Deep Family - Four Centuries of American Originals and Southern Eccentrics (Hardcover)

Deep Family chronicles several generations of an interesting and well-known Southern family. The title comes from a servant who had been with the family so long that he had become part of the family. When he presided over a post-funeral family dinner, he remarked that "all de deep family be here." The three "deep families"--the Craiks, Baldwins, and Reads--in this book go back to pre-Revolutionary times. Dr. James Craik was Revolutionary War Surgeon General and was George Washington's "best" friend; Dr. William O. Baldwin was a close friend of William Lowndes Yancey; the first Nicholas Cabell Read escaped execution in Mexico after the fall of Maxmilian by beating it "for the States, with his parrot on his shoulder and some gold pieces in his pocket"; to cite just a few examples. The family included revolutionaries, Confederates, Communists, diplomats, journalists, artists, grande dames, and eccentrics. This book will combine history, gossip, and personal lore in a ripping good read.