Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer’s book “The State of Jones,” which details Newton Knight’s exploits in Jones County during the Civil War, has carried with a certain amount of controversy.

That controversy followed them to Jones County Junior College Thursday, where the two hosted a book talk and signing in the Fine Arts Auditorium.

J. Ronald Parrish, a Jones County assistant district attorney and avid history buff, was quick to raise his hand to debate the book’s claims. Parrish threw his hat in the ring after Stauffer, chair of American Civilization at Harvard University, said Victoria E. Bynum had refused to debate him.

Bynum, who wrote a similar book entitled, “The Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s Longest Civil War,” has given Stauffer’s book what he called “vicious criticism.”

“She called us Yankees and carpet baggers,” he said. “She said we wrote fiction and not history, which are serious and even libelous charges. We chose to write history that was well documented.”

Stauffer said Bynum, who he referred to as a gadfly, called their work “inferior to that of high school students.”

“A gadfly is an insect that bites the rumps of horses,” he said. “They stake his or her reputation on annoying or slandering others.”

Stauffer said Bynum challenges “The State of Jones” take that Knight, who he termed a Southern Unionist, never succeeded because Jones County never succeeded, and that he wasn’t at a key battle in Vicksburg.

“She said he (Knight) was no friend of blacks,” Stauffer noted, even though he pointed out throughout the talk how the Jones County native had helped slaves during and even after the war.

Parrish, who noted he was not looking to make a personal attack, said he “disagreed profusely” with Jenkins and Stauffer’s book.

“The winners of wars get to write the books and records,” Parrish said, referencing the fact that the book draws heavily on war records from Washington, D.C. “If I could get the records of the Third Reich, I could write a good book about (Hitler).”

Parrish implied that it was an irrelevant point that Knight, whose grandfather was a wealthy slave owner, did not have any slaves of his own.

“Seventy-five percent of soldiers in the Southern army didn’t own slaves,” he said. “Robert E. Lee didn’t own slaves and was not in favor of succession. There’s no need to spit on the graves of these men and women. Only a fool would feel they have to defend slavery in order to honor what they did.”

Parrish also called Knight a murderer, accusing him of breaking into the Deason House in Ellisville and shooting a local reverend in the back of the head.

Stauffer countered Parrish’s claims that Lee, in fact, did own slaves and discussed that in his letters. He said the research for the book was from Confederate war files, not just those from the Union.

“No prize-winning scholar disagrees that the war was over slavery,” he said.

Despite the criticisms, “The State of Jones” tells the story of Newton Knight in full detail, from his upbringing as the grandson of a wealthy slave owner to his death as an outsider in the South.

Stauffer said that Mississippi was the wealthiest state in the nation in the 1860s because of cotton and slaves, both important commodities in those days. However, not all Southerners owned slaves, including many in Jones County.

“Jones County was the poorest in the state because of the Piney Woods, a region of pine trees and swamp land,” he said. “There were more hogs and cattle than people.”

Jenkins, a journalist and author with The Washington Post, called Knight a “principled but flawed man,” noting he was the outlaw deserter he has been made out to be in history.

“Albert Knight (Newton’s father) was the only child in the Knight family to not own slaves,” she said.

Jenkins told the story of a delegate from Jones County, who was elected to go to Jackson to vote against succession. However, when he changed his vote, Newton Knight and others including Jasper Collins felt betrayed and the delegate was burned in effigy.

Jenkins said another breaking point for Knight was a Confederate draft, which called on the poorest young people first.

Stauffer said desertion was a capital crime during the Civil War, and those caught were publicly flawed and forced to re-enlist.

“(Knight) was there when Grant took Vicksburg,” he said. “Instead of imprisoning 30,000 Confederate soldiers, he paroled them and made them take an oath not to take up arms against the Union Army.”

Stauffer said that Knight returned to Jones County at that time, and in the fall of 1863, he formed a Union company, pledging allegiance to the United States of America. As a result, Knight also took an anti-slavery stance, Stauffer added.

Stauffer said Knight’s company engaged in swamp warfare to stay alive, recruiting help from fugitive slaves to ward off dogs and other dangers.

“The State of Jones” also discusses a relationship Knight had with a family slave named Rachel. Stauffer noted that their relationship became romantic, Rachel bore a child and she was later granted a large plot of land, which was unheard of at the time.

Stauffer said Knight continued to fight for the rights of slaves despite attempts on his life, even after the war. The author noted that Knight lived in a “fortress” on a high hill until his death to keep an eye out for enemies.

Stauffer said another large theme in the book is that the Confederate Army was not united in their mission, but there were many divisions and Southern Unionists.

Jenkins sent special thanks to Jim Kelly, vice president of instructional affairs at Jones County Junior College. Kelly will also be writing a book on the same topic, which the authors said would be the “definitive version of the story.”

“He helped us with our research and made us feel at home,” she said. “He also connected us to descendants of the Knight family. We couldn’t have written this book without them.”

Stauffer added that he also holds JCJC in high regard.

“This shows the possibilities of interracial alliances,” he said. “I love Jones County. Jones County Junior College is a model of an integrated community and an example of what’s possible in society today.”