Beach Reading - Slaves in the Family

For those of you heading to the NGS annual conference in Charleston, South Carolina, an amazing experience awaits. Not only is Charleston one of the most beautiful cities on the East Coast, but the history that permeates your surroundings is a venerable feast of delights. With this year being the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Charleston serves as the perfect place to reflect on the atmosphere and historic conditions that lead to the "Civil War", "War between the States", or "War of Northern Aggression" - whatever your preference. However you choose to romanticize or dissect this chapter in our history, it is always important to take all viewpoints into consideration in order to gain a complete understanding of our culture during that time. Since we will be in the city where the first shots rang out, I suggest reading Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball. An older book published in 1998, this is still a wonderful, and highly enjoyable read when looking to experience this unique culture. Also, for those of you conducting African American research in the area, chapter 16 has a couple of paragraphs devoted solely to the surnames adopted by the former slaves from the Ball plantations.

As a direct descendant of the Ball family, Edward Ball explores how his family made its fortune along the Cooper River, just outside Charleston, beginning as early as 1698. Their story is not exactly a typical one. They did not make their fortune through cotton, but relied on rice as their crop of choice. However, their reliance upon slave labor was very high, and quite prolific as some of the family dealt directly in the international slave trade. His thorough account runs chronologically, from the 17th to the 20th centuries, with some flash fowards to the present day descendant branches.

The unique depth of this book cannot be overlooked. The story told here is not just family legend and oral history. The documentation that survives from this family is very extensive and provided the foundation for Ball's chronological accounts. To supplement the family history he inherited, and the documentation already on record, Ball then explored the African families that were entwined with the Balls. He found that the heritage he inherited was also ingrained in the lives of current African American families whose ancestors had been enslaved by the Balls. In several cases, the relationships transcended the former slave/owner connection. Not only did the former slaves sometimes remain socially connected via business, etc, but in some cases, the families were related by blood, which was the impetus for the title. By talking to the modern day descendants, Ball uncovered a rich tapestry that serves to increase any complex view we may have had about how slavery affected families and communities.

My only caveat with this account is the lack of slavery era African viewpoints. This is the story of slavery written by the white descendant of a white slave owning family. He does an amazing job of not withholding the good or the bad. You will encounter moments that seemingly display affectionate ties between the slaves and their owners, but in the next chapter, you might encounter the cruelty and apparent lack of any human sympathy. It is truly fascinating to read about the early years of the slave owning dynasty, and how it developed into this affluent, yet self absorbed group of people that lived in luxury while enslaving and abusing their fellow humans. Despite this book's valuable insight from a particular historical standpoint, for a more complete view of this period of Charleston's history, you might want to add a couple of slave narratives to your beach bag.

P.S. I picked up my copy at Maia's Books' booth while in Knoxville at the FGS Conference. They are slated to have a large booth at the NGS - along with slave narratives - so head there first for a great selection of beach reading material!

Stonetown Haven - A New Beginning

 Kentucky's slave history is a very unique one. As a border state we had both large slaveholders and a large number of abolitionists. Harriet Beecher Stowe witnessed her first slave auction in the northern part of our state. We were so split during the Civil War that we had two governments. It is therefore no surprise that our countryside is dotted with small freed slave communities that sprung up before and after the end of slavery. The sad fact associated with these small communities is their omission from local histories and history books. Not all histories ignore their existence, but they were not preserved nor noted for future generations in the same manner as early white settlements were once they were no longer inhabited. I am delighted to see this fact change as more groups are interested in restoring these little phoenix communities that rose from the ashes.

Yesterday, the public library in my community invited a local historian to speak about recent preservation efforts within our county. The Scott County Public Library drew over 50 attendees when Shirl Marks brought to light the restoration efforts surrounding an original structure in the former community of Stonetown. According to Marks the freed slave community in the Stamping Ground area encompassed several roads: Stonetown, Locust Fork, Main St, Woodlake, etc. Some of the local surnames associated with this former community were: Samuels, Patterson, West, Thomas, Fisher, Young, Phoenix, Fishback, Dudley, Carter, and Bell. She went on to explain that it was only oral history and family legend that explained the older structures that were abandoned and falling into oblivion.

After Shirl's family inherited one of the original structures, a group effort to restore this precious piece of history was set in motion. For the past three years a devoted group of volunteers has been working to restore life to this small structure which Shirl has named "Stonetown Haven".

The efforts have reached about a 70% completion rate and they hope to finish soon by placing a museum and information center inside. Once the efforts have been completed I hope to post another notice for those of you within the state or nearby that wish to support the new center. A celebration and grand opening will be planned soon.

Ms. Marks explained that the purpose behind this project is to "preserve the history of all its citizens". For anyone who thinks that history is in the past, I wish you could have watched the people in this room. Even though the structures were almost faded completely from the countryside, many of the descendants of Stonetown, Watkinsville and Pea Ridge are still living in these areas. Their ancestors had built these communities and their children were making sure those communities did not fade from memory. It was extremely heart warming to watch the descendants reminisce about the earlier generations and remember their neighbors from long ago. It was another reminder that history and preservation is not simply about the past, but ensuring our future is complete with the knowledge of how we arrived at our current destination, and how that past journey affects where we are headed.

I will post more about the organization and its efforts as soon as we get closer to their completion date. After the meeting about the preservation of Stonetown Haven, the second meeting of the newly formed African American Genealogy Group of Kentucky took place. Once they are a little more established I will post more about how to support them and how to join. If you are interested in getting involved with this group (and also as a way to get in touch with Shirl Marks), their e-mail is: AAGGKY@gmail.com.  
CD 2/20/11