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Capt. William Ball, II, b. in England, 2d Jan. 1641; d. in
Lancaster Co., Va., 30th Sept. 1694. In 1687 Capt. William BALL was
appointed to lay off the boundary between Lancaster and
Northumberland Cos., Va.; was a Justice in 1680 and Burgess 1685;
m. prob. three times, (firstly) prob. Margaret or Mary Williamson,
dau. of James Williamson; (secondly) Miss Hanes of ?Bay View,?
Northumberland Co., Va.; m. (thirdly) circa 1675 Margaret Downman,
dau. of Rawleigh Downman.
He was a son of Col. William Ball, of Lancaster and his wife, Hannah
Atherold. He was born in England, June 2, 1641. He was burgess from
Lancaster county in the sessions of Sept. 17, 1668, Oct. 3, 1670,
Sept. 21, 1674, in the assemblies of 1677, 1682, 1685-86 and 1688,
and in the sessions of April 1, 1692. In 1687 Capt. William Ball,
of Lancaster, was appointed to lay off the boundary between
Lancaster and Northumberland counties. He was justice in 1680. He
married (first) Mary Williamson, daughter of Dr. James Williamson,
of Rappahannock, to whom John Hammond dedicated his tract "Leah and
Rachel;" (secondly) Miss Harris, of "Bay View," Northumberland
county; (thirdly) in 1675. Margaret Downman, daughter of Rawleigh
Downman. Capt. Ball died in Lancaster county, Sept. 30, 1694. His
will was dated Sept. 28, 1694, and probated Nov. 4, 1694.
Children of Captain William Ball (1641) and Mary Harris:
1. William Ball (1676) m. Hannah Beale
2. Richard Ball (1676) m. Sarah Young
3. Major James Ball (1678) m. 1st- Elizabeth Hawson and 2nd- Mary
Dangerfield,
4. Joseph Ball (1680) m. Mary Johnston
5. George Ball (1683) m. Grace Waddy
6. Samuel (1686) m. Ann Taylor
7. David Ball (1686) m. Ellen Heale
8. Stretchley Ball (died young)
9. Margaret Ball m. Rawleigh Downman
Capt. William Ball and his wife Margaret Williamson had a daughter, Margaret Ball who married Rawleigh Downman. When Rawleigh Downman died Margaret became involved with Rawleigh Chinn. Its hard to tell from the timing but this may have been one of several affairs that Rawleigh Chinn had. Rawleigh's first marriage to Joseph Ball's daughter Esther collapsed and Rawleigh has three illegitimite children with Margaret Ball Downman, Esther's first cousin according to the researchers of the Ball Library. [Ball Library. 12/1/02]
1740- 1743 List of Vestrymen in St. Mary's Parish, before the union of the parishes, from 1739 to 1756, and of both parishes after the union. by David Ball. (minister)
William Bertrand, William Ball, Jr., Joseph Ball, Joseph Heale, Jos. Chinn, Martin Shearman, Raleigh Chinn, Richard Chichester, Jesse Ball, Robert Mitchell, Colonel Ball, Major Ball, (making five Balls in one vestry,) Joseph Carter, Thomas Chinn. In the year 1743, the following vestrymen from Christ Church met with the vestry of St. Mary's White Chapel,--viz.: Henry Carter, Henry Lawson, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Steptoe, Mr. Martin, Captain Tayloe, Colonel Conway, Thomas Lawson, John Steptoe, Mr. Pinkard. At this time six of each vestry are appointed to form a general vestry, and it is sometimes difficult to determine to which parish each one belongs. Hugh Bent, from Christ Church, James Ball, Jr., Dale Carter, Stephen Towles, George Payne, Merryman Payne, Richard Selden, Thomas Chinn, Solomon Ewell, John Fleet, William Dymer, Charles Carter, John Chinn, James Kiok, Thaddeus McCarty, Thomas Griffin, Thomas Lawson, Edwin Conway, William Montague, in place of Charles Carter, in 1776, Henry Towles, James Newby, William Sydnor, John Berryman, Colonel John Tayloe, James Brent, William Chewning, James Ball, Jr..
In 1786, Cyrus Griffin is appointed to attend the Episcopal Convention in Richmond, and James Ball to attend the examination of the Rev. Edward Jones at the court-house. For what purpose and of what character that examination was, is not certainly known, but it is believed to have been a kind of trial under a canon of Virginia. Thus ends the vestry-book. [Mead. "Old Church Records of Virginia." Vol. 1 -2. Vol 2 online by Walker, Ruth. "Old Church Records of Virginia." part 2. [http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?ball::va::13769.html]
A History of the Ball family from a Downman MS:
On this document: . . . William Ball, son of a London attorney, came to America in 1657. He was a “mature man” who ‘transported” his wife, two children, and a number of servants, free or indentured. (The children were born in Devonshire, England.) There are no references in Virginia Records prior to 1657; however, in that year he was listed among the Justices of Lancaster county. (Hayden said he migrated in 1651, aged 36, but Joseph II in his “letter-book” gives the date as 1657, age 42. Probably the 7 was mistaken for a 1.)
If family records are accurate, William Ball was the son of William Ball of Lincoln’s Inn, one of the four attorneys of the Office of pleas and Exchequer. He married Hannah Atherold and she was manifestly a person of honor in the traditions of the family, judging by the interest taken in her by her grandson, Joseph II. She died in 1694.
Hannah (Atherold) Ball and William Ball had at least four children. He died about 1697. He was estranged from his daughter, Hannah, who had married David Fox. In his will he left her “5 shillings sterling, which. . .is an overplus of her portion or deserts.” He took precautions to keep her mother from leaving her any part of estate but did not altogether succeed. When Hannah (Atherold) Ball died in 1694, she bequeathed to her “loveing daughter Hannah Fox, wife of David Fox, a suite of red curtains, valens and counterpane and bolster, a pewter cistern to set bottles in, a pewter custard pan, a cabinet that stands next the kitchen, a silver sugar dish, mustard pot, three spoons, a silver trencher.” She also tried to leave the “negro and the mulatto girl given me by my husband to dispose of as I please.” Whether this attempt to leave the two slaves to Hannah succeeded isn’t known, or whether the will was admitted to probate.
All these four children had been born in the “home country” (Devonshie, England). After William Ball came to Virginia, he settled on a neck of land he called “Millenbeck” at the mouth of Corotoman Creek, Lancaster County, and thee he improved his fortune as a polaner and trader. He acquired more lands. In 1677 he was Major of the county Militia. Two or more times, he was Burgess. He was active in the defense of Lancaster against the Indians. He conferred and lay down a levy on the Norther Neck for the exenses of supressing the uprising. He was in the company of his peers and took active part in all county affairs. His son William settled in Philadelphia where he died in 1740. (Source: Thelma Roush-Rootsweb Post 10 May 2001.
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