03/28/2024
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By Erin Smith

Dr. Carlos Hamilton Jr. led a discussion and signed copies of his book “A Rose Blooms in Texas” on Tuesday evening at the Bladen County Public Library in Elizabethtown.

The book chronicles the life of his great-grandmother Berta Smith Wooters.  Dr. Hamilton’s family moved from Bladen County to Texas and as part of the move, the family took with them a grand piano. The piano weighed about 900 pounds and was purchased with 9 bales of cotton, according to Dr. Hamilton’s research.

He said when he inherited his great-grandmother’s piano, his interest in its origins and how his family came to reside in Texas were piqued. Along the way, Dr. Hamilton said he called the Bladen County Public Library and was asking questions about his family’s home called Desserette. He said the staff were very helpful and guided him to Lewis Smith who assisted in tracking down the location and history of Desserette.

He recounted how he met a descendant of one of the slave families who worked on the plantation as well.  His name was Edgar Pouncey and he guided Dr. Hamilton to a cemetery in Texas that held some of his relatives. According to Dr. Hamilton, Pouncey also recounted to him how the Smith family had given some land in Texas to help the freed slaves start a church, among other things.

Dr. Hamilton said the book contains a lot of history and economic background as well as Berta’s story.

Dr. Hamilton told those present that the book is “a story of multi-generations of black and white families who lived together and supported each other.”

“They managed to make the best of the situation and the times,” said Dr. Hamilton.

He recounted that some of the reasons that families moved, was the fact that cotton grew better in places like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Dr. Hamilton also recounted that naval stores were dependent on the long leaf pine and they were becoming fewer.

Copies of the book can be purchased at Amazon.com.

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