Between Two Suns: The Berean Experience

by Larry Hamilton

Between Two The Berean Experience is Book II of Lucy s Story. It is the continuing saga of a family history narrative handed down from generations of the Hamilton family of Loveland, OH. Book I told of Lucy s flight from slavery to be sheltered at Camp Nelson, a Civil War fortification located south of Lexington, KY, that was one of the largest recruiters of Black soldiers. At Camp Nelson Lucy survived a tragic and deadly expulsion of fugitive slaves and befriended the abolitionist and humanitarian Rev. John G. Fee. At the camp she was courted by Allen Ross, a soldier who miraculously survives the Saltville Massacre and returns to marry Lucy with the Rev. Fee officiating. Book II titled Between Two Suns opens with the family s hope for a bright new future with the dawning of the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. The family struggles to be maintained as a cohesive unit during the turmoil of widespread racial violence. Farming and just working hard isn t enough to win the friendship of some neighbors which contributes to a migratory path of the family from Garrard County, KY to Warsaw on the Ohio River and on into Lockland, OH for a short time and final settlement in Loveland. In spite of social difficulties and economic hardship Lucy is passionate about following the advice of her old friend Rev. Fee in having her children educated. But ironically it is only her daughter Cynthia who is the one chosen to attend Berea College which was founded by Rev. Fee and becomes an integrated educational oasis in a region of strict adherence to Jim Crow. Remarkably, the recognition of the plight of European immigrants by these former American slaves is made real in the emotional strain of the fraying marriage of Lucy and Allen. Despite threats to marital fidelity the couple sacrificed to raise a family and fervently held to the ethic of hard work and the counsel of education as the means to accomplishing advancement in America. The mysterious murder of a family member and the conspiratorial manner brought about by the imposition of the Day Law marked the sunset at the beginning of the 20th century. Christina DeLaet, a former student of the author Larry Hamilton, is again the writer of this second book of the trilogy that will chronicle the journey of Lucy s family. The writer s accomplishment is a must read for everyone but especially for Bereans everywhere who critically study all things and fully understand that God has made of one blood all peoples of the Earth.

341 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2012