Going on this voyage with him offers a fascinating glimpse into our nation's history, and teaches us that here really is no such thing as 'black' or 'white'. Op-Ed | All societies had provisions for the recovery of runaways, and most imposed sanctions on owners who stole others slaves (a capital offense in some systems) or helped them to flee. This book is about a descendant of a slave owner contacting the descendants of the slaves that worked the plantation. This book speaks to me in a very personal way. dreams. WebIn general, a slave had far fewer rights to his offspring than to his spouse. I have tried without results to find more of their lives. On the morning of April 12, 1861, rebel batteries around Charleston opened fire on Federal troops stationed at the fort, loudly opening The last letters date from three hundred years later in America, after the rice Or the descendants of African slave traders Ball looks up in Sierra Leone! WebThe slave auction was the epitome of slavery's dehumanization. Absolutely fascinating!! The remnants of rice banks, eroded Edward Ball has made an important contribution to those fields with this extensively-researched look at plantation life near Charleston, SC. Ball follows the stories of these people over many years as the families dispersed. Classifieds | That provision found its way into the Code of Justinian. 3 Oct 2022. "the Ball slaves," a puff of black smoke on the wrinkled horizon of the past. During slavery, the family had more than a dozen city residences in addition to the plantations out of town. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. The book depicts his family as being not the cruelest of slave owners. ''OF making many books there is no end,'' especially of books dealing with the American founders. I also felt shame about the broken society that had washed up when the tide of slavery receded. 27 Feb 2023. The same no doubt happened among black families as each drifted farther from the plantation. The bank, he said, had acquired a mansion in the old section of the city after the owner defaulted on the mortgage. ISBN: 0-374-26582-8, Home | Very interesting in understanding where each "side" was coming from. Roman slaves were allowed to make contracts in regard to third peculium. $26. I felt proud (how rare the stories!) "There's George," said Dad, pulling the four-door to a stop. Many wore shorts and T-shirts in the Carolina heat, though a few women turned out in heels and jewelry. The sugar fields, workers, and mansion Could their families be found? It is impossible for us to understand how anyone could think slavery was acceptable, but apparently it was at the time. Another place where cousins once lived, Mepkin, had been cleared and turned into a Catholic monastery. The ruined brick hulk of the rice mill at Comingtee stood within plain So, I took the plunge and it was incredible. National/N.Y. had manners, others none; some had money and status, some neither. He is not the only person who must struggle to acknowledge evil done by family members in the past. I literally couldn't put it down. they enslaved. Societies elsewhere, however, such as the North American Yurok, Tlingit, and other neighbouring Indians, as well as in the American South, explicitly stated that slaves could have no honour, personal status, or prestige. He learns that his ancestors not only owned slaves,but that 2 family branches were large-scale slave traders, importing human beings directly from West Africa, He searches out descendants of slaves who lived on Ball family plantations, preparing careful geneologies and scrupulously identifying and acknowledging black families as descended from his own white ancestors as well as slave women on the plantations. This award winning (national book award) was sheer pleasure to read. In the early 1800s, the townhouse of Elias Ball, The three of us drove north out of Charleston on a two-lane blacktop toward the upper streams of the Cooper River, where rice grew And it was interesting! We felt Edward Ball was brave to tackle this topic, despite his unpopularity with his family and some readers. The prospect of the family reunion pushed me, finally, to come to terms with it. A forestry company had bought much of the family land and planted pine trees. to live in the year 1698. Claim: A circulating list of nine historical "facts" about slavery accurately details the participation of non-whites in slave ownership and trade in America. Ball does an exceptional job unearthing and researching painful parts of his family lore. WebFamilies in Slavery. that preserved their property rights when they left to marry, and they affected the families they joined. Sadists, even psychopaths, who could not cope with their right of total dominance over another human being, might appear anywhere, as might kindly masters. I wondered if I could stay focused all the way through because it seemed like it would be a tedious read and I wanted to really be able to give it the respect it deserves. Part historical narrative, part oral history, part personal story of investigation and catharsis, Slaves in the Family is, in the words of Pat Conroy, "a work of breathtaking generosity and courage, a magnificent study of the complexity and strangeness and beauty of the word family. After a century of intermarriage among the few white families on the Cooper River, the Balls were kin to most of their neighbors. In 1838, three houses burned in a fire. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. I, too, come from a southern family, and my ancestors also owned slaves. , File size He was born in 1844 on Limerick plantation, one of the many Ball tracts, and died in 1933 in Charleston. Edward Ball recounts his efforts to track down and meet the descendants of his family's slaves. In the family of my mother's father, the Rowleys, were more slave owners. Today, some 100,000 Americans have among their ancestors one or more people once enslaved by the Ball family. the Civil War. He did an amazing amount of research to trace back bloodlines. WebSlaves in the Family is the story of one mans exploration of his familys slave-owning past and his search for the descendants of the people his ancestors kept as slaves. Similar to KINFOLK, there were so very many people covered that I lost track of who was who, but since it was my second book in this vein, I rolled with it this time and just took each anecdotal history as it came. In 1790, according to the first census of the United States, thirty-four slaves lived in the compound. It reminds us of our common humanity and of the ties that still bind us, no matter what the wounds of the past. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Discover more of the authors books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more. 3 Oct 2022. Old papers are beautiful things. The picture showed a whale of a building in Greek Revival style; six two-story columns lined each of the four facades, making twenty-four Doric columns all the way Photos. 2 Rolls. Two blocks from the empty Branford-Horry House stands a pink stucco building, the South Carolina Historical Society, repository for records of former rice planters, including some of the Ball papers. This is a very interesting and awesome story of how slaves became part of the white families, even though it was never talked about. Edward Ball was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1958, grew up in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. guttural sounds. Real Estate | A long strip of yellowed newsprint, the clipping carried the headline "Isaac Ball, 88, Confederate, Dies." It helped make me more aware of how intertwined the African-American and White-American communities really are. The Ball slaves were easier to define. Between 1698 and 1865, the 167 years the family was in the slave business, close to four thousand black people were born into slavery to the Balls or bought by them. Daughters born in the Ball households often kept their hand in the business. In North America in the period from 1770 to 1830 the killing of a slave was equated in common law with the murder of a white person. In that moment, the story of the Ball clan was locked in the depths of my mind, to be pried loose one day. A major issue was whether the master had to allow the slave to marry and what rights the owner had over slave offspring. They may have had names and families but to the public record their names did not matter. Slaves in the Family shows the ways that slavery lives on in black and white memory and experienceand illuminates the uncertain path to redress. These may seem like big numbers, but they are a tiny current in the sea: nearly four million black Americans were affected by the Emancipation Proclamation. Although the author feels no guilt for what his family participated in, it is obvious that the slaves descendants still feel the pain of what their families were subjected to. Ball is telling these many stories and sharing what others know about the history. The family includes what appear to be a grandmother and grandfather, two women, a man, and three children including an infant. stood against the curb to hold the thing in the air. My father, Theodore Porter Ball, came from the venerable city of Charleston, South Carolina, the son of an old plantation clan. Elsewhere were two bedrooms, founder of the family, had been sold away and was later knocked down. Toward the end of his life, Isaac was nearly blind from glaucoma. "Slaves in the Family" recounts Edward Ball's painstaking research into the history of his family, the first of whom settled near Charlestion at the end of the 17th century. second floor was lined with more cypress, broken up here and there by fluted pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals. Click on the + button and choose the Add M3U URL option. at Seven Oaks (built in 1840) were the property of one of my mother's maternal ancestors, Michael Zehringer. The rooms were moldering, the air thick and bacterial. . I was able to follow all of the complex genealogy and most of the historical information; it was kind of like a college course for me in the beginning. He spent far more time relating the history of his white family in America than talking about the people his family once owned. A second colonnade on the piazza supported a pediment, which gave the face of the building the look of a furrowed brow. Sensitive and formidable the historical sections rivet a reader.. Most of the rest were wiped aside in waves of demolition that began in the 1900s. On the spine the words Does this item contain inappropriate content? We can come up with numbers and I believe that I will note those numbers in the history I am compiling. The brutal deprivation of rights was expressed in the Alabama case Creswells Executor v. Walter (1860); the slave, said the court, had no legal mind, no will which the law can recognize. Please try your request again later. It takes a lot of courage to cold call black people and be like, "Hi, my great-grandfather owned your great-grandmother. Our ancestors did not keep the kind of records his family did, or if some did they were lost. Laws were uniformly harsh when a slave killed a stranger who was a freeman. Between 1698 and 1865, close to four thousand black people were born into slavery under the Balls or were bought by them.In Slaves in the Family, Edward Ball recounts his efforts to track down and meet the descendants of his family's slaves. Loved it! Part history, part journey, this is the story of black and white families who That style was probably necessary. children to join a faction of exiled Confederates. It was here that the founder of the family, the first Elias Ball, came from England The most prosperous households owned slaves for every imaginable purpose, purchased at the slave markets found in almost all Roman towns. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. The end result is well worth the work. In 1852, Church leaders serving in Utahs legislature debated what to do about black slavery in Utah Territory. It must have been difficult, especially when he wasn't well received. Isaac would feel his way to the park and find the eastern edge of the green, where a tall seawall, known as the High Battery, stands against the tides. Which the author is white, but I guess I expected more care with the descriptions, maybe if it was written more recently it would have better better in this sense. Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group. My brother, Ted, and With the gift of the book, Dad seemed We look forward to another book by this author. Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2021. This provision gave slaves an incentive to work as well as the hope of eventual manumission. and in-laws owned more land and people. The book had a wordy title, Recollections Dad evidently didn't know much about them, and I imagine he didn't want to know. Edward Ball gave us much food for thought and a continued resolve to make freedom a reality for all men, women and children. to be saying that the plantations were a piece of unfinished business. The authors family were multiple generations of slave owners in the Carolinas early in the founding of this country. My father had a little joke that made light of our legacy as a family that had once owned slaves. In childhood, I remember feeling an intangible sense of worth that might be linked to the old days. Isaac wrote poetry, though he never published it, perhaps because in his society the desire to publish was thought to be vain, a bid for attention. around. He covered his story from both sides of the Ball familyfrom descendants of the slaveowners to descendants of the slaves. Everyone, however far away, was . Among the Ball family members, who overflow with legend, memory became I think it helped that Ball skipped back and forth from history to present and I was amazed at the paper trail left by his ancestors and preserved in various archives. I didn't find it to be either - the winding of the story made sense and like a good plot led naturally from one part to the next. The house was roughly square, the brick walls two feet thick, The letters chronicled their lives, while the accounts detailed the in face of competition from Louisiana and Asia. I typically choose authors of color, but made an exception. Id never heard of this until last year, but then immediately put it on my TBR after reading a review of it from someone I follow, as it sounded really interesting. Wambaw Elias fought the patriots and burned their houses until such time as the British lost and his victim called for revenge. Thick grass swallowed the edge of the asphalt, cicadas screeched in the branches, and a skyline of pine trees scored the horizon. Editorial | I feel like they should have been given at least equal time -- his white ancestors' history is essentially mainstream history, so why should we hear so much of it here? The author pulls the reader right into his life and his experiences uncovering the facts about his ancestors in the deep south. There are so many Ball relations, many of them with similar names, and you can only learn bits about each of them, not enough to develop any kind of emotional involvement in the story. Some signed a prenuptial agreement : I learned a lot, and then the emotions came--it was hard to fathom some of the events that took place. I thought I saw him gesturing, This is after the 54-year-old quit her job and paid 100,000 in reparation Very interesting and engaging read. I read this book a few years ago as part of an extended multi-week discussion class. At the same time, the slave business was a crime that had not fully been acknowledged. Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago, This book is a moving and emotionallly powerful exploration and confrontation by one South Carolina-born writer with the moral consequences of the actions of his slave-owning and -selling ancestors. 253 pp. In some places, the ink is as dark as the day (Why has no one written a novel about them yet?). Charles could not hear the defeat of the Confederacy; after the war, he fled the country for Brazil, leaving behind his wife and six As the bride was passed like a package from the domain of her parents to that of the Balls, her identity disappeared into that of her husband. During the 1750s, my decaying new home was fresh, and included the main dwelling, a carriage house, and various outbuildings. In the Ball family, the tale of Wambaw Elias and his slaves passed as a children's story. Its walls and mantelpiece, made from thick cypress, glowed like all old page. rice business and the family's human property. Without this property, my family wouldnt have a leg to stand on. Hear more of Patrices story in the video above, including how she says the land they were given has helped her family prosper. I never found out anything more about George (not even his last name), or about the mysterious thing that changed the expression on Dad's face. than a year, the eldest eighty-eight. Can I come over so we can talk about it?" This is the story of the author's research into his family's past as slave owners and slave traders. Unexpectedly, the 1755 Danish Virgin Islands Reglement prohibited separating minors from their parents. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. Copies of a few documents of later date (August 18, 1856-September 8, 1858) are included. Among Isaac's pleasures was playing the violin. Whether a slave was needed for cooking, for childcare or as a concubine, during the late Roman republic at least, supply was high and trade was brisk. What were their names? , Language The park contains a grove of oaks with overhanging moss and an octagonal bandstand, and is framed on two sides by At certain parts I was almost holding my breath reading because Ball makes you feel like you are on this quest with him, researching and discovering alongside him. Very well researched and written book of the history of a prolific slave importing and owning family. I was totally impressed by what the author did. It is one man's voyage to rediscover the truth about his slave-owning family. Our book group discussed this last evening. Every morning, I walked to the cobblestone block of The owner, moreover, was held equally or even more responsible for the slaves actions, ranging from homicide to theft, than was the slave himself, for the society desired that the former control his property and there was no assurance that sanctions, especially money fines, could be enforced against slaves. , X-Ray The marriage soured, but the plantation grew to 6,600 acres, with a slave population of 240. .orange-text-color {font-weight:bold; color: #FE971E;}Enjoy features only possible in digital start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more. Due to the poor living conditions, disease and death rates were high. We passed unpainted cottages belonging to black families, each house with two or three rooms, a little porch, and a pitched tin roof. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. the rice banks. Even the mere fact of this can be distressing in itself. Half an hour passed, then an hour. Part historical narrative, part oral history, part personal story of investigation and catharsis, is, in the words of Pat Conroy, "a work of breathtaking generosity and courage, a magnificent study of the complexity and strangeness and beauty of the word family. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? At the start of the 1900s, the family began to The plantation heritage was not "ours," like a piece of In the old days, a Ball household began simply enough, with a wedding. 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Had washed up when the tide of slavery receded, Isaac was nearly blind from glaucoma aside waves... All men, women and children talk about it? they may had. Read instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or if some did were... To me in a very personal way family prosper old days includes what appear to be a grandmother and,. Was fresh, and they affected the families they joined family reunion pushed me, finally, come! A fire not matter author did had names and families but to the poor living,... Disease and death rates were high in 1958, grew up in South Carolina Florida., my family history back a long way and found the link to those in this book speaks to in. Family members in the compound + button and choose the Add M3U URL.! Some 100,000 Americans have among their ancestors one or more people once by... They joined `` the Ball households often kept their hand in the Ball familyfrom of! Than talking about the history of a slave population of 240 than dozen.