Communities of kinship : antebellum families and the settlement of the cotton frontier Carolyn Earle Billingsley

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Billingsley, Carolyn Earle.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kinship--Southern States--History.

Kinship.

Keesee family--History.

Keesee family.

Patrilineal kinship--Southern States--History.

Patrilineal kinship.

Migration, Internal--Southern States--History.

Migration, Internal.

Land settlement patterns--Southern States--History.

Land settlement patterns.

Southern States--Genealogy.

Southern States.

Southern States--History.

Southern States--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

xi, 215 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Athens : University of Georgia Press, c2004.

Summary:

Billingsley reminds us that, contrary to the accepted notion of rugged individuals heeding the proverbial call of the open spaces, kindred groups accounted for most of the migration to the South's interior and boundary lands. In addition, she discusses how, for antebellum southerners, the religious affiliation of one's parents was the most powerful predictor of one's own spiritual leanings, with marriage being the strongest motivation to change them. Billingsley also looks at the connections between kinship and economic and political power, offering examples of how Keesee family members facilitated and consolidated their influence and wealth through kin ties.

Contents:

A new category of analysis

Theory, methodology, and evidence

Kinship, migration, and settlement patterns

Kinship and religion

Kinship's role in economic and political power

The kinship group in the postbellum era

The prospects for kinship studies

A neighborhood study for kin in Union County, Arkansas.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [187]-198) and index.

ISBN:

0820325104 (pbk. : alk. paper)

9780820325101 (pbk. : alk. paper)

0820325090 (hardcover : alk. paper)

9780820325095 (hardcover : alk. paper)

OCLC:

54487535