Slaves in the Family

Summary (from the publisher): Fifteen years after its hardcover debut, the FSG Classics reissue of the celebrated work of narrative nonfiction that won the National Book Award and changed the American conversation about race, with a new preface by the author

The Ball family hails from South Carolina—Charleston and thereabouts. Their plantations were among the oldest and longest-standing plantations in the South. 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. 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.’"

 

Review: I won a copy of this book as a giveaway on Goodreads.

 

Slaves in the Family chronicles author Edward Ball's decision to investigate his family history. The Ball family was once owner of many of the largest plantations in South Carolina and nearly 4,000 slaves between 1698 and 1865. Edward Ball was curious to explore the historical origins of his family, but also to investigate the lives of slaves owned by the Ball family, as well as the fate of their descendants. Despite criticism and objection by some members of his family, Ball was curious to learn more about the shared history and lives of the Balls and their former slaves. In many ways, this work reminded me greatly of a book that was written in its wake, The Hairstons by Henry Wiencek.

 

The story of the Balls in America began with Elias Ball, known as 'Red Cap' within the family, that came to America in 1698 to claim his inheritance, "half of a rice plantation called Comingtee, and maybe twenty-five slaves, Africans and Indians" (vii) from his father's half-uncle, who died childless. Elias Ball was the author's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Elias Ball steadily grew his land holdings, slaves, and wealth throughout his lifetime. For decades, the Balls continued to expand this wealth with each generation - until the Civil War. For example, two of Elias' daughters married slave traders who went into business together. Eleanor Ball's "husband would become the largest slave trader in the British colonies and one of the richest men in North America" (154). The joint slave business of these two Ball sons-in-law "would have been enough to purchase seventy-eight plantations, on which 8,580 people might live indefinitely" (191).

 

The author was fortunate that, unlike the records of many slave-owning families that were destroyed during the Civil War, the Ball records survive intact. In fact, there's an overwhelming volume of archives available: "Historians call them the 'Ball Family Papers,' more than ten thousand pages housed in four libraries. The earliest page is an inventory of property from the year 1631" (18). As this large volume of archives indicates, the author is tackling an immense subject. Aside from the thousands of records left by the white Balls, the author was trying to track down some descendants of Ball slaves that in total number around 100,000 people across the United States.

 

Because of the grand scope of the story, its difficult to organize this narrative. It's not possible to keep up with all the white Balls (there have been at least sixteen Balls named Elias, for example) and their slaves were numerous and difficult to trace due to records that only sparingly shared details about slaves and the fact that slaves were not allowed to have surnames. However, the author does his best to keep the narrative as simple and straightforward as possible. The narrative begins chronologically to give the reader an understanding of the Ball origins in America, and then departs into the author's recollections, his conversations with slave descendants, and family stories of significance.

 

Amazingly, the author was able to trace the ancestor of some of the slaves' descendants he met back to the first generation of slaves brought to America, thanks to the Balls' extensive record keeping. For example, Angola Amy, a young African woman brought to Comingtee plantation in 1736, presumably from Angola, is the matriarch of a large family tree. Yet its tantalizingly to know her name, dates of her life, and descendants, and yet not know anything about her childhood, how she was captured into slavery, or any more personal details of her life. The author has given as much of the slaves' history back to their families as possible, while acknowledging how much has been stolen.

 

At times I was frustrated by the meandering organization of the narrative. It was hard to keep different family connections straight. Additionally, the author spends time detailing things I didn't necessarily need to know to appreciate the story rather than devoting all his time to delving into the family. For example, there is a long side section on the reputations of slaves based on their country of origin. Later, there's a long description of whites who dress up like slaves and sing slavery songs. I didn't really see what it added to the reader's understanding of the Ball family other than to point out yet again another area where the histories of whites and blacks continue to collide (in unpleasant ways at times).

 

After the Civil War, some plantations and former slaves limped along as sharecroppers. Over time, the family faded away. Plantation homes were torn down. Much of the history was lost. The white wealth was gone. Although most of the white and black descendants are ignorant of many details of their shared past, the author has attempted to shed light on their story.

 

One family descended from Ball slaves told Edward Ball that her grandmother remembered the Yankees coming to free them, telling the slaves, "You're free as a bird in the air!" Hauntingly, the "Ball family version of 'waiting for Sherman' was nearly the same [...],  only reversed as in a mirror. Marry Ball wrote in her memoir that the Yankee told the slaves, "You are free! Free as a bird, you don't have to work any more" (400). There's something so haunting about two families, oblivious to the other, passing down the same stories, unaware of their shared past.

 

I could go on about things I found fascinating in this book for ages. My one great complaint is that it isn't longer, covering even more family history and more about what the author uncovered during his research into his family.

 

Stars: 4