by Edward Ball
Laurens, Eleanor Ball
Laurens, Henry
Laurens, John
Leah
LeCorgne family
Lee, Arthur
Lee, Gen. Robert E.
Lewisfield plantation
Limba people
Limerick plantation; archaeological digs on; during Civil War; emancipation of slaves on; Katie Heyward’s ancestors on; mulattoes on; murder of gang leader on; poem about; purchased by Balls; during Reconstruction; during Revolutionary War; rice cultivation on; sharecropping on; slave patrols on; spirituals sung on
Lincoln, Abraham
literacy
Little Plenty
Liverpool
Lizzie
Locke, John
London
Lords Proprietors
Louis XVI, King of France
Louisiana Purchase
Lovering, Michael
Loyalists; black
Lucas, Ellen
Lucas, Francis
Lucas, Frannie
Lucas, Jonathan
Lucas, Philip
Lucas, Rachel
Lucas, Samuel
Luce, Clare Boothe
Luce, Henry
Lucien, John
lynchings
McCormick, Samuel
McFall, Dr.
McGhee, LaShawn
McGirth, Barry
McGirth, Beatrice Smalls
McGirth, Carrie
McGirth, Willa
Mack, Titty
McNeil, Tony Lewis
Mahon, Michael
Malcolm X
Mandingo Jack
Mandingo Peter
Mandinka people
Manifault, Gabriel
Mansfield, Lord
manumission
Manumission Act (New York)
Marcia
Marcus
Marengo plantation
Marion, Francis
Marion, Job
marriages: mixed-race; slave
Marshlands plantation
Martin, Anna Cruz
Martin, Barnabas Blyden
Martin, Henrietta
Martin, Ida Royal
Martin, Jennie Singleton
Martin, Mattie
Martin, Morris
Martin, P. Henry
Martin, Peter Henry Jr.
Martin, Rosalind Duncan
Martin, Rosina
Martin, Thomalind
Martin, Thomas
Martin, Victor
Mary, Queen of England
Mason-Dixon line
Matthews, Milt
Matthews, R.
Matthias
Mbundu kingdom
medicine: eighteenth-century; traditional
Mende people
Mepkin plantation
Methodists
Mexican War
Mickey, Ellen
Mickey, Hannah Harleston
Middleburg plantation
Middle Passage
Midway plantation
Mi’kmaq people
Miles, William Porcher
Miller, Congressman
minstrel shows
miscegenation
Missouri Compromise
Mitchel, Gen. Ormsby M.
Mohammed
Molly
Monemia
Monet, Claude
Monroe, James
Montell, F. M.
Montgomery Bell Academy
Moore, Juanita
Morris
Morris College
Morse, Samuel F.B.
Moultrie, Hannah Harleston
Moultrie, John
Moultrie, Patty
Moultrie, Stepney
Moultrie, Dr. William
Moultrie, Gen. William
mulattoes
Muslims, see Islam
mustees
Nancy
Napoleon, Emperor of the French
Nat
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
National Gallery of Art
Native Americans; children of blacks and; enslavement of; medicine of; wars against
Nazareth Church School
Ned
Negro Act (1740)
Nesbitt, Benjamin
Nesbitt, James
Nesbitt, Rebecca Poyas
Netman, John
New York Manumission Society
Northwestern University
Northwest Ordinance
nullification crisis
Obear, Julia
Ohio Resolutions (1824)
Old Goose Creek plantation
One, Jack
One, Marly
O’Neil, Philip
Orangeburg Massacre
Ordinance of Secession
Ostler John
Oswald, Richard
Othello
Paine, Thom
Paris
Paris, Treaty of
Parker, Capt. Edward
Parker, Peter
Patra
Patridge’s Military Academy
Pawley plantation
Payne, William
Pea Ridge, Battle of
Peggy
Penn, William
Perrault
pest house
Peter
Peyre, Francis
Pilgrims
Pimlico plantation
Pinckney, Daniel
Pinckney, Eliza Lucas
Pinckney, Henry Laurens
Pino (Amelia’s partner)
Pino (Fatima’s daughter)
Plantation Melody Singers
Plenty
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Plymouth
Pompey
Popo people
Post, Evelyn
Poyas, Caroline
Poyas, Catharine Gendron (Cousin Kate)
Poyas, Elizabeth
Poyas, Florence
Poyas, Frederick
Poyas, Frederick Jr.
Poyas, George
Poyas, Henry
Poyas, James
Poyas, Peter
Pretty
primogeniture, code of
Primus
Priscilla
Provincial Congress
Provision
Pulaski, Count Kazimierz
Puritans
Quaco
Quakers
Quenby Bridge, Battle of
Quenby plantation
Radcliffe
Raoul, Chevalier (Bluebeard)
RCA
Read, Benjamin
Reagan, Ronald
Reconstruction
refuse Negroes
Renouard School of Embalming
Republican Party
Revolutionary War, see American Revolution
Rhett, Col. Alfred
Rhett, Robert Barnwell
Rhett, Robert Barnwell Jr.
Rhett, William
rice; decline of economic importance of; mechanical cleaning of; tidal farming of
Rice Hope plantation
Richard II, King of England
Richardson, Barbara Jean
Richardson, Georgianna Gadsden
Richardson, Leroy
Richardson, Marcill
Richardson, Rias
Richardson, Robert
Richardson, Shanice
Richardson, Steven
Richmond, Stanley
riots, urban
Rivers, Binah
Rivers, John
Robards, Peter
Robin (free black healer)
Robin (Stono Uprising witness)
Robtie
Roebuck
Romans, ancient
Roosevelt, Franklin D.
Roper, J. W.
Roper, Katie Simmons
Roper, Ned
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
Royal, Mary Ann (Maum Mary Ann)
Royal African Company
Royal G
entlemen Productions
runaways; during Revolutionary War
Rutledge, Edward
Sabina
St. James plantation
St. James Reformed Episcopal Church
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Salisbury
Sally
Sam
Sambo
Sancho
Sanders, Ella
Sandford, Philip
San Diego State University
Santee Canal
Santee people
Sara people
Savannah people
Sawmill village
Saxe-Weimar, Karl Bernhard, Duke of
Schofield, Gen.
school desegregation
Scipio
Scott, Dred
Screen Gems Music
Scriven, T.
secession
segregation
Sellers, Cleve
separate but equal doctrine
Sewee people
sex, interracial
sharecropping
Sheridan, Gen. Phillip
Sherman, Gen. Thomas
Sherman, Gen. William Tecumseh
Shiloh, Battle of
Shoolbred, Jane Ball
Shoolbred, John G.
Shoolbred, John G. Jr.
Shubrick, Elizabeth Ball
Shubrick, Polly
Shubrick, Capt. Richard
Shubrick, Richard Jr.
Shubrick, Thomas
Silk Hope plantation
Simmons, Charlotte Heyward
Simmons, Eleanor
Simmons, Wesley
Simons, Catherine
Simons, Edward
Simons, Eleanor Ball
Simons, Lydia Ball
Singletary, Delores
Singletary, Michael
Sirk, Douglas
Small, Col.
smallpox vaccine
Smalls, Fredie Mae Ladson
Smalls, Leon
Smalls, Leonard
Smalls, Methena
Smalls, Phoebe Ann
Smalls, Postal
Smalls, Steven
Smith, Benjamin
Smith, Catherine
Smith, D. E. Huger
Smith, Elizabeth Ball
Smith, Henry
Smith, Polly
Society for the Preservation of Spirituals
Somerset, James
Songster, Andrew
Souls of Black Folk, The (Du Bois)
South Carolina, University of
South Carolina Assembly
South Carolina Historical Society
South Carolina Society
South Carolina State College
South Carolina Supreme Court
Stamp Act (1765)
states’ rights
Steed, Ben
“step-asides,”
Stephen, Celia
Stewart, Charles
Stoney, Thomas P.
Stono Uprising
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Strawberry Agricultural Society
Strawberry Jockey Club
Strawberry plantation
Strephon
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Sue
Sumter, Gen. Thomas
Sumter, Fort, attack on
Supreme Court, U.S.
Surrey (Angola Amy’s son)
Surrey (Maum Mary Ann’s brother)
Susarmah
Susu people
Sylvia
Symons, Frank
Talladega College
Tallapoosa people
Taney, Roger
Tanner, Edward (Ned)
“Tariff of Abominations,”
Taveau, Augustus
Taylor, Pam
Temne people
Temple University
Tenah
Theus, Jeremiah
tobacco
Tobias, Jacob
Toby
Toussaint L’Ouverture, François
Townshend Duties (1767)
Trail of Tears
Tranquil Hill plantation
Trenholm, George Alfred
Truman
Truth, Sojourner
Turner, B. C.
Turner, Lana
Turner, Nat
Tuskegee Institute
Tuxbury Lumber Company
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe)
Underground Railroad
United Negro College Fund
Unity and Friendship Society
uprisings
Vai people
Vanderdussen, Col. Alexander
Vesey, Denmark
Vietnam War
Viii people
Violet
Virginia Theological Seminary
Voltaire
von Hagen, Mary
voodoo
voting rights
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Waccamaw people
Walker, LeRoy P.
Wambaw plantation
Waring, Ann Ball
Waring, Julius Waties
Waring, Richard
War Between the States, see Civil War
Washington, George
Washington, Mary Ball
Weld, Theodore Dwight
Weldon Railroad
West, Benjamin
West, Joseph
Westvaco Corporation
West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company
White, Tom
White, Tom Jr.
White Hall plantation
Whitlock, Edwina Harleston
Whitlock, Henry
Whitney, Eli
Wilberforce, William
William
William of Orange, King of England
Williams, Carutha Martin
Williams, Clarence
Willingham, Joseph
Wilmot Proviso
Wilson, Kate
Windsor
Windsor plantation
Withers, Peter
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
World War I
World War II
Yamasee people
Yamasee War
Yeamans Hall plantation
Yoruba culture
Zehringer family
Zimmerman, Harold (Yogi)
Zulema
Praise for Slaves in the Family
“Fascinating reading; there is simply nothing quite like it in print.”
—Douglas R. Egerton, The Boston Sunday Globe
“A tour de force … This unique family saga is a catharsis and a searching inventory of racially divided American society.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“There is much to learn [from Slaves in the Family] … [Ball] reminds us that slavery was not just about economics or politics or even abstract questions of morality, but most essentially about the millions of human beings imprisoned within its chains.”
—Drew Gilpin Faust, The New York Times Book Review
“Not since William Faulkner wrote his masterpiece Absalom, Absalom! in 1936 has any writer rendered a more hauntingly poignant exploration of the dark roots and bitter fruits of slavery in America.”
—Ray Jenkins, The Baltimore Sun
“Moving and disarmingly frank.”
—Susan Llewellyn Leach, The Christian Science Monitor
“This book is the real thing: a narrative with runaway slaves, night patrols, plantation lords, wastrel heirs, and a loony widow … A fascinating domestic history.”
—The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
“This book, a brilliant blend of archival research and oral history, tells what [Ball] found—a painful past relieved by the presence of vivid individuals.”
—The New Yorker
“A stunning, dangerous book for each generation to ponder; highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
&
nbsp; “Not since Alex Haley’s Roots has there been such a pure act of recovery of the African American experience… . [Slaves in the Family] is a work of breathtaking generosity and courage, a magnificent study of the complexity and strangeness and beauty of the word ‘family.’”
—Pat Conroy
“Powerful … Edward Ball is a writer who possesses both skill and bravery … [This] book is an amazing amalgamation of history, detective work, sociology and personal catharsis.”
—The Chattanooga Times
“A compelling saga, Ball’s biographical history of his family stands as a microcosm of the evolution of American racial relations … This is an important, well-written slice of history.”
—Carol DeAngelo, School Library Journal
“An informative, ruminative, and inspirational page-turner.”
—Booklist
“Fascinating … Ball is an accomplished portrait artist, delivering characters in quick, pointed strokes.”
—New York Post
“An exposé of the original black/white divide in this country, as embodied in one extended family and the people they owned … By daring to zero in on his own family’s trade, Ball breaks hundreds of years of silence.”
—The Village Voice
“A fascinating and important work that should be read by as many Americans as possible.”
—The Washington Times
“Ball’s impressive detective work and the black voices it records build a monumental and extraordinary case history of the rise and fall of America’s most shameful institution. Together, their searing, soul-searching grappling with past sins strikes deep at the heart of the country’s enduring racial division.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[An] unblinking history not only of [Ball’s] ancestors but also of the people they held as slaves … 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
“Part historical narrative and part personal odyssey, this extraordinarily accessible and creative narrative should be read by anyone with an interest in African-American or southern history.”
—The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
“A remarkable look at how slavery lives on in our nation’s memory and experience, and, perhaps, an important step toward racial harmony.”
—In Review (Nashville)
“Remarkable, candid … Utterly compelling … A powerfully valuable testament.”
—The State (Columbia, SC)
“Sensitive and formidable.”
—Newsday
“Illuminating.”
—New York Daily News
ALSO BY EDWARD BALL
The Sweet Hell Inside:
The Rise of an Elite Black Family in the Segregated South
Peninsula of Lies:
A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love
The Genetic Strand:
Exploring a Family History Through DNA
The Inventor and the Tycoon:
The Murderer Eadweard Muybridge, the Entrepreneur
Leland Stanford, and the Birth of Moving Pictures
About the Author
Edward Ball is the author of several books of history and biography. His bestselling Slaves in the Family won the National Book Award in 1998. Born and raised in the South, Ball lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University. You can sign up for author updates here.
