Benjamin Ballard (1770 - 1850)

Born 7 Jan 1770 in Bedford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1850 at age 80 in Manchester, Bennington County, Vermont

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Biography

Benjamin Ballard was a son of Joseph Ballard, born in Bedford, Massachusetts, on 7 January 1770.^[1][2][3] His mother was Sarah Simonds, who married Joseph Ballard in Boston on 11 October 1769. Joseph Ballard, who was a physician in Bedford, died on 29 January 1777.^[4]

He moved with his mother to Buckland, Massachusetts. He married Sarah Spooner, who was born on 17 February 1769. After the marriage, they moved to Manchester, Vermont. In 1814 they moved to Peru, Vermont.^[1]

According to Batchelder, he settled in Peru, Vermont, in 1814. He built a house there and resided in Peru until 1845, when he removed to Manchester, Vermont, where he lived with his son Benjamin. ^[5]

On 22 February 1816 Benjamin Ballard, Sally Ballard, Samantha Ballard, Horace Ballard, and Benjamin Ballard Jr. were ordered to depart from the town of Peru.^[6] Apparently they evaded the order or succeeded in returning. The 1820 U.S. Census recorded Benjamin Ballard in Peru, Vermont, head of a household of six that consisted of one male and one female age 45 and over (Benjamin and his wife), a male and two females age 16 to 25 (probably son Horace and daughters Sally and Samantha), and one male under 10 years (son Benjamin). ^[7]

This may be the same Benjamin Ballard who was enumerated in New Salem, Franklin County, Massachusetts, in the 1830 U.S. Census. He was recorded with a household of one male and one female between 60 and 69 (the right ages for Benjamin and his wife), one female between 30 and 39 (could be daughter Sally), and one female between 70 and 79 (an older relative?).^[8]

The 1840 U.S. Census recorded Benjamin Ballard in Peru, Vermont, head of a household consisting of a man age 70 to 79 (himself), a woman in the same age range (presumably his wife), and a woman age 40 to 49 (presumably his daughter Sally, who apparently did not marry). One member of the household (probably Benjamin) was engaged in agriculture.^[9]

Batchelder did not mention Benjamin's wife, but he described four children, as follows:^[5]

1. Sally; went to Manchester and died of a cancer.
2. Samantha; married Seth Lyon, lived in Peru for a time, and removed to Jamaica, Vermont, where she died of a cancer in 1881.
3. Horace; studied medicine, graduated from Castleton Medical College, and settled in Williamstown, Vermont. He died in 1833.
4. Benjamin S.; married Betsey Warren (daughter of Jesse Warren of Peru), and settled for a time in Peru, where he bought and expanded the grain mill that Asa Simonds had built in 1827. He and his wife Betsey removed to Manchester in 1845, and subsequently lived in Cleveland, Ohio; Long Island, New York (where Betsey died); Kansas; and South Orange, New Jersey, where Benjamin S. died at age 79 in May 1889.

The family of Benjamin Ballard moved from Peru to Manchester, Vermont, in 1845.^[1]

The 1850 U.S. Census recorded Sarah Ballard, age 81, living in Manchester, Vermont, in June 1850 in the household of 40-year-old farmer Benjamin Ballard , his 38-year-old wife Betsy, and their three daughters. Sarah, Benjamin, and Betsy were recorded as born in Massachusetts, while the three daughters were born in Vermont. Benjamin Ballard, age 81, and Sarah Ballard, age 50 (this presumably is daughter Sally) are listed in an adjacent household, headed by Gideon Barrett;^[10] they may have been boarders there.

Deacon Benjamin Ballard died in Manchester, Vermont, on 10 October 1850, recorded as age 81. Burial was in the old part of Dellwood Cemetery in Manchester. The town death record states that his parents were unknown.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Farlow, Charles Frederic, and Charles Henry Pope. Ballard genealogy : William Ballard (1603-1639) of Lynn, Massachusetts and William Ballard (1617-1689) of Andover, Massachusetts and their descendants. Boston: C. H. Pope, 1911. page 128.
2. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1621-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Bedford, page 12.
3. ↑ Birthplace of Massachusetts is reported by his children's census records. Birthdate would be 1769, based on his reported age at death.
4. ↑ Farlow and Pope, Ballard Genealogy, page 107.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Batchelder, page 35.
6. ↑ “Vital Records Recorded in the Peru, Vt. Town Records.” page 50.
7. ↑ United States Census, 1820. Enumeration sheet for Peru, Bennington, Vermont; Page: 295; NARA Roll: M33_126; Image: 167. Accessed at Ancestry.com.
8. ↑ United States Census, 1830. Enumeration sheet for New Salem, Franklin, Massachusetts; Series: M19; Roll: 62; Page: 162; Family History Library Film: 0337920.
9. ↑ United States Census, 1840. Enumeration sheet for Peru, Bennington, Vermont; Roll: 539; Image: 405; Family History Library Film: 0027438. Accessed at Ancestry.com.
10. ↑ United States Census, 1850. Enumeration sheet for Manchester, Bennington, Vermont; Roll: M432_921; Page: 133B; Image: 266. Accessed at Ancestry.com.
11. ↑ Death record: Benjamin Ballard. Deaths B to 1871, page 2938. Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. (From microfilmed records. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013.)

• Batchelder, Ira K. Reunion Celebration, Together with an Historical Sketch of Peru, Bennington County, Vermont, Brattleboro, Vermont: E. L. Hildreth & Co., 1891.
• “Vital Records Recorded in the Peru, Vt. Town Records.” Special Issue of Vermont Genealogy, Vol. 20, Spring 2015). Braintree, VT: Genealogical Society of Vermont, 1996–. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2020.