We Call Our Daddy, Mister: In Defiance of Convention; Life and Times at the Rose Hill Plantation

by James E. Schell

We Call Our Daddy "Mister" chronicles the story of Burrell Harrell, the son of a Confederate soldier. Harrell refused to abide by the customs and traditions of the Stars and Bars. He took up with a mulatto woman who bore him nine white children, five boys and four girls. They lived as a family in Georgia, contrary to custom and law. Harrell took on all comers to safeguard his children. His children were not accepted as white; they lived a difficult life being neither white nor black, but were conditioned culturally as black. "Mister Burrell" loved his family but toward the end of his life, he willed all of his belongings to a nephew - the son of a profligate brother - leaving his family without land or legal means to prosper. The holdings of Mister Burrell were about 2000 acres, 500 hundred head of cattle, and a whole creek. Probate of the will disclosed the probability of second, more recent will, allowing his heirs and Harrell's children to challenge the first will. Though the challenges were successfully fought off by the nephew, he lived in fear of having to give up land. Two of Burrell's daughters, 86 and 78 years old in 2006, still live on land previously owned by their Daddy. These very lands were recently bought by the State of Georgia and leased to the KIA Corporation of Korea to manufacture automobiles. The state paid Burrell Harrell $145.00 an acre in 1965; today the same land is valued at $12,500 per acre. They hope to be compensated eventually.

278 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

James Schell is a former Federal Government and Industry Executive now performing in his fourth career. His experience ranges from teaching to creating publications in technical and doctrinal domains, to serving as a Director in Industry (Litton Industries) and Government as well as winning a Presidential Appointment as Senior Executive, Director of Tactical Computer Systems and Software Engineering Centers, US Army. He has written three books, on-the-shelf, of the memoir genre, Aunt Nora --The Lives and Times of a Wise Woman; Moi; and Talk, various short stories, numerous technical papers, a travel log, Trekking through France, and two children’s books, Beepy and JATO. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, studied graduate level Business Administration, Anthropology and Genetics at California State University, Northridge; is certificated in Executive Management from University of California, Berkeley, and Executive Development from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He was awarded the Doctor of Laws Degree (Honorary) in 1984 from his alma mater for his work in establishing and supporting Computer Science and Software Engineering Technology Curricula (under Federal Sponsorship and in cooperation with Digital Equipment Corporation) in Historically Black Colleges and Universities starting in 1981. He is active in community affairs in North San Diego County as well as many of the initiatives of Alpha Pi Boulé, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He remains active in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and his Alumni organization in San Diego in addition to his writing. He is married to the former Doris E. Hunter. They live in Ocean Hills, California. They have five adult children and seven grandchildren.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. James Schell is a graduate of Tenth Street High School in West Point, Georgia, a segregated school for blacks until the mid-1900’s. Because it was unusual to see a number of white people in attendance at class reunions, when he saw a group of whites occupying two tables, his first thought was “there has to be a story there.” And, there was.

“We Call Our Daddy ‘Mister’” tells the true story of Burrell Floyd Harrell, the oldest son of a Confederate soldier. Harrell was only 17 years of age when his father passed away. Not one to adhere to customs and traditions of his day, he fell in love with Rosa Winston-Davidson, a mulatto woman, meaning she was not a first generation offspring of white and black parents. She and Harrell had nine children and even though it was against the law at the time, they lived as a family and raised their children together. Mr. Harrell, though he was an intelligent man who dismissed the prejudices of his day, still failed to provide for his common-law wife and children by drawing up a Will that would have made arrangements for an inheritance.

Dr. Schell’s book chronicles not only the history of the Harrell family but also tells the history of the attitudes and culture of a period of Southern history. It is the story of a family who wasn't accepted by blacks or whites and who survived a hostile environment, overcame obstacles and became stronger because of rather than in spite of their circumstances. Our society has moved on and become more tolerant of racially mixed marriages, however, hearing accounts from a different viewpoint will enlighten those who lived during this time.

[Reginald · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent and amazing biographical American history