Eneas Africanus: African American Heritage Edition

by Harry Stillwell Edwards

Harry Stillwell Edwards (1855-1938) was an American journalist, novelist, and poet, born at Macon, Georgia. He studied law at Mercer University, Macon, and graduated in 1877. He was assistant editor and editor of Macon journals (1881-1888), gaining distinction as a writer of dialect stories. He wrote on the Georgia aristocracy as well as on African-American laborers. Amongst his publications are "Two Runaways and Other Stories" (1889) , "The Marbeau Cousins" (1898), "Sons and Fathers" (1896), "His Defense and Other Stories" (1899), and "Eneas Africanus" (1920).

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Humor

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

1855-1938

Reviews

[Jules · Rating 1 out of 5]

If it was possible to give something a negative star, then mark this down to -5 (I marked it 1 star just to hopefully bring down the average rating listed here- I am completely at a loss at the reviewers who gave it positive ratings). A truly horrific time capsule of classical southern racism.

As quoted by the Chapel Hill Rare Book Blog (https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/rbc/index.p...

"Eneas Africanus, written by the prolific Southern writer and journalist Harry Sitwell Edwards, was and is one of the most popular works of pro-slavery literature in the post-Civil War era. ...Eneas Africanus perfectly encapsulates this pro-slavery narrative. The story is presented as a series of letters written in response to a newspaper ad, reminiscent of an eighteenth-century epistolary novel."

As others have already said, this should be viewed only for its lens as a historical artifact. It is bereft of any redeeming content or aspect.

[Donna]

I don't have a clue about how to give this book ANY stars, so I won't. Lord have mercy, this is painful to read now, especially knowing it was considered thoroughly "tolerant" and witty in its own day and time. The author's daughter, in an introduction to the 1940 edition, praises, and rightly so I'm sure, her dad's generous, kind, and gentle spirit. She also compares her father's own youthful homesickness to that of Eneas, the formerly enslaved main character in this epistolary tale, by saying of them both "The farther he roamed the more clearly he heard the plash of fountains, the more warmly he remembered the kindliness of the 'old folks at home.'" As another reviewer said, read this tale for historical perspective only.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edwards' works are another example of Lost Cause, and plantation, literature. This is essentially a short storybut it bears notice for several reasons. Like most literature of the era, it bears the distasteful and often dehumanizing aspects of southern literature during the era; dialect writing and the perpetuation of the happy slave myth are both present. Unlike others, Edwards' work is actually of considerable literary merit. His use of English is more dexterous and elegant than Thomas Nelson Page, for example, and his work doesn't exude the same Virginia-centrism of Page, Glasgow, etc.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

My late grandmother gave this to me several years ago, and it returned to me earlier this week while going through my late mother's books. My grandmother said it might give me some slight insight into the way things were in the South long before I was born. The book was published by J.W. Burke in Macon, Georgia in 1920.
Eneas Africanus was entrusted with recovering a stolen silver cup: a prized family heirloom. Over the course of eight years, he got it and returned to the Tommey family in Macon. The quest began in 1864, but he started a family on the road and returned with a wife and a few children.
The Tommeys received several letters during those eight years, and not all praised Eneas but reported varying opinions of his character. They provided interesting reading, too.
The book's second half is of a church trial, in which Eneas was accused of making his wife work on a Sunday by plowing some land. The trial read like a possible rough template for a Tyler Perry TV skit with Eneas being acquitted. Reading through the rural Southern talk was a little challenging, but the book is very short.
It could be considered an interesting read, but this was truly from another world, published over one hundred years ago in the Deep South.

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strangely interesting racist book that perpetuates tropes about Southern Blacks.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comments:
This story gives much perspective into the culture of the post-Civil War period. Given this information, it should be noted that terms that are deemed as "racist" now, were commonplace during the time of this book's writing. White people and black people alike used these terms, and this is reflected in this story. It is interesting to note that the majority of the reviews of this book are people who are horrified at the racist content in the book. This is truly ironic, as the publisher's intent, as stated in the book, was to prove how well the South treated negroes in this time when compared to other countries. Eneas (the slave in the story) is treated with hospitality wherever he goes, and he even desired to return home to his master because of how well he was treated there. After researching a bit about this book, I have found that "Eneas Africanus" has been used in several different ways through the years. These reasons include: to justify slavery, to picture how a Christian ought to serve his Master, and to provide a fictional story that shows colored folks and white folks living together in Southern hospitality and harmony. All of the racist/cultural/time period differences aside, the plot and the style of the story are very good.

Story:
A slave is told to take some of his master's valuables and head to a certain city that his master names until his master can meet him there. Having absolutely no sense of geography, the slave gets lost. His master had given him some Confederate money, which the slave, Eneas, finds is worthless to most people. Eneas uses his wits and skills to raise money for himself. He winds up getting married to another slave and has children. He continues to search for his master/home and EIGHT YEARS later he finally finds him again. His master is overjoyed to see Eneas, and laughs till he cries at the hilarity of Eneas' return. Eneas is said to have preached to hundreds of fellow negro slaves during his wandering through the South, and there was allegedly a movement made by white and black fold alike to put him up for a seat in the Senate because of his powerful speaking abilities.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, set in 1864-72 and published in 1920, seems meant to describe the period's ideal of the Southern Negro, namely, one steadfastly loyal to his master. (The book as much as says that emancipation is irrelevant.) Its positive features are that it never suggests or condones abuse, and it is very short. It may be of historical interest to some, but I cannot recommend it for any other reason.

[Mark Vargo]

A book that can only be read as a historical artifact. It isn't even the language that is jarring, but the scene where Eneas, who was separated from the family who "owned" him until the Civil War, offers his children (born after the war) to his former master, who accepts them as payment for what Eneas owes him.

[Jerry Wall · Rating 1 out of 5]

From a 1920s southern gentleman writer in English and patois about a rambling ex slave who is transporting a silver wedding cup after the war for southern independence (which was lost).
Free black as rascal preacher and romancer on the road.
It is hard to imagine how this would have gone over in the 1920s. But it is certainly dated for today, though quaint.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate such a book. I can take books from other eras or cultures by their own standards and mores, but this one is a stretch for me. Were there actually slaves so enamored with their masters, even following their emancipation?

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent portrayal of the antebellum relationship between Southern blacks and whites--- Eneus displays superlative personal honesty and devotion to his master and his plantation life, and both the Major and Eneus have mutual love and respect for each other as family members. The backstory of an ancient silver cup, some 200 years old, probably from the Major's English ancestors, that Eneus guards in his odessey over thousands of miles & 8 years, exemplifies this devotion, honesty & love with a strength of character that bonded the Southern agrarian system together--- The preservation of this ancient artefact and the epic effort of Eneus to save it display a depth of character that honors both races and portrays one reason why this system persisted for so long. When enemy forces invaded South Carolina in 1865, my family's servants buried our family silver in an isolated woodland area and carefully concealed it under pine straw. My great-grandmother hid under my great-great-grandmother's full dress petticoats while the Yankee soldiers "traded" their worn horses for our nice, fresh horses, ate hoecakes made from our flour & corn meal, and chased our one scrawny chicken around the barnyard. But they didn't get our silver, which our retainers faithfully hid and guarded. And this is the essence of the love and family devotion that makes this story, and the entire Confederate cause, so worth preserving.

[Kathleen Harvey · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG I found this "book" -- story in a pamphlet -- among my grandmother's things, with the inscription "A delightful tale, fun to read aloud at a party of not too many people." Published in 1920 it is a perfect example of the post-Civil War southern myth of the happy slave staying loyal to his master (and remaining without question a slave) through 8 years of freedom. Good grief. As a period piece, instructive, but certainly not something I would consider reading aloud at a party of any number of people, large or small, as "entertainment." Horrifying, rather than delightful. My grandmother, raised in Nebraska and living her married life in Chicago with her Harvard-educated lawyer husband and three all-went-to-college children -- was an avid reader who prided herself on keeping abreast of all world events and had many opinions -- and though we usually disagreed on politics, I would never have called her a racist. Not, that I think about it, the subject came up, so who knows? If this story entered her library in 1920, which I'm guessing it did, given the format of the printing -- not surprising, but I wonder about the discussion we would have had about it had we read it together on my trip to see her in 1962, when I was in college. And how would my much less "woke" self have responded to it then, too, I wonder?

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edwards did a fabulous job writing an entertaining book about the travels of Eneaus and his journey to return to his home. Edwards incorporated his sense of humor which led to the entertainment but to think about the route this man traveled, a lot of it with his family, to get back to his home was amazing given the mode of transportation available at the time. The description of the home from which Eneas came that differed from town to town was quite humourous but reminds me of how information is often distorted in today's society. It was a short read but very enjoyable.

[Daniella Pozo]

A disgusting little time capsule

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

02192017. A story about a male slave that travels over 3300 miles in a matter of 8 years trying to find his way home. Yet what we read only takes place in 1872. A quick read only 38 pages, but so much to stop and think about. The book makes you wonder if this story is actually true. We all know during these times people traveled by the hundreds of miles.

[william]

It gives me room for thought--especially about the way blacks and whites have always been portrayed to me--being total southern--and raised more or less under the care of a black person most of the time named Fanny--I can't even remember anything about color at the time-- I didn't think of her as my mother--but I grew up thinking she was a wonderful person and I would have missed a lot of things in my life if I hadn't known her--this booked re-established what I've always thought about the black and white differences--attitudes, environments, times and colors are only skin deep and what if everything had been reversed--there's still the portrayal by words and some deeds of the "Amos and Andy" types but there's something else about the old southern way of life that was brought out in the book--character--honesty--sticktoitiveness

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just OMG. My grandmother (b. 1899, raised in Loganville GA) gave this to my dad in 1976. I ran across it this weekend and read it in an hour. Snapshot of the systemic racism, post Civil War. From that standpoint, it's 5 stars. From a human dignity standpoint, it sucks.

[NDH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endearing. Funny. They don’t make them like this any more. Worth all $3 it cost me. Enough of virtue signaling; we are all Eaneas Africanus.