North Carolina Office of Archives and History

James Blair of Virginia by Parke Rouse,Review by: David T. MorganThe North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 49, No. 2 (April, 1972), pp. 209-210Published by: North Carolina Office of Archives and HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23530022 .

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Book Reviews 209

Part Two, "History of the System," is a revised text of Ben Tillman's Baby, which was compiled by John Evans Eubank in 1931-1932. The history of

the temperance movement in South Carolina is traced from the colonial period to the twentieth century. This account contains a detailed story of the South

Carolina dispensary system from its origin to its inevitable demise. It is the story of Governor Benjamin Tillman ("Pitchfork" Ben), his rise to political promi nence in South Carolina, and his attempt to bring order to and control over the

manufacture and distribution of alcohol in his state.

South Carolina was the only state to give the dispensary plan a thorough trial.

The legislature passed the dispensary law on December 24, 1892, and it went

into effect on July 1, 1893. From that time until the law's repeal in 1907, the

dispensary system brought the violent dissent of the press, bootleggers, and

prohibitionists. Riots, corruption, graft, and court battles marked its existence.

The system produced large revenues but did not succeed in curbing the con

sumption of alcohol or solving any of its attendant problems. Dr. Huggins is a practicing psychiatrist in Columbia. His serious interest in

collecting dispensary and other types of bottles qualifies him to write this book.

His own collection is believed to be among the best in existence. With the

increasing interest in collecting old bottles, this title should be included in all

public libraries. It will be invaluable in the research libraries of museums.

State Department of Archives and History

Virginia S. Currie

James Blair of Virginia. By Parke Rouse, Jr. (Chapel Hill: University of North Caro

lina Press, 1971. Illustrations, appendixes, notes, index. Pp. xii, 336. $10.00.)

In a most delightful and enlightening way this volume traces the eventful

career of early Virginia's most powerful ecclesiastical leader. Born in Baniffshire,

Scotland, in about 1656 James Blair, son of a parish minister, went on to enter

the parish ministry himself, but a crisis over a test oath forced him to leave his

parish and seek work in London in 1683. During two years in the Rolls Office

he won the confidence of Henry Compton, bishop of London, and with it the

opportunity to serve in "faraway Virginia." Blair reached Virginia in 1685. By

1690 he had married into the Virginia elite and had been named commissary,

the bishop of London's personal overseer of the colony's ecclesiastical affairs.

Blair was soon one of the most dominant figures in Virginia. He became

wealthy and sufficiently powerful to secure the removal of three governors who

displeased him. But in his drive to gain riches and position, the commissary, ac

cording to Rouse, served the interests of Virginia as well as his own, most notably

by founding William and Mary College.

VOLUME XLIX, NUMBER t, APRIL, 1Í7Í

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210 Book Reviews

Even in the last years of his long life Blair's "obsessive will to rule kept him

active." Only death, which claimed the controversial commissary on April 18,

1743, diminished his lust for power. The author has done his job well. His book is more than just a biography of

James Blair. To a greater extent than most biographies it offers valuable insights into the ecclesiastical, political, and social history of Great Britain and Virginia

during Blair's lifetime. But while the book is informative and well written,

Rouse's conclusions about James Blair are debatable. Was Blair the great "force

for good" that Rouse claims? From the evidence he has presented, the author

could easily have concluded that Blair worked for Virginia only when doing so

would help Blair. Rouse has treated the materialistic and power-hungry Blair

far more generously than he should have.

As clergyman and commissary, Blair once again deserves less acclaim than his

biographer gives him. By preaching what his parishioners wanted to hear—the

"simple gospel"—Blair carefully avoided offending them. But at the same time

he was a petty taskmaster in his dealings with the clergy who served under

him. In his numerous battles Blair apparently had the support of only a small

percentage of his fellow Virginia ministers.

While Rouse is sometimes critical of Blair, he is not critical enough. Yet, the

work is generally excellent and worthy of commendation. It has all the ear

marks of a good book—impressive documentation, attractive illustrations, an

extensive bibliography, and a good index. Having the notes at the back of the

book is a nuisance, but the author could not help that. All students of colonial

history will profit from reading this work.

Texas A&M University

David T. Morgan

The Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831: A Compilation of Source Material. Edited

by Henry Irving Tragle. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1971. Illus

trations, introduction, notes on sources, bibliographical essay. Pp. xviii, 489. $15.00.)

The author-editor of this generally excellent book writes as an angry man, but sometimes he fails to see the gray which lies between black and white and

bases editorial opinion on assumption rather than satisfactorily supported evi

dence. He says that this collection of source material on the Southampton

County, Virginia, slave insurrection of 1831 was inspired by his indignation at a claim by novelist William Styron that a pamphlet by Thomas R. Gray, The

Confessions of Nat Turner, is "the single significant contemporary document

concerning the insurrection."

Notwithstanding, the casual scholar should find the collection, which the

THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL REVIEW

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