Book Description

In 1833, the English family of George Poulton set sail, intent on claiming land in Canada.Their tale of crossing New York on an Erie Canal packet boat ends in tragedy as the father dies in Lockport, leaving a wife and five young children with a claim to land no longer valid. In desperation, the mother places her two youngest children in adoptive homes and enrolls the two eldest in the Emma Willard Academy, Troy, New York. Later, one daughter marries the son of Niagara Falls architect John Latshaw and another marries Judge Thomas Dawkins who, in the waning years of the Confederacy, risks life and fortune to provide sanctuary to the South Carolina government of Andrew Magrath. Leading the family into the turn of the century is George Edward Ladshaw who partners with a brother to found Ladshaw & Ladshaw, a civil and hydraulic engineering firm that rides the wave of the burgeoning Carolina cotton mill industry. Overshadowing this success is the tragic story of the eldest Poulton child who inherits the scourge of bipolar disorder and dies in a South Carolina mental institution. Eventually, the entire family that had sailed from English shores settles in South Carolina and becomes "All Together Once More." This true story of an immigrant family in America is intertwined with a narrative of hope, despair, and success and is based upon letters, a diary and family bible, Emma Willard Academy records, family accounts, and legal documents. The book is generously illustrated and fully annotated.