DMB1981
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2006
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- 561
This thread is closed for prinsesssexci
(This first one is going to be really long. I've got a lot of background to set up.)
The setting: Charleston, South Carolina in the years following the Civil War
The plot: Following the long and horrible War Between the States (there was nothing Civil about it, after all), many formerly wealthy southern farmers and plantation owners found themselves in financial ruin. Most of their fortunes were spent supporting the Confederate Army. Any money that a plantation owner had left was Confederate Money and was worth no more than the paper it was printed on. The large farms that had depended mostly on slave labor now lay dormant--- no labor meant no crops, and no crops meant no way to survive. One by one, Charleston's former elites were forced to sell their properties to the new wealthy class in the country: the Northern and European industrialists.
James Aultman grew up in a life of privilege. In the late seventeen hundreds, his great grandfather had been one of the first men in the country to grow rice. He was a well-educated man, having studied in England during his formative years. He read of vast rice farms in subtropical-Asia and realized that the descriptions of the climate and terrain of those areas sounded almost identical to the low-lands surrounding his families home in Charleston. Upon returning to America, James' great-grandfather had convinced his family to grow rice, and within 10 years they had built the largest plantation in South Carollina. They named it Fair Oaks after the hundreds of ancient Live Oak trees which dotted the plantation and bordered the Ashley River beside which the plantation sat.
By the time James was born, the Aultman family was one of the richest families in the United States. But the War changed everything. Much of the plantation, including the family's home, was destroyed. Their workers, who were not actually slaves but freed men and women even before the War, had been taken North to work in the factories which now were the basis of the countries economy. And worst of all, James' mother and father had died of illness during the months after the War ended. His only brother had been killed in battle. James found himself alone and virtually destitute. He had no means of income. He sold the family's mansion in Charleston and tried to use the money to resurrect the plantation. The few crops he was able to produce, however, went unsold. The Northern owned factories refused to buy any goods from any plantations which were still owned by Southerners.
Finally, James had no choice but to sell the plantation. The purchaser was an older man in his mid-60s names Mr. Allen. He was born in the United States but spent much of his life in Europe, first as a student and then as a business man. He was, much to James' surprise, a kind man and, being very wise, he accepted the fact that he knew nothing of managing a plantation. He hired James to oversee the day-to-day operations of Fair Oaks.
Under James management, a new mansion was built, along with outlying cabins which would house the new employees. Within 3 years, the plantation was once again producing goods and becoming a successful plantation again. It turned out that Mr. Allen owned cotton mills and textile mills up North, and Fair Oaks supplied those mills with all of the cotton they needed.
Tragically, Mr. Allen passed away just as Fair Oaks was beginning to return to its glory days. The factories he left to his two sons, but the plantation was left to his second wife. She was nearly 40 years younger than Mr. Allen and was his complete opposite when it came to kindness and compassion. She, like James, had been raised in the lap of luxury. But whereas James grew up on a plantation and had learned the value of hard work and a respect for the laborers who made Fair Oaks successful, Mrs. Allen had never so much as lifted a finger and viewed those beneath her as little more than servants, regardless of their race or heritage. Mrs. Allen was furious when her step-sons received the northern factories. She despised South Carolina and wanted nothing more than to return to her home in New York. Unfortunately, she did not have that option. At least not for now. Her step-sons hated her as much as she hated them, and she was forced to stay at Fair Oaks and live the life she had been dragged into by her now-dead husband until she could figure out a way to take what she believed was hers from her step-sons.
http://www.vistaart.com/MagnoliaPlantation.jpg
(This first one is going to be really long. I've got a lot of background to set up.)
The setting: Charleston, South Carolina in the years following the Civil War
The plot: Following the long and horrible War Between the States (there was nothing Civil about it, after all), many formerly wealthy southern farmers and plantation owners found themselves in financial ruin. Most of their fortunes were spent supporting the Confederate Army. Any money that a plantation owner had left was Confederate Money and was worth no more than the paper it was printed on. The large farms that had depended mostly on slave labor now lay dormant--- no labor meant no crops, and no crops meant no way to survive. One by one, Charleston's former elites were forced to sell their properties to the new wealthy class in the country: the Northern and European industrialists.
James Aultman grew up in a life of privilege. In the late seventeen hundreds, his great grandfather had been one of the first men in the country to grow rice. He was a well-educated man, having studied in England during his formative years. He read of vast rice farms in subtropical-Asia and realized that the descriptions of the climate and terrain of those areas sounded almost identical to the low-lands surrounding his families home in Charleston. Upon returning to America, James' great-grandfather had convinced his family to grow rice, and within 10 years they had built the largest plantation in South Carollina. They named it Fair Oaks after the hundreds of ancient Live Oak trees which dotted the plantation and bordered the Ashley River beside which the plantation sat.
By the time James was born, the Aultman family was one of the richest families in the United States. But the War changed everything. Much of the plantation, including the family's home, was destroyed. Their workers, who were not actually slaves but freed men and women even before the War, had been taken North to work in the factories which now were the basis of the countries economy. And worst of all, James' mother and father had died of illness during the months after the War ended. His only brother had been killed in battle. James found himself alone and virtually destitute. He had no means of income. He sold the family's mansion in Charleston and tried to use the money to resurrect the plantation. The few crops he was able to produce, however, went unsold. The Northern owned factories refused to buy any goods from any plantations which were still owned by Southerners.
Finally, James had no choice but to sell the plantation. The purchaser was an older man in his mid-60s names Mr. Allen. He was born in the United States but spent much of his life in Europe, first as a student and then as a business man. He was, much to James' surprise, a kind man and, being very wise, he accepted the fact that he knew nothing of managing a plantation. He hired James to oversee the day-to-day operations of Fair Oaks.
Under James management, a new mansion was built, along with outlying cabins which would house the new employees. Within 3 years, the plantation was once again producing goods and becoming a successful plantation again. It turned out that Mr. Allen owned cotton mills and textile mills up North, and Fair Oaks supplied those mills with all of the cotton they needed.
Tragically, Mr. Allen passed away just as Fair Oaks was beginning to return to its glory days. The factories he left to his two sons, but the plantation was left to his second wife. She was nearly 40 years younger than Mr. Allen and was his complete opposite when it came to kindness and compassion. She, like James, had been raised in the lap of luxury. But whereas James grew up on a plantation and had learned the value of hard work and a respect for the laborers who made Fair Oaks successful, Mrs. Allen had never so much as lifted a finger and viewed those beneath her as little more than servants, regardless of their race or heritage. Mrs. Allen was furious when her step-sons received the northern factories. She despised South Carolina and wanted nothing more than to return to her home in New York. Unfortunately, she did not have that option. At least not for now. Her step-sons hated her as much as she hated them, and she was forced to stay at Fair Oaks and live the life she had been dragged into by her now-dead husband until she could figure out a way to take what she believed was hers from her step-sons.
http://www.vistaart.com/MagnoliaPlantation.jpg
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