The Civil War years were hard on Jacobs County. The land had been without cotton too long, a great many of the slaves were gone, and those who remained thought that they were free. Mr. Jacobs returned home from the war, and with the aid of his only son, Sam, immediately set about putting things in order. He worked closely with the Yankee officers, and succeeded in isolating Jacobs County from the rest of the world by donating enough land to the state so that all roads in the area, except one well-hidden dirt road, could be detoured around it. By the time the reconstruction period ended, the Negroes who held fast to the land found themselves slaves again, unable to flee Mr. Jacobs and his army of fifty guards who patroled the county line day and night. Occasionally Negroes were able to slip past the sentries, but someone would always tell of the escape and the guards would pursue them, even into neighboring states, until they were apprehended. The residents of Mississippi delighted in seeing the white-shirted guards returning from a successful hunt, the limp body of a Negro dragging behind a horse. To them Jacobs County was the south as it should have remained, and they kept the secret well. Excerpted from Many Thousand Gone: an American Fable by Ronald L. Fair All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
