FREE TO STAY THE TRUE STORY of Eliza Benson and the family she stood by for three generations.

Eliza Benson's portrait in permanent exhibit - Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History and Culture, Inner Harbour, Baltimore

School districts adopting this title and Hollywood interested!

"I had to write Eliza's story. If I hadn't it might have been lost, and that would never do. 'No-sir-ree Bob, horsefly in the buggy,' as Eliza would say."

"Slaveholder Marse Bradford Harrison, a citizen of St. Michaels, Maryland, gave four-year-old Eliza Ann Benson to his daughter Braddie in 1841. Eliza would be a friend and a slave to her infant owner in Harrison's way of thinking. But a friendship began and a promise was made."

"Eliza was all good things rolled into one package...and she was smart, too. She could size up a situation and straighten it out 'before you could say boo to a goose.' She was warm when warmth was needed, strong when strength was needed, and brave when only bravery could lift sorrow above heartbreak."

"That Eliza was born a slave is beside the point. Small in body and monumental in character, she was a 'Worthy of Maryland' for three generations."

... Nan Hayden Agle, Author & Granddaughter of Braddie
(now 100 years' young)

"A story of black and white which moves far beyond color associations to humane treatment and human lives well-lived, both in times of plenty and in poverty. Definitely not a politically correct story in terms of today's standards, this story intones family, uprightness, steadfastness and virtue. It extols harmony and togetherness in a family which had little else in post-war Maryland."

... G. Ray Thompson, PhD., Chairperson History Department
Salisbury University & Co-Founder,
Edward H. Nabb Research
Center for Delmarva History & Culture

"Agle has embroidered authentic dialect and assumptive dialogue to produce a very readable and touching story."

... John Goodspeed, Book Critic
Star Democrat

"It is a beautiful story that we feel is especially needful in these days of racial tension. We would encourage everyone to read, enjoy, and promote this timely book."

... Carol Connell
Book Buyer

"I found your book charming and sensitive. It's wonderful to see how love conquered the racial barrier. I felt you let us really know Eliza. What a beautiful spirit, compassion, loyalty, honesty and devotion she had. I'm thankful for your efforts to write this wonderful book and letting us meet your family through your words. It's a delightful story."

... Mary Ellen Petersen
Florida (A Reader)

Paperback - Copyright 2000 - 160 Pages - 25 priceless images chronicle Eliza's "valuable" life, including portraits from The Maryland Historical Society and The Baltimore Museum of Art.

ISBN: 0-9703802-0-8 Price: $18.00 (Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout).

Includes details about the occupation of Tangier Island/Harbor by a British fleet of 12,000 troops during the War of 1812. It also describes the British bombardment of Baltimore and St. Michaels, Maryland ... when townspeople outwitted the British.

(Funds are currently being raised to help restore the Joshua Thomas Meeting House on Deal Island, Md. A portion of the proceeds from the on-line sale of this book will be donated to that important cause)

Hardback - Copyright 2001 - 412 pages - Illustrated

ISBN: 0-9703802-2-4 - Price: $25.00 (Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)

FOR MARYLAND'S HONOR by Lloyd T. Everett

Reprint of a rare and very desirable 1922 edition by Christopher Publishing Co., Boston. New to this reprint: Photograph of lst Maryland Infantry Regimental Colors ("Bucktail Flag") presented by the Ladies of Baltimore (Maryland State Archives Special Collection)

Although For Maryland's Honor is a novel, the scholarly research and attention to detail is evident throughout the book. Included are details about Lt. Col. Bradley T. Johnson and his wife, known affectionately by the soldiers as Mrs. Capt. Bradley, who together were successful in recruiting and equipping Marylanders into Confederate service under the Maryland banner. This historical novel is a must read for men and women who seek to feel what it meant to be a citizen of Maryland during the Civil War. Starting with the political fervor surrounding Maryland in October 1860, it carries the reader through the Baltimore riots and most of the Civil War. In For Maryland's Honor, the woman's perspective of the "War for Southern Independence" on the home front is eloquently portrayed by the feisty Miss Marion Palmer who provides both the love interest and conflict...as her loyalty is to the North.

The author was the son of a Maryland Confederate veteran and well-known lecturer and writer on Confederate history. Mr. Everett also co-edited the re-publication of R.G. Horton's, A Youth's History of the Civil War.

"For Maryland's Honor is not primarily a story of campaign and battle, but rather an account of one family's confrontation with the issues & crises of these time."...." If Everett's book is foremost a celebration and defense of Maryland's COnfederate Heritage, it is also very much a romance. "The Strength of Everett's beliefs and his veneraton for Marylanders who espoused the Confederate cause make For Maryland's Honor an interesting contribution to the literature of the Lost cause."

......Brian Pohanka, military historian, author, lecturer,historical and military advisor to feature films - Gettysburg and Glory; Senior Researcher, writer and advisor on all TIme-Life Civil War books; consultant for the A & E History Channel television documentary Civil War Journal.

Hardback - Copyright 2001 - 229 pages - Illustrated

ISBN: 0-9703802-1-6  -   Price: $25.00 (Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)

DOLLY PAULINE AND HER GRANDMOTHER , A STORY FOR CHILDREN

This story was originally written by a grandmother, Dorothy Pearl Ward Hancock, from Stockton, Maryland, who wanted her grandchildren to know about her own very loving grandmother. Later, it was put into booklet form together with a photographic section of the people and environs mentioned in the story. Original watercolor illustrations by Pocomoke City, MD., artist, William H. Buchanan, further enhance the passages of a gone-by era. This is a charming story that emphasizes family, hard work and fortitude. Older readers have warmed to the author’s descriptive scenes as being much like their own childhood. Others find it enchanting as an educational tool to young ones whose often hectic lives barely resemble the life and times of previous generations.

Plus second story in same book...

ELLIOTT'S ISLAND: THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT by A.M. Foley, Freddie T. Waller

This carefully researched book traces the 300-year history of settlement on the Island and the genealogy of the inhabitants of Elliott's, Gray's and Langrall's Islands. The authors record the charm, wit, faith, architecture and history of the Islanders.

"Superbly written in the clear concise style which won a Nobel Prize for Earnest Hemmingway...Every library from Maine to Florida should have a copy."

... P.J. Wingate - Author of Bandages of Soft Illusion and Before the Bridge

"Elliott's Island is at the end of a thread that weaves natural patterns into art, small talk into poetry, and joy into living."

... Geoffrey M. Footner, Baltimore - Author of The Last Generation and Tidewater Triumph

"Wonderful book...beautifully written. I found myself turning pages without noticing I was doing so. Great praise to Katie Slattery for unusual and eye-catching book production. One day I may use it as a model for a project, a delicate form of flattery."

... Michael O'Donnell, Co. Tipperary Historical Society, Republic of Ireland

"What the Island got out of this project was a golden goose - the first book ever on the history of one of the county's most remote communities...Ghosts of the past live again, as though time stood still."

... Brice Stump, Author and feature writer for The Daily Times, Salisbury, Maryland

"I'm almost too excited to eat. This book brought the past back to life. It's wonderful."

... Captain C. Calvert Evans, Cambridge, Maryland

"It is wonderful...The authors have captured the charm, wit, architecture and history of the islanders and I highly recommend it."

... Debby Moxey, Dorchester Genealogy Magazine

"There were a few tears and some good laughs".

... Anna Aird, Ingram, Texas

Signed by Both Authors!

Paperback - Copyright 1999 - 224 pages - 176 Illustrations -

ISBN: 0-9672947-0 Price: $24.95  (Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)

MY BUSINESS IS TO FIGHT THE DEVIL, Recollections of Rev. Adam Wallace, Peninsula Circuit Rider 1847-1865 - Edited by Rev. Joseph F. DiPaolo.

This well-researched book explores the religious, social and cultural life of Delmarva before & during the Civil War through descriptions of slavery and freemen, camp meetings, country weddings, funerals, tourism, transportation as well as interaction of blacks and whites. Indexed, footnotes.

"The recollections of circuit rider Adam Wallace are a fascinating window on religious and social life on the Peninsula in the 19th century. With painstaking research the editor, Joseph F. DiPaolo, has not only provided an excellent text, but has also supplied invaluable context and explanatory detail in the notes. This is a work that secular and church historians will find very useful."

...Charles Yrigoyen,, Jr., General Secretary
General Commission on Archives and History
The United Methodist Church

"Little has been written about Methodism on the Delmarva Peninsula, save for the biography of Joshua Thomas, also written by Adam Wallace. In the early days, the Methodist were not meticulous record keepers and much of the history has been lost, or so we thought. This magnificient effort of the Rev. DiPaolo of producing writings of Adam Wallace, annotated for the modern reader, unveils the Peninsula for the remaining two decades of the antebellum period. There is much social and potitical history to be mined for this material which has been heretofore unavailable. My Business Was To Fight The Devil is a good read for those interested in religion, family, political and social history of the region."

...Rebecca Miller, Director
Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture,
Salisbury Univeristy

"To ride the circuit with Adam Wallace is to remember and celebrate again and again the wonderful presence of God that enables extraordinary, life-changing, world-changing ministry through faithful people in every generation."

...Bishop Peter D. Weaver
The Philadelphia Area
The United Methodist Church

Hardback - Copyright 1998 - 359 pages - illustrated

ISBN  1-56888-266-1 - Retail Price $25.00(Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)

Crossings is a collection of Eastern Shore stories that delve into the complex relationships and histories that exist here on the Delmarva Peninsula. These stories look at the tumultuous bond between man and nature and the price man must frequently pay for his naive mistakes. Extensive research and interviews result in intriguing stories about Franklin City (now a ghost town), Chincoteague, Crisfield, Stockton and more.

Fowler is the 2001 recipient of the Sophie Kerr Prize, given to the Washington College (MD) senior with the most literary promise. The Sophie Kerr prize is the largest undergraduate literary award in the United States. Several of the stories in Crossings were part of that award-winning collection.


Hardback - Copyright 2008 - 256 pages - 17 illustrations

ISBN: 978-0-9703802-4-1 Price: $25 (Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)

A well-known figure in the Delaware Valley region, Rev. Andrew Manship (1823-1892) was, in the words of a contemporary, "a remarkable man." An ordained Methodist preacher, he was a passionate evangelist, savvy businessman, popular author, publisher, church builder, and active supporter of the Union and its soldiers during the Civil War. As a native of Maryland's Eastern Shore, Rev. Manship's relationships with African Amricans, slave and free, both reflected and transcended the norms of his day. His story captures the spirit of so many risk-taking individuals who built America, and shaped the evangelical faith of the people during the mid-19th century.


"Those who experience this work produced by Rev. Joe DiPaolo will, as I did, have your hearts strangely warmed as you too take this miraculous and intriguing glimpse into the life of this revolutionary, captivating and compassionate man's journey in life and ministry."

...From the Foreword by Bishop Violet Fisher

The author, Joseph F. DiPaolo, is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. He serves as senior pastor of the Wayne UMC and teaches at Palmer Theological Seminary and Evangelical Theological Seminary, both in Pennsylvania.)



Paperback - Copyright 2009 - 111 pages - 29 photos/illustrations

ISBN: 978-0-9703802-3-4 Price: $15 (Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)

This compilation of meticulous research educates the reader about the political and social climate of the Eastern Shore of Maryland which, at the time, constituted one of the largest slave-holding areas in Maryland. Recruitment practices and bounties offered give important historical background to who, when and how slaves and freed blacks enlisted and fought for freedom, justice and equality. Included: Names of 1284 U.S. Colored Soldiers from Worcester, Somerset and what is now Wicomico Counties; name of owner of each manumitted slave, date of manumission, age, if a freed black, name of regiment and company, date soldier died, disability, history of regiments and more. Illustrated with maps, photos and documents.

"....Rev. Briddell and Professor Small have truly provided a much needed historical account of such brave African-Americans, those freed from their bonds and volunteers, who went forth into battle to secure liberty for all."

......Joseph Moore, Esq., Berlin, MD

"This book is a powerful revelation of documented history of African-American men from the Eastern Shore who want to know some of the history of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. This book also speaks to the roles and contributions that African-American men made toward the freedom of themselves."

....Mr. Gabriel Purnell, Berlin, MD

"....a first, very improtant step toward understanding the changing nature of slavery on the Lower Eastern Sore of Maryland...A comprehensive little-known roster of African-Americans who served in the Union forces during the Civil War with data on health, age, ownership. This is a most invaluable source for familiestracing their roots"

....G. Ray Thompson, Ph.D. Professor of History and Director, Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD

' .......For the genealogist, the hundreds of names and notes regarding the military service of these Eastern Shore men offer families new opportunities to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of their ancestors. For the historian, the variety of dispositions cited stimulates the researcher to delve further into the complex lives of those who fought bravely for a governmnet in which they were still second-class citizens. Small's and Briddell's clear documentation dares the reader to leave these stones unturned."

.......Chris Haley, Director - Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD

Paperback - Pages 341

ISBN: 978-0-9703802-6-5 Price: $25 (Applicable Sales Tax & Shipping/Handling available at checkout)