Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. 1. Telling the Stones 1
5. Part One Neighborhood Dramas
6. 2. Marriage Nell Butler and Charles 19
7. 3. Bastardy Polly Lane and Jim 39
8. 4. Adultery Dorothea Bourne and Edmond 68
9. 5. Color Slavery, Freedom, and Ancestry 96
10. Pa rt Two Escalating Violence
11. 6. Wartime New Voices and New Dangers 125
12. 7. Politics Racial Hierarchy and Illicit Sex 147
13. 8. Murder Black Men, White Women, and Lynching 176
14. Epilogue 209
15. Searching for Stories A Note on Sources 211
16. Notes 213
17. Bibliography 287
18. Index 327