1085

LORD WILLIAM JOSEPH BALL
The Ball (Baldwin) Family of Barkham
William Ball was born in Barkham Manor house in Berkshire England. While his family was a well known farming family in Barkham, it is also possible that they were the Lords of the Manor in Barkham as Barkham Manor is where he was born and died. It is possible that the family was only associated with the Lords of the Manor as well. What we do know for certain is that the Ball family were and are the direct ancestors of both our family and the family of George Washington's (first president of the United States) Mother. Thus making George Washington and our own ancestors of the same time period extended cousins.

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THE BALL FAMILY
The Ball family is English. The earliest 'American' members came first to Connecticut, and then to New Jersey where Edward Ball was one of the original founders of Newark, New Jersey. It was in New Jersey, two Generations later that the Balls married into my Searing Family.
Based on research provided by Patsy Putnam (no relationship), gives the early English history of the Ball family. It goes back into the mid 1400s.
WILLIAM BALL
William Ball was born about 1450, married about 1470 and died in 1480. His entire life was spent in Barkham, Berkshire County. We have no idea as to whom he married, nor a listing of all his children. We do know he had at least one son, Robert Ball.
ROBERT BALL
Robert was born in Barkham about 1475. Again we do not know his wife's name. He died in 1543 and had at least two children: William Ball born in 1505 and Edward Ball born in 1507.
WILLIAM BALL
William was born about 1505 in Wokingham, Berkshire. He married in the early 1520s, and again no name has popped up. He died in Wokingham about 1550.
JOHN BALL
John was born in Wokingham about 1525. He was married three times. To Agnes Hathoway, Alice Haynes and Mary Pace. It seems his children all came though Agnes Hathoway whom he married in about 1546. Agnes was born about 1529 and was a daughter of Richard Hathoway of Wokingham.
The children were: John Ball 1548, Robert Ball 1553, Thomas Ball 1555, Edith Ball 1562, Alis Ball 1570, George Ball 1576, Martha Ball 1579 and Rachel Ball 1583.
JOHN BALL II
This John Ball was born May 5, 1548 in Wokingham. He married Elizabeth Webb in about 1566. Elizabeth was born about 1550 and was a daughter of Thomas Webb of Ruscombe, Berkshire.
They had some twelve children: Rachel Ball 1568, William Ball 1570, Thomas Ball 1575,
Richard Ball 1577, George Ball 1579, Samuel Ball 1581, another Rachel Ball 1583, Elizabeth Ball 1585, Susan Ball 1587, Alis Ball 1589, Dorothy Ball 1591 and Mary Ball 1593.
Elizabeth died in 1595 to 1596, John Ball died in 1628.
WILLIAM BALL
William Ball was born in Wokingham in about 1570. He married Alice Waltham in England in about 1590. Alice was a daughter of Richard Waltham. William brought his family to America in the early 1620s and settled in the Puritan New Haven Colony in Connecticut.
William Ball died in New Haven in April of 1648. I do not know when Alice died, but it too would have been in New Haven.
William and Alice had the following children:
ALLING BALL born in 1595.
JOHN BALL born in 1597. He died in Watertown, Massachusetts on November 1, 1655.
FRANCIS BALL born in 1599. He married Abigail Burt on May 8, 1644. He died in Springfield, Massachusetts on October 3, 1648.
SAMUEL BALL born about 1600.
RICHARD BALL born about 1601.
WILLIAM BALL born about 1603. He married Hannah Atherold on July 2, 1638.
ALLING BALL
Alling or Allen Ball was born about 1595 in Wokingham. He married while still in England around 1615, but we do not have his wife's name. We also do not know when he died, but it was in America and probably in New Haven, Connecticut.
The children were:
ALLING BALL II born in England in 1617.
MARY BALL born in 1622. She married James Russell in about 1643. She died August 25, 1674.
SUSANNA BALL born about 1624, probably in New Haven. She married Thomas Blatchley in New Haven in about 1645. She died in Boston, Massachusetts on December 16, 1677. Their daughter, Abigail Blatchley, married Edward Ball a son of Alling Ball Junior. They are also part of our direct lineage.
WILLIAM BALL born in 1626. He married Hannah Atherton in New Haven in about 1650.
ALLING BALL II
Alling (or Allen) Junior was born in England in about 1617 and came to America as a young boy. He married Dorothy Fugill in Branford (New Haven Colony) in about 1640. It is stated he died in 1716, which if true was rather remarkable in thse days. Take that date with a grain of salt.
Their children were:
EDWARD BALL born in 1642. This is our line.
JOHN BALL born April 15, 1649 and died January 1, 1730. He married Sarah Glover December 11, 1678 in New Haven.
ELIPHALET BALL born February 11, 1651 and died July 11, 1673. He married Hannah Nash February 13, 1672.
DOROTHY BALL born about 1654. She married George Pardee on February 10, 1675. She died in East Haven August 13, 1684.
MERCY BALL born in April 1654. I have her with the identical info as for Dorothy so they are either the same gal or someone of them is listed wrongly.
ALLING BALL III born June 27, 1656 and died in 1710. He married Sarah Thompson November 24, 1878.
LYDIA BALL born January 17, 1660.
SARAH BALL born January 17, 1660. Either twins or more confusing info.
EDWARD BALL
Edward Ball was born about 1642, probably in Connecticut. I have found conflicting accounts as to whether he was born in England or in the New Haven Colony. He lived in Branford, Connecticut and there married Abigail Blatchley in about 1664.
Abigail Blatchley was a daughter of Thomas Blatchley and Susannah Ball. Abigail was born in Connecticut in about 1649. Her parents were married in Connecticut in about 1644. Thomas Blatchley was born in Wales in 1615 and came from England to Boston on the ship `Hopewell' which sailed from London on July 28th, 1635. There were only four passengers on this small sailing vessel. Thomas Blatchley had travelled to Hartford by 1640 and to the New Haven Colony by 1643 and then moved to Branford in the New Haven Colony in 1644. When he first arrived in Boston, he was probably conscripted and fought in the Pequot War of Central Connecticut in 1637. This was what probably brought him to the Hartford Area in the first place; many of the soldiers seemed to have acquired land grants in the general area of Weathersfield as a result of this service and the resulting English victory.
He eventually moved back to Boston where he died in the summer of 1674. His widow, Susannah Ball Blatchley remarried a Richard Bristow in Boston. Susannah was born in England
in 1622 and died near Boston in December 1677.
On October 20, 1666, a group of people from Branford signed an agreement to move to the new colony in New Jersey and to form a town to be called Newark. The English had just acquired the area surrounding New York from the Dutch and were very anxious to establish new English communities as fast as possible. It was at the same time that my Marsh family moved from Milford in the New Haven Colony to help establish the new town of Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth, New Jersey) adjacent to Newark. Edward Ball and Thomas Blatchley both signed the agreement, but it seems the Blatchleys did not actually go.
In 1667 the Ball family moved to Newark on New York Bay. Everyone was assigned a six acre house lot in the new town. Edward Ball's lot was number 70. The land lay between Broad and Washington Streets, which is the site of Park Street in Newark today. Also among the founders of Newark was Stephen Davis (lot number 58), whose granddaughter Sarah married Edward Ball's son Thomas. Edward Riggs, who is also my 8th great grandfather, but on my mother's side, was also a founder and was assigned lot number 23 and his brother Joseph Riggs was on lot number 7. It seems like a small world, and in those days it was just that.
Edward was prominent in local government and was appointed High Sheriff of Essex County in 1693. He probably died there sometime after 1724. The last record of him was in 1724 when he was in his early eighties. Abigail Ball had died there sometime after 1688 and probably before her husband as no will was left.
The following is a brief recap of what I know about the children of Edward and Abigail Ball.
CALEB BALL was born in Branford Connecticut in about 1665. Based on a deed, we know his wife was Sarah Thompson, they were married in 1684. He was alive at least through 1716. Sarah was alive in 1706. They had two sons, Caleb and John and the family lived in the Millbrook area of Newark.
ABIGAIL BALL was born in Newark about 1667. She married Daniel Harrison and moved somewhat west of Newark. The children I have records of are Lydia, Abigail, Daniel 2nd, Moses and Jonathan Harrison. She died December 1, 1738.
JOSEPH BALL was born in about 1673 as he died at age 60 on April 25, 1733. He first married Hannah Harrison who died in about 1711, and they had three children (Hannah, Daniel and Joseph 2nd). He then married an Elizabeth and they had four more children (Rebecca, Jonathan, Samuel and Isaac). He inherited his father's estate in Newark. This original 6 acre plot remained in the Ball family until it was sold in 1849.
LYDIA BALL was born in 1676 and died on August 22, 1742 in her 66th year. She married Joseph Peck. Joseph was a blacksmith and a church deacon. They lived on Washington Street in Newark. Their children were Joseph Peck, Sarah Peck, Ruth Seward, Mary Dowd, Elizabeth Peck and Timothy Peck.
THOMAS BALL is my line and covered in the next section.
MOSES BALL was born about 1685 and died April 20, 1747. He married Mary Tichener about 1705. They had no children and lived in Newark.
ALSE BALL is not listed in genealogies that I have seen as a child, but I figure that she had to be. Later after her marriage, Simon Searing's will makes reference to his brother-in-law,
Thomas Ball. Therefore I assume that Alse was Thomas' sister and as such a daughter of Edward Ball. Alse is also in my Searing line and her story is contained in my Searing Family History in this work.
THOMAS BALL
Thomas was born in Newark in 1688. About 1712, he married Sarah Davis in Newark. Sarah was born in 1689 and was a daughter of Thomas Davis and Mary Ball. In 1715 -1716, Thomas Ball was a Constable a very prestigious position at the time. Thomas was a blacksmith by trade and lived in Newark all his life. He wrote his will on March 19, 1742/3 and he died in Newark on October 18, 1744.
The following is an abstract of his will taken from the New Jersey Archives:
1742-3, march 19, BALL, THOMAS of Newark, Essex County, blacksmith, will of. Children Timothy, Aaron, Nathaniel, David, Ezekiel, Jonas, Thomas, Amos, Moses, Apphia wife of Simon Searing, Mary and Rachel Ball, the last two under 18 years. Real and Personal estate. Executors - wife Sarah and son Timothy. Inventory of personal estate made on November 14, 1744 totalled in excess of 378 pounds sterling.
The will was probated on November 29, 1744. Thomas Ball died near Hilton, New Jersey but was buried in Newark. His headstone reads:
Here lies ye body of Thomas Ball, Dec'd Oct. ye 18th 1744 in ye 57th year of his age. Here lies an aged man of four years old. Beloved Wife and Children Dear, Remember now I am gone.
The 'aged man of four years' refers to the fact that four years before his death he became converted to religion. He had been 'born again' four years earlier.
Sarah Davis Ball was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Davis. The next main section deals with the Davis Family History. Sarah was born in 1690 in Newark. Sarah died in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey on February 1, 1778 at the age of 87 years.
Sarah's tombstone has the following inscription:
Here lies ye Body of Sarah Wife of Thomas BALL deceased who died February ye 1 A.D. 1778 In the 88th year of her age. The Dame that lies beneath this tomb had Rachel's Beauty, Leah's fruitful womb, Abigail's Wisdom, Lydia's Faithful Heart, Martha's just Trust and Mary's better part.
Thomas and Sarah Lived on lands between Hilton and Jefferson Village in New Jersey. He died near the site of TUSCAN HALL, which was built by his son Ezekiel. Descendents of his son Moses Ball founded the Ball Fruit Jar Company and established Ball State University in Ohio.
The following were their children:
TIMOTHY BALL born October 26, 1711 and died January 9, 1758. He married Esther Bruen in December 1734. He was a farmer and lived near South Orange, New Jersey. They had 11 children: Sarah, a daughter, Charity, Eunice, Mary (died young), John, Uzal, Rachel, Mary, David and one unknown child.
AARON BALL was born in 1713 and died September 22, 1752 at age 39. He married Hannah Camp. This was Hannah's send marriage and after Aaron died, she remarried again to Timothy Peck. They lived near South Orange. Hannah lived till 1790 when she was 78 years old. They had 7 children: Silas, Joseph, Keziah, Deborah, Margaret, Hannah and Aaron.
NATHANIEL BALL was born about 1711 and died in 1781 at the age of 70. He married Esther Osborn and they too resided in Connecticut Farms, New Jersey where he was a blacksmith. They had 11 children: Phebe, Rhoda, Rebecca, James, Esther, Aaron, Salome, Puah, Nehemiah, Davis and Eunice.
AFFIA BALL was born in Newark in 1715. She married Simeon Searing and that is my line. Their lives are told in the SEARING FAMILY HISTORY. They lived in Connecticut Farms, New Jersey and had 5 children: Jacob, Daniel, Jonathan, Mary and Nancy who married John Marsh. Their lives are found in the MARSH FAMILY HISTORY section of this work.
DAVID BALL was born in 1720 and died April 19, 1789. He was also a blacksmith like his father and brother. He first married Phebe Brown on July 9, 1740. She died on July 10, 1748 and he remarried Joanna Watkins. Joanna died February 12, 1776 and he remarried again on December 12, 1776 to a third wife whose name I do not have. There were 8 children: Affia, Stephen (died young), another Stephen, David, Ezekiel, Abigail, Phebe and a second David Ball. They lived in Springfield, New Jersey.
EZEKIEL BALL was born in 1721 and died December 19, 1804 at age 83. He married Mary Jones of Sag Harbor, Long Island. She lived to be 84 and died on March 21, 1810. Ezekiel was a carpenter and built Tuscan Hall where his father died. They had the following children: Edward, Dr. Stephen, Prussia, Samuel, Jane, Edward, Timothy, Mary, William and Oliver.
JONAS BALL was born in 1724 and died at about 64 years in 1787. He married Hannah Bruen. They had 11 children, but 7 died as infants. The others were Cornelius, Bethuel, Justus and Hannah. He was a cooper and they lived near Irvington, New Jersey.
MARY BALL was born June 4, 1726 and died in 1817. She married John Bruen who was a sailor. He was lost at sea off New Foundland on September 24, 1758. They had three children: Thomas, Sarah and Jonas Bruen. She later married Thomas Longworth of Newark and had David, Mary and Juliana Longworth.
RACHEL BALL born in 1728 and died in 1750. She married Samuel Headley. They had two sons that died as youths. Sam Headley later married Rebecca Bruen sister of Esther and Hannah Ball and John Bruen.
THOMAS BALL the second was born about 1731 and died May 20, 1806. He was a lawyer and lived in Jefferson Village, South Orange, New Jersey. He married Mary Crane who died May 27, 1806 a week after her husband. Their children were: Abner, Rachel, Joanna, Isaac, Sarah and Thomas 3rd.
AMOS BALL was born mentally deficient in about 1733. He apparently wandered about quite a bit and nothing more is known of him. He was unmarried.
MOSES BALL was born about 1735 and died about 1775. He resided in Springfield, New Jersey. There is no record of his wife, but he was supposed to have two sons, Jonathan and Samuel, and probably more. He may have died in the Revolutionary War.

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A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE [EXERPT]
Another family resident in the parish were the Balls, the reputed ancestors of Mary Ball, mother of George Washington. William Ball of Barkham died in 1480, and was succeeded by his son Robert, who at his death in 1543 left his personal estate to his elder son William, who lived at Wokingham, and his lands to his second son Edward. By his will proved in 1558 Edward Ball left 5s. 'to the buying of a crosse to gooe afore the procession at Barkham Church.' (fn. 13) The registers record the baptism of many children, but the family soon afterwards moved to Wokingham.

From: 'Parishes: Barkham', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923), pp. 238-241. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43211. Date accessed: 06 November 2007.