In Search of the Promised Land: A
Slave Family in the Old South (New
Narratives in American History) by
Loren Schweninger
So Much In So Little
The matriarch of a remarkable African American family, Sally Thomas went
from being a slave on a tobacco plantation to a virtually free slave who ran
her own business and purchased one of her sons out of bondage. In
Search of the Promised Land offers a vivid portrait of the extended
Thomas-Rapier family and of slave life before the Civil War.
Based on personal letters and an autobiography by one of Thomas sons,
this remarkable piece of detective work follows the family as they walk the
boundary between slave and free, traveling across the country in search of
a promised land where African Americans would be treated with respect.
Their record of these journeys provides a vibrant picture of antebellum

America, ranging from New Orleans to St. Louis to the Overland Trail. The
authors weave a compelling narrative that illuminates the larger themes of
slavery and freedom while examining the familys experiences with the
California Gold Rush, Civil War battles, and steamboat adventures. The
documents show how the Thomas-Rapier kin bore witness to the full
gamut of slavery--from brutal punishment, runaways, and the breakup of
slave families to miscegenation, insurrection panics, and slave patrols. The
book also exposes the hidden lives of virtually free slaves, who maintained
close relationships with whites, maneuvered within the system, and gained
a large measure of autonomy.
Personal Review: In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave
Family in the Old South (New Narratives in American History) by
Loren Schweninger
Drs. Schweninger and Franklin have written an excellent history of the
remarkable slave woman Sally Thomas and her three sons, James and
Henry Thomas and John H. Rapier, Sr.
The book chronicles the fortunes of a "quasi-free" slave woman and her
efforts to secure freedom and financial security for her three mulatto sons
in Nashville, Tennessee. The authors deftly describe the often
contradictory attitudes of while Nahvillians to African-Americans, both
slaves and free people of color. For example, though techincally still a
slave, Sally Thomas nevertheless, as a "quasi-free" slave was able to buy
property, own her own home, and become a successful and respected
businesswoman (opening her own laundry on Deadrick Street), as did her
sons James, Henry and John (who were all three successful barbers). The
authors describe a further contradiction in white attitudes to Antebellum
blacks as, after much hard work and thriftiness Sally saved up enough
money to buy her son James' freedom. After being granted their freedom
free blacks were required by Tennessee law to leave the state, However
James (and several other free persons of color), based upon exemplary
moral character, successfully petitioned the court to be allowed to remain
in Nashville.
The book also chronicles the lives and adventures of Sally's three sons,
James and Henry Thomas and John H. Rapier, Sr.. One of Rapier's sons,
James Thomas, was elected to the US Congress from Alabama in 1873.
The book does a great job of putting the Thomas-Rapier family into the
context of the times in which they lived, vividly describing the social,
political and religious life of Nashvile residents, both white and black, slave
and free in the 1820s, 30s, 40s and 50s. As stated above, the book also
demonstrates the often contradictory views of African-Americans taken by
whites and portrays the ways in which slaves like Sally Thomas enjoyed
relationships with whites, artfully maneuvered within the system of slavery
to gain a large measure of autonomy, and were in the end respected by
whites. This book may serve to overturn some long-held assumptions

regarding Antebellum slavery. The authors do a masterful job of describing
just how "peculiar" the institution of slavery was in actual fact.
As a resident of the Rapiers' home town of Florence, Alabama, as well as
a genealogist and historian at our public library, "In Search of the Promised
Land," along with Schweninger's earlier "James T. Rapier and
Reconstruction," and his publication of the autobiography of James P.
Thomas, "From Tennessee Slave to St. Louis Entrepeneur," is a valubale
addition to our Rapier family record collection. The authors are to be
commended on their impeccable research and scholarship, while at the
same time, weaving this scholarship into a genuinely readable and
enjoyable narrative. I highly recommend this book. My only criticism would
be the hardback's small size. Still, at 280 pages, a great book!
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