Palestine Pleasant Ballard (1820 - 1907)

Born 27 Apr 1820 in Madison County, Kentucky, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1907 at about age 86 in Richmond, Madison, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

A man important in Madison County affairs for most of the 19th Century was Palestine P. Ballard, a leader in politics, military affairs and business. Ballard was born in 1818 or 1820—depending on whether you read his tombstone or the information concerning him in early biographical works. He was the seventh child of James B. and Frances Ballard, a pioneer family who came to Kentucky from Virginia in 1803. He was a near relative of Bland Ballard, the famous Madison County settler and Indian fighter.

Father of Sally Ballard, Bettie Ballard, Catharine Ballard, John Ballard, Rosa Ballard, Bland Ballard, Walter Ballard, and Palestine Ballard.

The James B. Ballard family owned and farmed the land that included the 1770 Boone campsite on the headwaters of Station Camp Creek, later called Joes Lick Branch, where the famous Squire Boone rock was located.

Palestine P. was the successful holder of a number of public offices. At the early age of 20 he was appointed a constable of the county. In 1843 he was appointed by the county court to be a justice, and in 1849 was elected the representative of Madison County in the General Assembly. After farming for about five years, he was elected sheriff of Madison County in 1854, and re-elected to that post in 1856. He was a Hotelkeeper.

A staunch Union man, Ballard was appointed to the post of provost marshal of the City of Richmond, earning the rank of captain. He served from 1861 to the end of the Civil War, despite the setback the Union forces suffered in the battle of Richmond early in the war.

In the 1870's and 80's Ballard was assistant assessor for the IRS 8th district and later assistant collector of revenue. For a number of years he was school commissioner of Madison County.

Six years before his death in 1907, Palestine P. Ballard appeared a striking figure in his black suit and carrying gold-headed ebony cane as he made the formal speech at the courthouse presenting the Squire Boone rock to the county.

After having stood at Station Camp on the Ballard farm for 131 years, the famous obelisk-shaped stone had been moved to the courthouse lawn by J. Len Ballard who had bought out the other heirs of James B. Ballard.

Residence

Residence:

Date: 1860

Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky, United States

Page: Year: 1860; Census Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky; Roll: ; Page: ; Image: .

Quality or Certainty of Data: 3

Reference: 7667::39254918

Residence:

Date: 1870

Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky, United States

Page: Year: 1870; Census Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky; Roll: M593_; Page: ; Image: .

Quality or Certainty of Data: 3

Reference: 7163::18696077

Residence:

Date: 1880

Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky, United States

Page: Year: 1880; Census Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky; Roll: T9_431; Family History Film: 1254431; Page: 352.1000; Enumeration District: 71; Image: 0016.

Quality or Certainty of Data: 3

Reference: 6742::12037900

Residence:

Date: 1900

Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky

Page: Year: 1900; Census Place: Richmond, Madison, Kentucky; Roll: T623_541; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 41.

Quality or Certainty of Data: 3

Reference: 7602::5577502

Sources

"Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWTM-R5G : 11 May 2022), Palastine P. Ballard, 1840.

"Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5ZZ-DWJ : 9 March 2021), Patestine P Ballard and Mary Ann Francis, 15 Apr 1840; citing Marriage, Madison, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 183,313.

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZBK-RRC : 18 February 2021), P P Ballard, 1860.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXW2-PSF : 18 October 2021), P P Ballard, 1870.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCZD-68Q : 14 January 2022), Pallestine Ballard, Richmond, Madison, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm .

Abbreviation: 1900 United States Federal Census

Title: 1900 United States Federal Census

Author: Ancestry.com

Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623,

Reference: 7602::0

Madison County Tavern keepers bonds, 1852-1898; 1860, image 90, Family Search, not indexed. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-R3BS-L9ZB?i=89&cat=837034

Madison County Tavern keepers bonds, 1852-1898; 1866, image 147, Family Search, not indexed. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-13BS-LSVT?i=146&cat=837034

Madison County Tavern keepers bonds, 1852-1898; 1867, image 160, Family Search, not indexed. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-R3BS-LSG5?i=159&cat=837034

Kentucky Death Certificates, 1911-1965, Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics, KDLA, Frankfort, KY, File #22325. Kentucky Marriage Records, 1783-1965, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky, Madison County Marriages, 1786-1877, Film #000183302, p. 220.