Our Fathers' Fields: A Southern Story

By James Everett Kibler

Book Overview

The remarkable saga of a southern family in pusuit of the agrarian ideal

When James Everett Kibler purchased a dilapidated South Carolina plantation in 1989, he had no idea that his rehabilitation of the distinguished but deteriorated property would include the unearthing of an incredible tale of the land and the people who had lived on it. But as he refurbished the Great House and restored its nineteenth-century garden, he felt the pull of the place to uncover and record its past. Kibler faithfully took part in an act of cultural reclamation, piecing together the story of the Hardy family, who purchased the tract along the Tyger River in 1786 and farmed it for two centuries. Part epic, part history, part memoir, the resulting tale is a comprehensive, ambitious, and eminently readable chronicle that spans six generations of a family.

Compared by critics to the writings of Wendell Berry and James Agee, this richly detailed narrative brings to life such unforgettable characters as Squire William and his wife Catherine, the plantation's master and mistress during the turbulent Civil War era; their son Captain Dick, a Confederate soldier who served five terms in the state legislature; and their irascible grandson Frank, who labored desperately to keep the farm operating in the new century. Our Fathers' Fields offers an especially vivid portrayal of the antebellum South, a compelling collection of Civil War letters, and a poignant account of life after the war.

Interwoven with these absorbing life stories is the close examination of a plantation that grew from 204 to 2,035 acres and became one of the most valuable farms in the South. Kibler explores the natural history of the place, including its sophisticated formal gardens and its once staggering array of animals and native plants-many of which have all but vanished from Southern soil. Recounting his own efforts to recapture the plantation's former glory and the rewards of a life lived close to the land, Kibler concludes that only by knowing a place truly well--its past and its present--can we guard against its abuse.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570032149
• ISBN13: 9781570032141
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Length: 444 Pages
• Weight: 2.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An Ancestors' Repsonse

This work by Dr. Kibler reveals the history of this family, their life style, the impact that the members of the family had on southern society during that time period, and the impact of that time period on the family.As an ancestor of the Hardy family he so elequently describes, I thank Dr. Kibler for the efforts he relentlessly pursued in order to reveal the life of this southern family.Additionally, I thank the reviewers - all of you, pro and con - that have taken the time to extend their personal thoughts and feelings about Dr. Kibler's work. I assure each and everyone one of you that the ancestors of this proud Southern family are alive and well, and that the history of the Hardy family is a Southern history that ALL of us share that reside here in the deep south. It will always remain a vital part of this family, and of this culture, through all time. My children are well aware of their heritage, and are filled with pride to be personally related to the family that lived and survived in this historical, colorful past. My brother and sister, both residents of South Carolina, are just as proud.God bless all of you.Allen Key Hardy

A stroll thru Southern honeysuckle and sunshine.

Maybe it's just my agrarian "roots," but I am sure I smelled honeysuckle and felt a cool Southern breeze as I strolled thru Dr. Kibler's latest work, 'Our Fathers' Fields.' At last! Someone from academia has come forth with a work about the South that is not infused with politically correct gobbledygook. Unfortunately, if one is in possession of a closed mind, i.e., an anti-South cultural bigot, this book will not smell of honeysuckle. Yet, for those who understand that history is written and enforced by the victor, 'Our Fathers' Fields' will surely become a must read. After reading this book, I am convinced that one day Dr. Kibler's name will be etched upon the wall of honor along a side the names of such men as Donald Davidson, Richard Weaver, M. E. Bradford, and other defenders of true Southern history. Take it from a Louisiana Southern Partisan, this book should be read by Americans in general and Southerners in particular---Deo Vindice.

A Southern Classic - Most Accurate & Informative

Apparently the reader from Pickens,South Carolina who gave a review entitled "Blind, reactionary, racist drivel," which was posted 7 February, 1999, has sadly confused the names of authors James Kibler & James Kilgo. While on holiday in Charleston, South Carolina last year, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the South Carolina Poetry Society, in which Kibler read from the chapter entitled "Captain Dick," from "Our Fathers' Fields." One thing I could not help but notice was how after the meeting, those in attendance (particularly all five of the blacks in the audience)expressed relief to Kibler of the fact that his book is not caught up with racial pandering, which is a rather strange fascination of some other authors who have written books with regards to their questionable interpretation of history in South Carolina. Indeed, it is most refreshing to read a book like this which does not have such an agenda, with contrast to a number of books lately written by authors defaming the character South (particularly South Carolina). Thank goodness that Jim Kibler at least had the fortitude of using the most accurate documentation in writing this Southern classic. No wonder Shelby Foote is looking forward to presenting Kibler with the award of "Best Southern Non-fiction Book of the Year," this April.

An insightful and fascinating history

The author of this book, Dr James Kibler, bought a derelict plantation house in the South Carolina upcountry in 1989 and proceeded to restore it. For those of us who wish we had the time, money and energy to do the same, this book is a wonderful Walter-Mittyesque escape. However, it is also something a great deal more significant, recently winning a major book award, as the non-fiction winner alongside the best-selling "Cold Mountain", the winner in the fiction category. Narrowly considered, "Our Fathers' Fields" is the history of only one house and only one family and their neighbors in one small area. However, this material is presented so that it becomes a "case history" for a more universal experience, namely the overall history of the agrarian South. The Hardy family followed the same migration routes and came from the same cultural context as those who populated the rest of the South. Southern genealogists will see many familiar surnames in this work, further increasing the sense of identification. (It is no accident that "The Bonnie Blue Flag", anthem of the Confederacy, began, "we are a band of brothers", although a band of cousins might have been more accurate). While the Hardys were quite rich by the 1830's, the beginnings of their plantation were humble -- 200 acres and a cabin, and their early pioneer story mirrored that of most families that left Virginia and headed south or west. The book looks at plantation life in the broader context of all strata and presents the history the whole Hardy family, black and white, over these generations in a sympathetic but not over-romanticised light. It is one of the very few local history works that has managed successfully to present as a cogent whole the complete history of a house: its architecture, the genealogy of its family, the cultural and historical framework in which both developed over two centuries, and such engaging details as furnishings, garden design and natural history, which other historians might have discarded as trivial but which tell us a great deal about these people and how they lived and what they thought. Dr Kibler's meticulous research has clearly become a labour of love. This comes through clearly in the book and the work is the better for it because of the insights that he has developed. The Hardy family comes alive in this book, not as stiff, enigmatic figures in a tintype but as flesh and blood folk with hopes, dreams, and opinions, who experience tragedy and loss with grace and strength. In some ways it is almost as if Kibler has acquired the viewpoint of an early planter, and some of the book reads almost like a first-hand account as a result. Dr Kibler's exhaustive cataloguing of the biodiverse flora & fauna of the area perhaps was the most telling -- it was exactly as a plantation owner would have done in the 18th and early 19th century -- reminiscent of Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, or

The Best & Most Accurate Book On The South This Decade

The untold story of the South has now been told. "Our Fathers' Fields is simply the best & most accurate book on the South written this decade, & perhaps the most enjoyable book since "Gone With The Wind." For years, we Southerners & Southern-minded people across the world have been subjugated to an undeserving "to the victors go the spoils" revisionism. With this book, Southerners (black & white) can sincerely feel a sense of healing, a bonding with one another, as well as their family roots & traditions. It eloquently shows that we all can relate to the Hardy Family & that there are stories like this all over the South & beyond. This book truly deserves the National Book Award, as well as many others.