven frontiers of race, geography, and culture in nineteenth century America. And a worthy reminder that history is always more complicated than we thought.”



—H. W. Brands, distinguished professor of history at Texas A & M

University and author of The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s



“Meticulously researched and solidly written, Higgins’ book succeeds as a look into some of the best—and the worst—of the settling of Arkansas. Anyone interested in local history will want to add it to his bookshelf.”



—Grant Tolley, Southwest Times Record (Fort Smith, Arkansas) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 380 pages
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557287775
• ISBN-13: 978-1557287779
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,620,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, June 17, 2007

By 

John H. DeJong "LowGenius (.com and .net)" (Kalamazoo, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Stranger and a Sojourner: Peter Caulder, Free Black Frontiersman in Antebellum Arkansas (Hardcover)

Before reviewing, in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I am Peter Caulder's great-great-grandson.

This came as something of a shock to me, as I'd been told all my life that I was half Dutch and half Cherokee-Choctaw. Nothing about my features, save for a tan that lasts in some degree all year and a high resistance to sunburn, give much of a clue, and I generally think of myself as half white and half Amerind.

Yes, I'm certain of this; I have fond memories of my grandfather - who also had no immediately obvious african features - Henry Elbert Caulder, who is on the last line of the Caulder geneaology in the book. He had three fingers on one hand, having lost them in a combine accident, and died quite some time ago...early 1990's I believe.

So I have a bias.

That said, I really enjoyed the book. For one thing, it gives an insight into a totally different kind of black man in the early 19th century than we are generally led to believe existed - a free sharecropper who joined the army and served for 14 years, helped establish a small colony of free blacks in north-central Arkansas, helped build Ft. Hood...I am generally of empirical mind, but I didn't find enough lacking in the documentation to detract from the value of the information presented or the way it was presented.

I'll concede that much of it is second-hand and speculation, but the basic facts - that Caulder was a free black man born in South Carolina who joined the US Armed Forces with several other colored men (and family members) in his area as 'seconds,' a fairly common practice at that time (and long before the Tuskeegee Airmen, not to detract from their noble accomplishments!) There's no question that he was well-regarded by his fellow soldiers and superior officers, and he seems to have served well, if not in remarkable enough fashion to earn notable commendations.

Regrettably, he also deserted after 14 years, by all indications to be with a woman he loved and help start the aforementioned colony.

There is also no question that when Arkansas made free blacks illegal, a substantial percentage of the commune, including Caulder, moved to south-central Missouri and put down roots there. He still has descendants living there, including at least one of Henry Elbert Caulder's sisters, I *think*. I'd have to ask my mom.

Beyond my obvious personal interest though, I appreciate this book for exposing me to a new way of thinking about what life was like for black people in the years before the Civil War really started building. There is further indication in the book that Peter's father, Moses, was married to a white woman and they lived as husband and wife. Prior to Moses, there seems to be no information, so I can't say if any of my ancestors were slaves or not, and I hope I can say without offending anyone that I don't much care.

It's a fascinating, well-written story that will give you pause to challenge your own notions about the history of race in America, and I think it's well worth reading, regardless of my personal relation to the book.

I *would* like to thank Billy D. Higgins - with whom I've never spoken, nor has anyone in my family that I know of, he seems to have worked exclusively from publicly available information - for putting this book together, both from the personal point of view and from that of a reader.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A VALUABLE ADDITION, February 2, 2005

By 

charles falk (Novato, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Stranger and a Sojourner: Peter Caulder, Free Black Frontiersman in Antebellum Arkansas (Hardcover)

Billy D Higgins presents information in this book that broadens our understanding of US history. He tells the life story of Peter Caulder, a man of color, who grew up in an integrated rural community in Marion County, South Carolina where free black and white yeomen lived and cooperated in apparent harmony. Peter, his father, and several friends were recruited into the local milita unit as substitutes for more affluent neighbors and then into the US Rifle Regiment. These people of color served in an integrated army unit during the War of 1812 and, in Caulder's case, long after.

Caulder remained in the army for fourteen years, spending most of his time at frontier posts in northwestern Arkansas Territory. After leaving the army, he became a landowner and taxpayer in a free black enclave on the White River in Arkansas.

Unfortunately Higgins as created his book out of very limited documentation by padding fact with speculation, repitition, and extraneous information. Peter Caulder,like most of the people around him, was illiterate. The written record of his life is scantily recorded in census counts, army records and reports, sutlers' accounts, tax rolls, and the accounts of the few literate people with whom he came in contact. The book is awash in "may have", "might have", "perhaps", and "probably". The factual material is sufficient for a scholarly article, but not a book.

I still recommend it. In addition to telling Caulder's story, the book describes military life on the southeastern frontier and supplies interesting glimpses of US-Indian interaction in the wake of the Louisiana Purchase. Like NEGRO COWBOYS by Durham & Everett, A STRANGER AND A SOJOURNER compels the reader to rearrange the furniture in his attic of preconceptions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book order, October 14, 2009

By 

Billy R. Matney - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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