The Master's House The title page of this novel names "Logan" as its author, and adds under that name that "I ALWAYS WAS THE FRIEND OF THE WHITE MAN." The historical Logan was a Wyandot chief. Here it's the pseudonym of Thomas Bangs Thorpe, best known as the author of "The Big Bear of Arkansas" and one of the best of the writers identified by literary history as the Southwest Humorists. Born in Massachusetts, and brought up in New York, Thorpe moved to Louisiana in 1836. The Master's House has been described as "a reform novel on the evils of slavery"*, which would align it with Stowe's novel rather than against it. It was certainly written in reply to Stowe, but you can decide for yourself how to read its ambivalent treatment of the white man and the black, the masters and slaves.

The Master's House: A Tale of the Southern Life, by Logan (Thomas Bangs Thorpe). New York, T. L. McElrath, 1854. 391 pages, illustrated.

FRONTISPIECE

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CHAPTER I. MALDEN AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS . . . . 13 CHAPTER II. COLLEGE EXERCISES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 CHAPTER III. INCIDENTS OF MILDMAY AND EARLY HISTORY . . 30 CHAPTER IV. MILDMAY PURCHASES "HERITAGE PLACE" . . . . 38 CHAPTER V. MAJOR DIXON AND HIS ALBUM . . . . . . 48 CHAPTER VI. BEN READS THE STORY OF CHARLES BROADNAX . . 58 CHAPTER VII. A VARIETY OF INCIDENTS . . . . . . . . . . 69 CHAPTER VIII. A PLEASANT DREAM MADE REALITY . . . 85 CHAPTER IX. AN UNSUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE . . . . . . 93 CHAPTER X. THE QUIET CLOSE OF DAY . . . . . . . . . . 114 CHAPTER XI. AN ORDER DISOBEYED. . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 CHAPTER XII. THE PROMISED VISIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 CHAPTER XIII. EVERY DAY INCIDENTS . . . . . . . . . . 148 CHAPTER XIV. THE HOSPITABLE BOARD . . . . . . . . 162 CHAPTER XV. THE TITLE DEED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 CHAPTER XVI. DIXON'S REMORSE. . . . . . . . . . . . 185 CHAPTER XVII. DIXON ACQUIRES PEACE OF MIND. . . 200 CHAPTER XVIII. DEATH OF JACK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 CHAPTER XIX. THE EXCITEMENT OF THE HOUR. . . . 219 CHAPTER XX. THE RESCUE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 CHAPTER XXI. UNEXPECTED RELATIONSHIP. . . . . . . 238 CHAPTER XXII. DIXON JOURNEYS TO BUSINESS . . . . . 251 CHAPTER XXIII. DIXON'S UNEXPECTED SUCCESS . . . . 267 CHAPTER XXIV. ABSTRACTIONS AND REALITIES . . . . 278 CHAPTER XXV. THE FORMS OF LAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 CHAPTER XXVI. THE TESTIMONY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 CHAPTER XXVII. AN AMERICAN WEAKNESS . . . . . . 326 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE FIELD OF HONOR . . . . . . . . . . 346 CHAPTER XXIX. THE CATASTROPHE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 CHAPTER XXX. THE WIDOW AND ORPHAN . . . . . . . 366 CHAPTER XXXI. THE PENALTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 CHAPTER XXX. [UNTITLED] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390