My parents were married on July 11, 1878. That Bustill family legacy became a part of my heritage. My father’s side was humble, and I was endeared to that special warmth and good simple nature of my North Carolina kinfolk.

It was in 1879 that my father was called to pastor the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey.

Following the Civil War, there was a period (1865–76) called Reconstruction where an attempt was made by the Union to “reconstruct” the South to include the newly freed slaves into the society. This effort failed due to mounting opposition of southern whites. A deal was struck giving the presidency to Ruther B. Hayes in 1876 that call for the Northern forces to withdraw from the South.

After this, organizations like the Ku Klux Klan sprung up to put Blacks back into the service of the southern whites. They resorted to threats, violence, lynching and other means to achieve their purpose.