Joseph Ball (1649 - 1711)

Born 24 May 1649 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Romney) Ball — married about 1675 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Mary (Unknown) Hewes — married after 11 Feb 1707 in Virginia [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 11 Jul 1711 at age 62 in Epping Forest, Lancaster County, Colony of Virginia

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Biography

Joseph Ball is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society

Joseph Ball was a Virginia colonist.

Joseph Ball^[1] was born about 1649 in England. He emigrated to Virginia in early 1661.

The 1789 letter of James Ball to his cousin Burgess Ball, claims that Joseph was born May 25 1649 in England.^[2]

Joseph Ball married first, in England about 1675 Elizabeth Rogers or Elizabeth Romney, dau of William Romney of London.^[3][4]

"There is no record of Col. Ball's marriages among the marriage bonds of Lanc'r Co., nor do I find any mention of the name of the first wife in the county or church books. The Letter Book of Joseph Ball, son of [this] Col. Joseph Ball by his first wife... [makes] No mention of the maiden name of his mother... But there is among his descendants a tradition that Joseph Ball's first wife was named Elizabeth Romney or Rumney. A tradition so trusted that the name Romney occurs frequently in this line in memory of his first wife." [He also describes an old parchment certificate with the arms of William Romney of London, dated 1593, in the possession of a Ball descendant.] "The Downman tradition, the frequency of the name 'Romney' in the line of descent from Col. Jos. Ball, the parchment certificate of the Romney arms, and the entire absence of the name 'Rogers' from the records of his descendants, appear to me to outweight the statement made in Col. James Ball's [1789] letter..."^[5]

Colonel Joseph Ball married second after 7 Feb 1707 and before 1709, the widow Mary____ (some say Bennet, not proven; others suggest Montague) Johnson, who was perhaps (not proven)^{[citation needed]} the daughter or near kin of Thomas Bennet of Westmoreland, Virginia, living in 1738/39.^[6][7][8][9]

"That he married the widow Johnson in Lanc'r Co. appears from a deed recorded in the county Feb. 12, 1703, from Col. B, to his son-in-law, Raleigh Chinn, of 190 a., witnessed by George Frick and Mary Johnson".^[10] [How this proves that the witness on the deed was a) the woman he married and b) a widow is not explained by Hayden.]

He made his residence in Epp[l]ing Forest, Lancaster Co., Virginia.

He served as Lieut. Colonel.^[11] Joseph Ball was elected as Burgess from Lancaster County in 1695, 1698, 1701, 1702.^[12]

He died between 25 June and 11 July 1711.

His widow married second Richard Hewes,^[13].

Last Will & Testament

The last will and testament of Joseph Ball Sr is very long; its full text may be found in Hayden, pp 58-59; what follows are pertinent genealogical details.

Date: 25 JUN 1711

Proven: 11 JUL 1711

• Joseph Ball identifies himself of "County of Lancasr and p'ish of St. Mary's Wt Chappell in the Colony of Virga" and that at the time he wrote he was sick and weak.
• He makes reference to the 11 Feb 1707 deed referenced earlier where he named his son and daughters: son Joe Ball, my daughter Hannah Travers my daughter Anne Conway and my daughter Esther Chinn
• He clarifies that the bequest in that deed of "a negro wo: named Murcah and her Increase. I do therefore hereby declare that it then was my full Intent and meaning & still is my will and Pleasure That thereby be meant the future increase only of ye sd. Murcah to be to my sd son and no other children born of her body wch by ye sd. deed I have given to Mrs Anne Conway and Mrs Esther Chinn -- viz Jack and Janney and no other children therefore...
• to my Loving wife Mary Ball very specific items including (among other things) feather bed, all the chairs that are single nailed, the chest of drawers in the hall chamber standing under the window and the Looking Glass with a narrow frame.
• to my wife a negro man named Tony and a negro wo: named Dinah; and Irish woman for the time she is to serve her, named Ellen Grafton'
• to my daughter Mary 400 (out of 1600) acres of land in Richmond County
• to my son Jos Ball the balance of 1200 acres of Richmond county referenced above
• to Eliza Johnson ye daughter of my beloved wife 100 acres bought of Wilb Lut late of this county
• my wife shall have the use of a negro Girl Jenny that he'd formerly given to his daughter Eliz Cornegie until my grandson Jos Carnegie shall come of age (21)
• that the negroes "now on the plantation" under the care of John Hogan my overseer... after they finish the crop they be equally divided between my son Jos Ball my daughter Ann Conway and my daughter Esther Chinn.
• my daughter Hannah Travers
• nominate and appoint my son Jos Ball Executor.

The will was signed in the presence of George Finch, Eliz. Finch Mart, M. Miller, Jos. Taylor.

Children

A deed dated 7 February 1707 from Col. Joseph Ball to his son, Joseph indicates that a) at this time the father is not married and b) if his son should die without heir, then the land should pass to his daughters. This indicate that he had an earlier marriage and that most of his children were by that first wife. Tradition holds that Joseph had remained in England until the death of his first wife, suggesting that their children together were born in England:^[14]

1. Hannah, b abt 1683; m. before 1707 Raleigh Travers
2. Elizabeth, b 168-; d. before 1711; m. before 1707 Rev. John Carnegie. Had one child, Joseph a minor in 1711.
3. Esther, b 1685, d May 1751; m. bef 1703 Raleigh Chinn
4. Anne, b 1686?; m. 1704 Col. Edwin Conway
5. Joseph Ball Jr or II, b in Virginia 11 Mar 1689; d 10 Jan 1760; m 3 Dec 1709 Frances Ravenscroft.

At least one source claims he had an additional daughter, Frances Ball, born in 1681, married in 1698 John Carter, then died the following year.^[15] This source provides no supporting evidence for this additional child, so we have detached her from this profile for the time being.

His last daughter-- and by his second wife-- was Mary, mother of president-to-be George Washington. At her 25 Aug 1789 death she was "in her 82nd year" (i.e., 81), placing her birth before August 1708, but after the above 7 Feb 1707 deed. Joseph died leaving Mary orphaned at the age of three. His probate requested that Colonel George Eskridge look after her.^[16]

Slaves Associated with Joseph Ball Family

As recorded in Joseph's 1711 will:

1. Murcah (woman, 1711)
2. Tony (man, 1711)
3. Dinah (woman, 1711)
4. Jenny (girl, 1711)
5. the negroes "now on the plantation" (1711) under the care of overseer John Hogan
6. Tome (boy, 1711)
7. Jo [formerly belonging to Jo Carnegie who dec'd 1711]
8. Jack [formerly belonging to Jo Carnegie who dec'd 1711]

Origins

That he was son of William Ball and Hannah (possibly) Atherold is supported by:

• Around 1660 'Colonel' William's youngest son, Joseph, was apparently sent to join his father in Virginia, as an entry in the Lancaster County Orders Book in January 1660/61 records the grant of a certificate to William Ball for the transportation of twenty people, including Joseph Ball.^[17]
• Appearance in William Ball's 1680 will

Sources

1. ↑ [http://www.jamestowne.org/ball---barbar.html Ball, Joseph​ - A407; died 1711, Lancaster Co.: 1693, 1698 (Burgess). accessed 5 September 2021
2. ↑ French, p ??
3. ↑ Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, Virginia genealogies : a genealogy of the Glassell family of Scotland and Virginia : also of the families of Ball..., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: E.B. Yordy, printer, 1891, c1885., p 56
4. ↑ French, pp 70, 134 without citing his source. French does say that Joseph Ball II was son of the first wife, and that Mary Ball Washington was daughter of the second wife.
5. ↑ Hayden, p 56
6. ↑ Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents, (published in cooperation with the NEHGS, Boston, MA, USA, by Carl Boyer, 3rd, Santa Clarita, CA, 1995, charts by Julie Helen Otto), page 1
7. ↑ Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America, London: Burke's Peerage, 1981. Print. P. 15.
8. ↑ Hayden, p 57-58
9. ↑ Elizabeth Combs Peirce, Mary Johnson, Second Wife of Col. Joseph Ball, in William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Second Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, April 1935, pp. 176-177.
10. ↑ Hayden, p 57
11. ↑ The Ball Family, Mount Vernon Association.
12. ↑ [https://www.newrivernotes.com/topical_books_1902_virginia_colonialvirginiaregister.htm New River Notes, Colonial Virginia Register
13. ↑ Compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents, (published in cooperation with the NEHGS, Boston, MA, USA, by Carl Boyer, 3rd, Santa Clarita, CA, 1995, charts by Julie Helen Otto), page 1.
14. ↑ Hayden, p 58
15. ↑ Untitled Family Group sheet for Joseph Ball
16. ↑ Virginia Carmichael, Mary Ball Washington, Fredericksburg: Colonial Press (1967), pg.9. Accessed Jan 24 2014
17. ↑ D. J. French, The Ancestry of the Balls of Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Virginia, 2013, v1.2 (PDF) (accessed 18 July 2014); see the discussion p 40

See also:

• Robert K. Headley, Married Well and Often: Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649-1800, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co. (2003). Also available digitally to paid subscribers of Ancestry.com.
• Family of Mary Ball Washington
• D.J. French, The English ancestry of George Washington's mother, Mary Ball - a history of the Balls of Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Virginia, 2013.
• Mary Ball Washington, in Genealogy and Ancestry of Barack Obama and other U.S. Presidents (Blog).
• Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, Virginia Genealogies: A Genealogy of the Glassell Family of Scotland and Virginia : Also of the Families of Ball, Brown, Bryan, Conway, Daniel, Ewell, Holladay, Lewis, Littlepage, Moncure, Peyton, Robinson, Scott, Taylor, Wallace, and Others, of Virginia and Maryland, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (1891), pp. 56 - 59.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all who contributed to this profile and who continue to search for more complete information on these people!