Sarah (Bullard) Ball (abt. 1644 - aft. 1708)

Born about 1644 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of John Ball Jr. — married 17 Oct 1665 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died after Dec 1708 after about age 64 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Rentschler [send private message]

Biography

Birth

Sarah ("Sary") Bullard was probably born in about 1644 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, based on her marriage date and location. Secondary sources identify her as the daughter of George Bullard and Beatrice Hall of Watertown.^[1] However, see the Research Note below concerning the search for primary sources on this point.

Marriage

She married John Ball Junior in Watertown on 17 October 1665.^[2]

Children

Children of John Ball and Sarah Bullard include:^[1]

1. John, b. 29 June 1668^[3]
2. James, b. 7 Mar 1670^[4]
3. Joseph, b. 4 May 1674^[5]
4. Benjamin [?]
5. Jonathan, b. 29 Mar 1680^[6]
6. Daniel, b. 2 Aug 1683^[7]
7. Abigail, b. 5 Oct 1686^[8]

A prior version of this profile and some secondary sources (including Grace Ann (Ball) Dow) have identified Sarah Ball as an additional child but this is disputed as explained in the Research Notes below.

Death

Sarah (Sary) Ball died after 1708^[9], most likely in Watertown. [A prior version of this profile gave a death date of 8 May 1722, but that appears to be a confusion with the death date of her husband John. The Watertown vital records do not appear to include the death date for Sarah. Another date of death that has appeared here: 21 November 1731; this was the DOD (gravestone) of Sarah Glover who married another John Ball (of New Haven; see: Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, Vol III); Vital Records of New Haven, 1649-1850, Pt. I.]

Research Notes

Primary Source for Claimed Origins

Note added by Halsey Bullen on 5 Jan 2017:

Sarah (Sary) Bullard is well documented in the Watertown records as marrying John Ball in 1665 and producing several children. I've traced to the original handwritten records on Ancestry, in which she is referred to as Sary. (I've had difficulty producing a legible copy, but the online version is quite legible if you squint; if you want to see it for yourself, send me (Halsey Bullen) a private message and I'll send you the (200+ character) link.) However, while secondary sources say she was born in 1644, to George and Beatrice, I have not been able to find support for that in the Watertown records. All her siblings do appear in the the birth records of Watertown.

In contrast, the first child in this family, Mary Bullard has a definite handwritten and transcribed Watertown birth record, in 1640. But I find no subsequent records for her: no marriage, no death, nothing after her birth.

So I wondered whether a slip of the pen converted Mary into Sary or vice versa. Just one letter different, after all. But the handwritten M and S are quite clear. So what next??

Disputed Child

A prior version of this profile and some secondary sources (including Grace Ann (Ball) Dow) have identified Sarah Ball as an additional child. While John Ball Jr & Sarah Bullard had several children, this Sarah was apparently not one of them. The contemporaneous copy of Watertown VR started in 1663 and including her 1666 birth listed "Elizabeth" as Sarah's mother meaning that Sarah was the daughter of John Ball SENIOR and his second wife Elizabeth Fox. A later typewritten transcription found on the internet lists her mother as SARAH but with no explanation for the change in name. The simplest answer is that the typewritten transcription accidentally repeated the child's name as the mother's name and that the original copy written in 1666 was correct. See full details on her profile.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Grace Ann (Ball) Dow, Dow, Ball, Eaton and Allied Families: A Genealogical Study with Biographical Notes, (New York: The American Historical Company, Inc., 1951), 297; images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/155422 : accessed 8 May 2022).
2. ↑ Watertown Historical Society, Watertown Records, (Watertown, Mass.: Fred G Barker, 1894), "The First Book and Supplement of Births, Deaths, and Marriages," p. 27; images, Hathitrust, (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89067596734 : accessed 8 May 2022).
3. ↑ Watertown Records, at 30
4. ↑ Watertown Records, at 33
5. ↑ Watertown Records, at 38
6. ↑ Watertown Records, at 48.
7. ↑ Watertown Records, at 53.
8. ↑ Watertown Records, at 58.
9. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986". Catalog: Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950) Deeds, vol. 17 1714-1716. Image path: Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986 > Middlesex > Deeds 1714-1716 vol 17 > image 333 of 351. FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-89Z7-D613 (accessed 19 December 2022).

• Dow, Ball, Eaton and Allied Families - A Genealogical Study With Biographical Notes American Historical Company, New York City, 1951
• The Stivers of East Tennessee and Allied Families - Volume II. Compiled by Dorothy Stivers Brown and Forest David Brown, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Summer 1976