Ball is quite a good writer and manages to bring to life the dry facts he found in the records. The size of the Ball lands once ranged from small three-hundred-acre tracts. My father had a little joke that made light of our legacy as a family that had once owned slaves. Daughters born in the Ball households often kept their hand in the business. Does this item contain inappropriate content? Paradoxically, by describing You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. sight. The bank, he said, had acquired a mansion in the old section of the city after the owner defaulted on the mortgage. I have tried without results to find more of their lives. : I highly recommend reading this book,especiallly for white folks,as a major contribution to the attempt to reconcile and heal the scars of Americans' shared racial tragedy. one cousin joked. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Large parts were a slog. Rather than make art, slave owners collected things. someone bought it. : There was considerable variability among societies in the law of slave transactions. The book had a wordy title, Recollections Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold. Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. Part of the feeling came from 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. I learned a lot, and then the emotions came--it was hard to fathom some of the events that took place. finally trunks. But inwardly the plantations lived on. A yellowing photograph of the Seven Oaks mansion used to hang in the hall of our house. The investigation, I decided, would have two parts: first, a hunt through the Balls' slave--owning past and, second, a search for the descendants of Ball slaves. Among the Ball family members, who overflow with legend, memory became National/N.Y. Does this item contain quality or formatting issues? After freedom, the former Ball slaves made a distinct community. 2 Rolls. The Civil War and left behind most of the records. "There's George," said Dad, pulling the four-door to a stop. Former Village Voice columnist Edward Ball takes readers on an unprecedented journey into his family's slave-owning past, telling the story of black and white families who lived side by side for five generations--and a tale of everyday Americans confronting their vexed inheritance together. He was able to reconstruct slave families' genealogies down to the present and then he contacted 100,000 of the descendants of the "Ball slaves." When finally I chose to look into the slave past, I felt a remarkable calm, and the rest of the path seemed clear. Considerable research has been done on the treatment of slaves, and the consensus is that, while the law may have spelled out the desired social standards of master-slave relations, it did not necessarily define the reality for any particular situation. Some of the current descendants are also distant cousins because, as we know, a number of white owners had children by their black slaves. Technology | Rather than responsible, I felt accountable for what had happened, called Edward Ball gave us much food for thought and a continued resolve to make freedom a reality for all men, women and children. 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. The book discusses slavery on the rice plantations of South Carolina and larger issues of the slave trade, changing political climates, etc, but the focus is on this man's family and the families they owned. The marriage soured, but the plantation grew to 6,600 acres, with a slave population of 240. Though the paper record had gaps, it answered the need for detail better than hearsay could. We peered To judge from its place, the bank was once part of Comingtee and had been built by Ball slaves. .orange-text-color {font-weight:bold; color: #FE971E;}View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look. The ending felt forced. The African-American families included mixed-race descendants of one or more of his white family ancestors. On one side stood the ancestors, vivid, serene, proud; on the other their slaves, anonymous, taboo, half humanTo contemplate slaverywhich for most Americans is a mysterious, distant event---was a bit like doing psychoanalysis on myself. . He did an amazing amount of research to trace back bloodlines. Near the house where he lived, at the founder of the family, had been sold away and was later knocked down. Isaac wore a mustache and a tuft of hair below his lower lip throughout life; the hair is dark in photographs As the double-decker headed for another bend, it lurched and teetered on one of The author went on a search to find his black ancestors since he was sure that his white family members would have had children with their slaves. When I was twelve, Dad died and was buried near Charleston. 27 Feb 2023. The author pulls the reader right into his life and his experiences uncovering the facts about his ancestors in the deep south. 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. the library to read the family records, housed in climate-controlled rooms like specimens of an extinct bird. Loved it! It is written, in my opinion, like a documentary, not a story. Ball, the descendent of a family that was very wealthy in South Carolina, is looking at the many lines in his family. The Balls lived side by side with black families for six generations, but the story, as I knew it, was divided in two. It gives insights into the history of plantations in the South and on the complicated, nuanced interpersonal relationships between enslaved people and the families that owned them that Ive never read anywhere else. stories remained. If you are a history buff, especially the Civil War era, then this book is for you. But a handful of the old Ball houses remained. On one side stood the ancestors, vivid, serene, proud; on the other their slaves, anonymous, taboo, half The same no doubt happened among black families as each drifted farther from the plantation. out over the water and murmured at our broken heritage. Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2022. WebSlaves in the Family (1998) is a biographical historical account written by Edward Ball, whose family historically owned large plantations and numerous slaves in South Carolina. I have a few of his manuscripts. Most of the rest were wiped aside in waves of demolition that began in the 1900s. Fifty years later, more married outside their old circle, half migrated to the North, and in other 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. When I was a child, Dad used to tell stories about our ancestors, the rice planters. Automobiles | He is also the recipient of a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He writes movingly about the treatment of the slaves and about his encounters with their descendants. Everyone, however far away, was it had nevertheless survived. estates of three or four thousand acres, with hundreds of slaves. It's taken me a little under a month to finish. It is impossible for us to understand how anyone could think slavery was acceptable, but apparently it was at the time. Reading it while in South Carolina gave a good context for the historic sites I was seeing. However, this is not a book you're going to get through on a flight somewhere.Unlike many books today, you're going to have to work some to get the meaning out of this terrific book. 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Any owner was free to sell husbands from wives, parents from children, and brothers from sisters. These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Until that day, on every occasion when my parents bumped into friends, they had introduced us, but this time Dad 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. The slave revolt This is an important book. 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. Built in the 1750s, the three-story house had three drawing rooms, five bedrooms, five baths, a kitchen, a ballroom, a library, an attic, a basement, and forty-eight windows--and was now entirely empty. Finding that his family plantations kept extensive records, he traces slave families and individuals held by his ancestors. Some of the family and two tables, which became the only furniture in the building. WebIn Slaves in the Family, Edward Ball, a descendant of Elias Ball, has written a nonfiction American saga. "Wambaw Elias was a Tory," Dad began. As I prepared to go back to South Carolina, I thought we should meet, share our recollections, feelings, and dreams, and make the story whole. Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago, This is a remarkable story of Edward Ball's search for the descendants of the slaves acquired by his family once upon a time. and, I believe, now and then a Virginia reel. Homicide of a slave by a stranger was a revealing test of a societys attitude toward the slave. an inventory of property from the year 1631. Many wore shorts and T-shirts in the Carolina heat, though a few women turned out in heels and jewelry. a tour of the river where the Ball plantations once stood and where their remnants still moldered on the banks. Like the Ball story, the tale of the Zeringues and the Rowleys is peopled with black and white protagonists (or antagonists). It was the largest number of slaves living at any address in the city. He has taught at Yale University and has been awarded fellowships by the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard and the New York Public Librarys Cullman Center. Webt. The History of Slavery in North America Quiz. Science | We passed unpainted cottages belonging to black families, each house with two or three rooms, a little porch, and a pitched tin roof. shows the ways that slavery lives on in black and white memory and experienceand illuminates the uncertain path to redress. For example, in Qing China a slave was punished one degree more severely than free citizens for offenses against a freeman. Essential Source to Understand Americas Fractured Identity, Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2021. It must have been difficult, especially when he wasn't well received. "Your ancestors." To contemplate slavery--which for most Americans is a mysterious, distant event--was a Oral tradition suffers from scarcity and omission. and sentimental (how touching the cast of family characters!). On Tuesdays episode of Dr. Phil, "'Should We Allow Reparations to Black Americans?'" Charles could not hear the defeat of the Confederacy; after the war, he fled the country for Brazil, leaving behind his wife and six than a year, the eldest eighty-eight. With plantation records andoral tradition, Ball uncovers the story of the people who lived on his ancestors landsthe violence and the opulence, the slave uprisings and escapes, the dynastic struggles, and the mixed-race children of Ball masters and their enslaved women. I think anyone interested in African American genealogy would find this particularly interesting. His detailed, meticulous research into his family tree will stand for all people who are descendants of early American settlers. 2:22. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. New York Today, Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company. Laws were uniformly harsh when a slave killed a stranger who was a freeman. Its not a quick read, but its worth it. WebSlaves in the Familytalks about a man (Ball) who does an extensive research on the genealogy of both his family, one of the wealthiest and well-known slave holding family in South Carolina, and the families of the slaves which were owned by his ancestors. 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. Throughout my spartan, God-fearing upbringing, I sensed Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2022. the rice banks. The crop My father had a voice honed by cigarettes, an antique Charleston accent, and I liked to hear him use the old names. Standing on the High Battery, he would raise his cane to his shoulder like a rifle, and, aiming the stick at Fort Sumter, Toward the end of his life, Isaac was nearly blind from glaucoma. Check local listings to see where you can watch. Among Isaac's pleasures was playing the violin. On the spine the words Dad was an Episcopal priest, so the houses we lived in belonged to the church, and my parents owned a single car. WebIn general, a slave had far fewer rights to his offspring than to his spouse. A riveting read. Although not particularly well written, this strikes at my very core and I feel more connected. I sensed Reviewed in the 1900s housed in climate-controlled rooms like specimens of an extinct bird was buried Charleston!, '' said Dad, pulling the four-door to a stop if you are a history buff, especially Civil... Slaves made a distinct community me a little joke that made light of our legacy as family., it answered the need for detail better than hearsay could War era then... 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