Fifty Years in Chains: Or, the Life of an American Slave (1859) was an abridged and unauthorized reprint of the earlier Slavery in the United States (1836). In the narratives, Ball describes his experiences as a slave, including the uncertainty of slave life and the ways in which the slaves are forced to suffer inhumane conditions. He recounts the qualities of his various masters and the ways in which his fortune depended on their temperament. As slave narrative scholar William L. Andrews has noted, Ball's oft-repeated narrative directly influenced the manner and matter of later fugitive slave.

Jean Pierre Philippe Prud'homme (ca. 1673-1739) was born in Roman, Dauphine, France. He came to Louisiana in the early 1700's and eventually settled in Natchitoches. He married Marie Catherine Messelier Picard (ca. 1705-1781) who had come to Louisiana in 1719. Their son, Jean Baptiste Prud'homme (ca. 1735-1786), married (1) Marie Francoise Chevert (died 1757) and (2) Marie Josephine Charlotte Henriette Collantin in 1758. Descendants lived in Louisiana and elsewhere. Also includes families of Cloutier, Breazeale, and Lambre, as well as information about the families of some of the workers on the plantation, Solomon Wilson (1815-1873) and Joseph Leveque.

Written in a detailed and fascinating manner, this book is ideal for general readers interested in the English language.