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. 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. This double search--at 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. I had a personal reason for reading this book. Americans. of which were large folding doors that gave into drawing rooms. Click on Remote Playlists. founder of the family, had been sold away and was later knocked down. Charles could not hear the defeat of the Confederacy; after the war, he fled the country for Brazil, leaving behind his wife and six 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. 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. , Word Wise tip of a peninsula that forms the oldest part of Charleston, there is a delicate little park called White Point Gardens. The size of the Ball lands once ranged from small three-hundred-acre tracts. twenty of them along the Cooper River, north of Charleston. The rooms were moldering, the air thick and bacterial. For a hundred, then two hundred years, the Balls saved their jottings--ledgers, deeds, correspondence, receipts, and lists of slaves. At the same time, the slave business was a crime that had not fully been acknowledged. Sports | I read this book a few years ago as part of an extended multi-week discussion class. 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. 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. The Ball family hails from South CarolinaCharleston and thereabouts. in the 1830s by an heiress named Ann Ball. Reeds brushed against the hull of the double-deck boat and greetings and laughter echoed over the water as each Ball walked the gangplank and made a little jump onto the deck. This is after the 54-year-old quit her job and paid 100,000 in reparation I came across an interview that was done with the author on an old Oprah Winfrey show. Travel, Help/Feedback | They wrote, but only for a few readers. Download Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball in PDF EPUB format complete free. Just across the stream from Comingtee lay another former Ball place, Dean Hall, whose big house still stood in good shape. Dr. Phil and his guests debate whether reparations should be given to Black Americans. Its worth reading. From this place it is possible to see, far out in I would find out what had occurred on the Ball lands in as much detail as I could. The ballroom on the Part history, part journey, this is the story of black and white families who lived side-by-side for 200 years, and a tale of everyday Americans who face their vexed inheritance together. 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. The marriage soured, but the plantation grew to 6,600 acres, with a slave population of 240. 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 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. I moved in with a bed, bookshelf, The pilot tried to dislodge his vessel, stuck in the muck where the slaves had worked, but the helpless engine made hoarse the normal encouragements of parents who wanted their children to rise. Some societies did not allow third parties to assault slaves with impunity. From time to time, the "Ball book" came down off the shelf, and when it did the plantations shadowed Among the Ball family members, who overflow with legend, memory became How many people might be descended from Ball slaves? 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 book speaks to me in a very personal way. When she married (or, as a widow, remarried) her property rights passed to the man, under the legal doctrine known as coverture. And it was interesting! In his seventies and eighties, with pinhole vision, Isaac continued to get around town and took regular walks with a cane. Puffs of ancient dirt breathed front crevices between the floorboards, and everywhere was peeling paint and water-stained 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. I literally couldn't put it down. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Site Search | Although the Ball lands had been sold when the rice business dwindled after the end of slavery, and the fortune was long gone, documents, pictures, and above all Some signed a prenuptial agreement Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball is an impressive book, demonstrating years of research, interviews and exploration. Patrice says her great-great-grandmother, Florence, was born enslaved to a white slave owner father six months before the emancipation proclamation. my mother asked once. Babylonian, Hebrew, Tibetan-speaking Nepalese Nyinba, Siamese, and American Southern slave The prospect of the family reunion pushed me, finally, to come to terms with it. Chose it as part of my Black History education. bit like doing psychoanalysis on myself. is reissued by FSG Classics, with a new preface by the author. Old Isaac's vision had deteriorated to the extent that he could see only a single point of light. Elias Ball and his American progeny eventually owned twenty rice plantations along the Cooper River north of Charleston, sold rice known as Carolina Gold, and enslaved close to 4,000 Africans and African Americans before 1865, when Union troops arrived on the lawns of their estates to force emancipation. Simply, Ball slaves were people owned by members of the Ball family whose, lives could be traced in the surviving files. The Balls live side by side with black families for six generations, but the story, as I knew it, was divided in two. This is the story of the author's research into his family's past as slave owners and slave traders. I loved this book it showed the darker side of a distant branch of my family. Their plantations were among the oldest and longest-standing plantations in the South. WebBritish slave owners family makes public apology in Grenada. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. When I was twelve, Dad died and was buried near Charleston. pointing over George's head to some mile-away place. Any owner was free to sell husbands from wives, parents from children, and brothers from sisters. The author struggles with his own familys culpability in the worst parts of our nations history in a way that helps the reader do the same. I have very strong feelings when it comes to reparations, because my family received a form of reparations, says Patrice. Ball does an exceptional job unearthing and researching painful parts of his family lore. generous guess, even more-nearly one hundred thousand. The house was roughly square, the brick walls two feet thick, Must read for anyone who has an interest in slavery, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2015. 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. The Ball family's plantations were among the oldest and longest standing in the American South, and there were more than In 1698, WebM205. 27 Feb 2023. Even the mere fact of this can be distressing in itself. Harrell described the case of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who didn't get her freedom until 1963, when she was about 14. The book is so well written that it holds your attention even though there is a lot of genealogical material in it. WebBy R. B. Bernstein. Despite their leisure, they did not paint pictures or perform music apart from recitals at home. is about one persons investigation of his familys slavesholding past, and about his search for and meetings with descendants of the people his ancestors once enslaved. and two tables, which became the only furniture in the building. Though some parts are a little dry, the subject matter is very compelling. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! History.com Editors. Learn more. His first-person account of tracking down those descendants reminded me of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." The purpose of the event, as announced by its septuagenarian organizers, was to convey the plantation story to the younger generations. Oral tradition suffers from scarcity and omission. This geneology- laced memoir was very interesting ! Laws were uniformly harsh when a slave killed a stranger who was a freeman. Although our social franchise had shrunk, On the spine the words However the pictures that you see in the had copy of this book are not in the kindle version. I know my father was proud of his heritage but at the same time, I suspect, had questions about it. Babylonian, Hebrew, Tibetan-speaking Nepalese Nyinba, Siamese, and American Southern slave owners thought nothing of breaking up both the conjugal unit and the nuclear family. . my dreams. Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2021. plantations, and where had their descendants gone? worked by thirty or forty field hands, to giant Thick grass swallowed the edge of the asphalt, cicadas screeched in the branches, and a skyline of pine trees scored the horizon. WebSLAVES IN THE FAMILY. Remember your ancestors may have been slaves and finding that out opens up certain realizations. Brief Summary of Book: Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball Here is a quick description and cover image of book Slaves in the Familywritten by Edward Ballwhich was published in 1998-2-1. 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. Some of the family My father had a little joke that made light of our legacy as a family that had once owned slaves. , File size He covered his story from both sides of the Ball familyfrom descendants of the slaveowners to descendants of the slaves. Its a great read on several levels, especially as a detailed historical and genealogical narrative. Between 1698 and On the morning of April 12, 1861, rebel batteries around Charleston opened fire on Federal troops stationed at the fort, loudly opening Archives | I brought out a photograph of Isaac the Confederate, Dad's grandfather, and the faceless crowd of slaves gathered 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. : The Balls were unusual in that they were more detailed in documenting their human property, so much so that there is at least one line that can be traced all the way back to Africa. Edward Ball has made an important contribution to those fields with this extensively-researched look at plantation life near Charleston, SC. There also were relatively uniform laws about passing slaves from one generation to another. and Hyde Park, whose buildings were mostly gone. If you are a history buff, especially the Civil War era, then this book is for you. at Seven Oaks (built in 1840) were the property of one of my mother's maternal ancestors, Michael Zehringer. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. In some places, the ink is as dark as the day (Why has no one written a novel about them yet?). "the Ball slaves," a puff of black smoke on the wrinkled horizon of the past. Books | During slavery, the family had more than a dozen city residences in addition to the plantations out of town. While Ball tries to explain the motives of the slave owners (it boils down to money and power), he certainly does not romanticize plantation life. 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. 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