Violet Crown Nonfiction Award; Ottis Locke Best Book on East Texas History Award; San Antonio Conservation Society Award.

"A fascinating . . . account of the life and legacy of . . . a slave . . . who became . . . one of the first black city aldermen and property owners during Reconstruction. . . . A good example of history from the bottom up."- Library Journal.

"Imaginative biography. . . . Of particular interest is the authors' ingenious research: they assembled Joshua's story from Margaret and Sam Houston's correspondence and from the family stories of Joshua's descendants."- Booklist.

This is the story of the "other" Houston, Joshua, the slave of Margaret Lea until she married Sam Houston and moved to Texas in 1840. Joshua was unique among slaves: he was taught to read and write, and was allowed to keep money he earned. The story is set in a background of historical details about southern social history before, during, and after the Civil War.

Sources include slave autobiographies and biographies; Houston family letters; oral histories of descendants of both Houston families; birth, marriage and death records; land records and deeds; church and school records.

"Joshua Houston's story is absorbing and instructive by itself, but this book is more than the biography of one man. . . . It provides nothing less than a detailed account of the emergence of a Black middle class . . . after the Civil War."- Texas Review

Patricia Smith Prather is a freelance writer, co-editor of the Texas Trailblazer series, a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and a second-generation Tuskegee graduate. She is executive director of the Houston Place Association.

Jane Clements Monday is a former regent of the Texas State University board and past mayor of Huntsville, Texas. She holds a degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Patricia Smith Prather is a freelance writer, co-editor of the Texas Trailblazer series, a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and a second-generation Tuskegee graduate. She is executive director of the Houston Place Association.

Jane Clements Monday is a former regent of the Texas State University board and past mayor of Huntsville, Texas. She holds a degree from the University of Texas at Austin.