John Sutton’s Will

Terry Franklin is an estate and trust lawyer who in his spare time is chronicling the story of his antebellum ancestors, John and Lucy Sutton, and the discovery of the actual document that emancipated his fourth-great-grandmother and freed her from slavery. Terry discusses his journey and the story of his family, and talks about the dangers of destructive fires; contested wills; the luck of finding thoughtful paralegals; family connections to the Tuskegee Airmen; the thrill of the (paper) chase; how fact met fiction; a fateful fascination with red sealing wax; encouraging words from Amelia Boynton Robinson; the power of prayers for the ancestors; how Lucy and her children were able “to enjoy their full and perfect freedom;” and emerging understanding of what history actually is. (Length 24:30) (Recorded Friday, January 24th 2020, the 173rd anniversary of the day John Sutton’s will was written.)

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