John Marion Porter (1839–1898) grew up working at his family's farm and dry goods store in Butler County; Kentucky. The oldest of Reverend Nathaniel Porter's nine children; he was studying to become a lawyer when the Civil War began. As the son of a family of slave owners; Porter identified with the Southern cause and wasted little time enlisting in the Confederate army. He and his lifelong friend Thomas Henry Hines served in the Ninth Kentucky Calvary under John Hunt Morgan; the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy."When the war ended; Porter and Hines opened a law practice together; but Porter was concerned that the story of his service during the Civil War and his family's history would be lost with the collapse of the Confederacy. In 1872; Porter began writing detailed memoirs of his experiences during the war years; including tales of scouting behind enemy lines; sabotaging a Union train; being captured and held as a prisoner of war; and searching for an army to join after his release.Editor Kent Masterson Brown spent several years preparing Porter's memoir for publication; clarifying details and adding annotations to provide historical context. One of Morgan's Men: Memoirs of Lieutenant John M. Porter of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry is a fascinating firsthand account of the life of a remarkable Confederate soldier. In this unique volume; Porter's insights on Morgan and the Confederacy are available to readers for the first time.
#2046067 in Books Debra Majeed 2016-11-29Original language:English 9.02 x .48 x 5.98l; .0 #File Name: 0813054060192 pagesPolygyny What It Means When African American Muslim Women Share Their Husbands
Review
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Multiple-Wife Households from the Perspective of African American Muslim WomenBy Sonja DarlingtonWith Polygyny; author Debra Majeed provides a personal yet scholarly investigation into a practice that is not well understood for its complexity; its function within the African American Muslim community; and its relationship to family law within Islam as well as to the American legal system. Her crisp descriptive stories of Muslim women and their families associated with the practice are embedded in a philosophical perspective she identifies as Muslim womanism and in her ethnographic evidence from 2003 to 2013. Readers are introduced to a range of issues that are rich in texture; as they are the basis for examining women’s agency and authority in such marital relationships; religious prescriptions in the Qur’an; legal forms of legitimation for polygyny; Imam Mohammed’s teachings on polygyny; and psychological factors associated with the well being of women and children in multiple-wife marriages.Throughout the well-crafted six chapters; Majeed stays focused on her intent “to encourage self-examination of Muslim American family life and promote closer attention to the welfare of African American communities; American families; and society as whole†(6). In the Afterword; she also provides practical suggestions that follow up on her intellectual exploration into the lives of her subjects. These suggestions include five recommendations: 1). engage in meaningful dialogue and education about forms of Islamic marriage within the context of the secular United States; 2). require local mosques and Islamic organizations to document marriage registrations; 3). state the relationship a wife envisions in marriage contracts and encourage families to seek advice from knowledgeable and respected community members; marriage therapists; and family law experts; 4). encourage first and potential subsequent wives to communicate with each other prior to any multiple-wife marriage; and 5). remove communal acceptance of marriage ceremonies that take place without a husband’s current wife (or wives) knowledge.Of particular interest to this reader are the reasons that African American Muslim women enter into polygyny. For some it is a matter of recognizing that multiple-wife marriage is permissible based on the Qur’an and it ensures the survival of family (Sawdah); for some it is a way to be chaste and avoid bad situations (Zuhara); and for some it is a means to avoid unwanted attention and attain security; status; and honor (Lamisha). Significantly; for all the women in Majeed’s fictional performance in chapter two; the method of presentation allows her to use her informants; with whom she had multiple interviews; to discuss issues with each other and to communicate their thoughts about their life circumstances in their own words. In doing so; Majeed ably succeeds in her laudable intent to “link [her] intellectual explorations to practical applications that can benefit communities and subjects [she] stud[ied]†(133). The contributions Polygyny makes to scholarship and to praxis is that it demonstrates an inclusivity that Majeed envisions is needed to open up potential spaces for further examination and development on this topic. So that; while she neither promotes nor condones polygyny; she supports its decriminalization—a book on this topic is what I hope awaits her readers.Audiences for this text include both readers wanting to understand choices available to African American Muslim women within a polygynist family and readers aspiring to understand with greater depth the historical; religious; and sociological context of this particular marital relationship.
