From Loss to Legacy - The Story of Ervin James matters They couldn’t keep him from the dream. They couldn’t take away his legacy. The shoulders that strained under the weight of pain and slavery are the shoulders we stand on. Inspired by Ervin James who lived in the 1800s. Ervin James overcame great odds, pain, loss, and suffering to leave a legacy when he managed to purchase over 100 acres of land and found a community for freed blacks in 1870. It’s a story of hope, love, and the family we make - including the unexpected. Ervin begins his journey as a slave walking from Virginia to South Carolina to stand in a slave market with his mother. Their lives are a reflection of the many lives lived and lost during slavery in the United States. However, this story is also of the strength and resilience of those who lived through these times and continue to live through their descendants today. The story takes readers through Ervin's life beginning in childhood in 1815 until the purchase of land made in December 1870. Ervin's story is told against the backdrop of a pre-civil-war era and then through it, gracefully incorporating history and culture into the experience of reading about his life. The Story of Ervin James is a carefully crafted, yet fictionalized, full length historical novel inspired by the life of Ervin James, a Black man and slave, who lived in the 1800s. It is written by his great-great-great granddaughter.

Travel back in time with former students and teachers of Illinois only octagonal one-room schoolhouse. Read eye-witness accounts of the years 1916 to 1953 when the school closed. What was it like to have all eight grades together in one classroom with only one teacher? Find out as you read these personal narratives that will touch your heart. Filled with hundreds of historic photographs, this book will delight readers of all ages.