It was before the war spread south to Georgia. It was a time when Atlanta was still beautiful and the home of many of the Confederacyâs finest gentlemen. It was then that Leasa Edwards, daughter of Colonel Everett Clyborn Edwards, was the most sought after beauty south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Heiress to one of the largest plantations in GeorgiaââTaraââLeasa Edwards was both wealthy and lovely. This stately, young woman caught the eye of all and any fine, young, southern gentleman in her vicinity. Who could resist her slender, 5â7â frame swaying through a southern breeze? And who could not admire her fine, blonde hair coiffed demurely in a bun or rolling freely down her back. And those deep blue eyes set in a perfect face of pale white, delicate skin were found irresistible by any man who met her acquaintance.
Most men also admired her goddess-like figure: 36C-24-35. She was as close to perfect as ever a woman was...with a personality to match. She was kind-hearted, gay, and bright.
Leasa Edwards was truly a treasure of Southern femininity.
Atlanta's nights would see many of the cityâs finest young gentlemen calling on âMiss Leasaâ. They would take strolls with her along the paths of the city and around the plantationâs many acres. They would sit with her on the mansionâs veranda, just gazing on her beauty. But all of the courting was very much chaperoned, of course, by Leasaâs family as well as some of the house slaves.
Some nights Leasaâs daddy, the Colonel, would hold parties on the grounds of the plantation. There would be much drink, food, and partying. Some lucky young beau would get to hold Leasaâs hand while they watched the darkies dance and sing for the pleasure of the upper crust Whites in attendance.
Old, fat Samboâone of the older slavesâwould dance for the revelers and make everyone laugh till their sides split. Leasa would love to watch the funny, fat, black man dance from foot to foot playing his harmonica, his baggy pants jostling just like a clownâs.
âOh Sambo!â sheâd exclaim, âYou make me laugh so!â
Sambo would smile and dance on, acting the buffoon for white society...and for the beautiful Leasa Edwards, daughter of his master.
But in Samboâs heart was a yearning for the day that the Union Calvary would stamp the Confederacy under its hoof...the day that Sambo and his many wives and children, which he mated with and bred for Master Edwards, would be free.
One day in early spring it was announced that Leasa Edwards was engaged to Captain Jonathan Beauragard, one of the Confederacyâs finest horseman. He was a fine cut of a man with long blonde hair, a square chin and handsome features.
Everyone thought it a match made in heaven. They were two of the finest looking, young specimens the white, Anglo South had to offer. Unfortunately, their wedding came just at the time that the Union Army began its siege of Atlanta and the burning started.
At that time, Sambo and the 80 or more slaves on Tara rebelled and left the mansion and its grounds in ruins. The Union Army swept into Atlanta and the restâas they sayâis history.
After the war, things were very different in Atlanta. Social position and graces once prized in southern society were no longer of the same importance. Leasaâs daddy, the Colonel, was killed in the fight for Atlanta. It was unfortunate for Leasa that the Colonel never left a will. And with âcarpetbagger justiceâ being what it wasâshe was left with nothing.
Captain Beauragard owned little. Without the prestige of his military position, he had little to offer. He knew no trade and had little education for business.
Soon after the war, prospects for the once enviable, young couple grew more and more meager. In short time, they moved into a small one-bedroom apartment in downtown Atlanta...and not one of the nicer downtown areas at that.
Two years had passed now since the war, and the owner theyâd paid rent to had changed several times. They were soon to understand that a Northerner now owned their apartment building and would be collecting their rent weekly rather than monthly. The young coupleâs poor payment history had put them in this humiliating situation.
They awaited their new landlordâs arrival one evening, hoping he would be kind, generous, and mercifulâperhaps recognizing them as once having been the cream of antebellum, southern society.
âDarling, please donât drink before Mr. Beaux arrives tonight. We need desperately to impress upon him that we are responsible tenants,â Leasa Edwards implored her husband, who had turned heavily to the bottle over the past 2 years.
âI know Leasa, my love...but itâs been hard for me to stop. My sorrow for our lost Cause, and its honor, troubles my heart so,â the ex-Captain, Jon Beauragard replied, slightly slurring his speech, sitting slouched in a corner chair.
âDarling, we must get over the war and the changes itâs wrought on our lives. We have to find a new life and a new way...â Leasa pleaded with him, as she had done so many times before.
A loud knock on the door interrupted the young wedded coupleâs well-worn conversation.
When Leasa opened the door she found a large, rotund black man before her. He appeared at least 60, dressed in a top hat, vest, suit jacket and tight riding pants. He was dressed as fine as the wealthiest of southern society. But his attire appeared so out of place on this large, over-weight Black.
Then the shock of recognition grew over Leasaâs elegant features. Before her stood the man who was once her fatherâs lead slaveâSambo!
âSambo! My god, Sambo! What in heavenâs name are you doing here? And dressed in such a way?â
The black manâs face remained grim. Gone was the old, slaphappy, partially toothless smile of Leasaâs favorite âdarkyâ. Before her stood a powerful, embittered African businessman. He was a businessman that expected to be paidâand repaidâall that he was owed. No excuses!
Sambo was the Beauragardsâ new landlord.
âLeasa, my name is now Samuel Beaux. And you will address me as âMaster Beauxâ whenever you are in my presence. Is that understood?â
Leasa stepped back in shock at her one-time slaveâs affront.
Her husband, witnessing all this in shock, leapt to his feet furiously:
âWhy you damned nigger! Iâll teach you manners if I have to beat them into you!!!â
But the large black man simply back handed the drunken, white Confederate officer and sent him sprawling back onto the floor, his lip bloodied.
âI wouldnât try that again, boy. Unless youâre prepared to take the beatinâ of your life in front of your wife,â Sambo admonished the shaken, Confederate soldier.
Slowly, with his wifeâs help, the Captain struggled to his feet. He rushed the ex-slave again, only to receive a powerful punch deep into his solar plexus, dropping him to his knees in front of the immense black man.
Leasa watched in terror as her husband knelt in front of black Sambo, clutching himself and trying to regain his breath. She couldnât conceive this âdarkyâ, who once served as her familyâs clown, subduing and humiliating her husbandâher countryâs heroâwith such confidence, such ease, and such mastery.
Sambo reached down, grabbed the Captain by his longânow mangyâhair, and slapped his face, first with the front, then the back of his hand. He then delivered another blow to the kneeling Captainâs ribs. This last blow sent Captain Beauragard flopping over into a fetal position...moaning and whimpering.
Leasa watched in horror at the spectacle of the husband she once revered being reduced to a thoroughly beaten, whimpering shell of a man.
âIf you want more, youâll get it,â Sambo sternly warned, gazing down at the white man huddled around his feet.
âNow APOLOGIZE!!!â the ex-slave ordered the Confederate Captain, who remained gasping and whimpering at his feet.
In the stunned silence of the room, all that could be heard was the Captainâs moans and whimpers. Leasa stood looking on, unable to moveâto hardly even breatheâin a state of bewildered shock.
âWell then,â Sambo said impatiently, as he leaned over and began to lift the Captainâs head by the scalp in order to continue administering the beating...
âPlease,â a voice squeaked.