Colonel Joseph Ball, of "Epping Forest"

Parents: William Ball b: 2 JUN 1611 in London, England and Hannah Atherold b: 2 FEB 1617/18 in England.

The Ball family line connects to George Washington through his maternal lineage. Joseph Ball was the father to George Washington's Mother, Mary Ball Washington. DNA studies do not bear out this relationship with President George Washington (see comments on Col. William Ball's profile).

Joseph Ball (1649-1711) was born in England and came to Virginia sometime before his father's death, making his home at a plantation called Epping Forest. (This was also the estate where Mary Ball Washington, mother of the first President of the United States, was born). Joseph served as a justice of the county court, a vestryman for his church parish, as a Member of the House of Burgess (in 1698, 1700, and 1702), and as a lieutenant colonel in the county militia. Possible middle name: Matthaus.

Captain Joseph Ball's will was proven 15 Nov 1721. Abstracts of Lancaster County, Virginia Wills 1653-1800; {Ida J. Lee} BALL, Joseph,. Psh. St. Mary's White Chapel. Will. 25 June 1711. Rec. 11 July 1711. Wife Mary; son Joseph; daus. Hannah Travers; Anne Conway; Esther Chinn; Elizabeth Cornegie; Mary Ball; Eliza Johnson (dau. of his wife), dau. Mary, 400 acres of land in Richmond county; grandson James Cornegie (not 21) acknowledges gift to son Joseph Ball, and daus. Hannah Travers, Anne Conway and Esther Chinn made 11 Feb. 1707; Overseer John Hagan; negroes formerly belonging to Jon. Carnegie, decd. Extr. Joseph Ball. Wits. Geo. Finch, Elizabeth Finch, Margaret Miller, Joseph Taylor. W.B. 10, p. 88.

Col. Joseph Ball signed a will on 25 Jun 1711 in Lancaster Co., VA. in which he named step daughter, Elizabeth Johnson, 100 A. of land for life this is used for proof of marriage in this source. He had an estate probated on 11 Jul 1711 in Lancaster Co., VA.

Marriage 1-Female MNU Ball b: ABT 1653 in London, England Married: ABT 1669 in London, England. This marriage and child are not firmly proven. Children: John Ball b: 1670 in London, England.

From his marriage to Elizabeth Romney, who died by the early 1700's, he had five children listed in his will of 1711. The oldest child, daughter Frances, died in 1699. This wife's name has been seen as Julia or Elizabeth Julia but I have seen no documentation for it.

Marriage 2-Elizabeth Romney b: ABT 1659 in London, England Married: 1675 in London, England. From his marriage to Elizabeth Romney, who died by the early 1700's, he had five children listed in his will of 1711. This wife's name has been seen as Julia or Elizabeth Julia but I have seen no documentation for it.

Children

1. Frances Ball b: 1680 in Lancaster County, Virginia, d: 1699.
2. Hannah Ball b: 1683 in Lancaster County, Virginia
3. Easter Ball b: 1685 in Millenbeck, Lancaster County, Virginia
4. Elizabeth Ball b: 1685 in Lancaster County, Virginia
5. Anne Ball b: 3 OCT 1686 in Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia - Probate
6. Joseph Ball b: 11 MAR 1688/89 in Morattico, Lancaster County, Virginia

Marriage 3-Mary Johnson (died 1721), a widow who had two children from her previous marriage. Together they had one child, a daughter named Mary Ball (1708-1789). Joseph passed away, however, soon after when Mary Ball was only three years old. Mary Johnson Ball was remarried the following year to a man named Richard Hewes, who left her a widow for the third time in 1713.

Marriage 3 Mary {Unproven} Bennett b: 1665 in West Chester, England Married: 1708 in Lancaster County, Virginia (conflict in surname of 3rd wife?)

Children

1. Mary Ball b: NOV 1708 in "Epping Forest", Lancaster County, Virginia

Sources

1. Roberts, Gary Boyd. Ancestors of American Presidents. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009), p. 1. Maternal grandfather of George Washington. Joseph Ball, England. 24 May 1649, Epping Forest, Lancaster Co. between 25 June and 11 July 1711, c. 1707-8 (post 6 Feb. 1707) m. Mrs. Mary (___) Johnson. [Note that "Epping Forest" did not exist by that name until 1843. It was simply known as the "The Forest" or "The Forest Quarter." [1
2. Lancaster Will Book 10, in Lancaster Will Book 10, p. 88-93, 88-93 .
3. Ball Families of Virginia's Northern Neck, 45.
4. Virginia Genealogies, 47, 56, 1885, Questionable quality.

Links:

• https://maryballwash.umwblogs.org/
• http://www.mountvernon.org/educational-resources/encyclopedia/ball-...
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mrmarsha&...
• http://www.afamilytree.net/milesforsite/ball.html
• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Joseph_Ball_%283%29_
• http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ball-168#Last_Will_.26_Testament

The house at Epping Forest in Lancaster Co., VA was built in 1680 by Col. Joseph Ball. He named it after the Ball family estate in England. He gave the farm property and house to his son Joseph, Jr., and divided his personal property among all five of his children. He reserved the right to live in the manor until his death; shortly thereafter, he married again, to Mary Montague Johnson.

In his will of June 5, 1711, he bequeaths to Mary Ball four hundred acres lying in the freshies of the Rappahannock, part of his patent of sixteen hundred acres. He also mentions his son, Joseph, his daughters, Anne Conway and Esther Chinn, and Eliza Johnson, "the daughter of my beloved wife, " but he does not include Hannah Traverse or Elizabeth Carnegie. True, they might have died without issue, but this, and conflicting statements as to the family record, leaves a doubt as to the authencity of the last two names.

In 1706 Joseph Ball Sr. deeded property, which he had purchased as late as 1698 and upon which he had already begun the plantation house to become known as Morattico Plantation, to his son, Joseph Ball II. Part of this property had been bought from Charles Cale, a relative of whom, Thomas Ives, continued to own land containing Ives Creek (now Ivey Creek), the northern boundary of Joseph Ball's Morattico Plantation.

Mary Sue BALL Wilson's book says 'Educated in England, settled in London married first there. Barrister of Law at the English Bar.' He was married to Elizabeth ROMENY (daughter of William ROMNEY) in 1675 in VA. Elizabeth ROMENY died before 1703 in VA.

Col. Joseph Ball signed a will on 25 Jun 1711 in Lancaster Co., VA. in which he named step daughter, Elizabeth Johnson, 100 A. of land for life this is used for proof of marriage in this source. He had an estate probated on 11 Jul 1711 in Lancaster Co., VA. The will was proven 15 Nov 1721. (Abstracts of Lancaster County, Virginia Wills 1653-1800; {Ida J. Lee} BALL, Joseph,. Psh. St. Mary's White Chapel. Will. 25 June 1711. Rec. 11 July 1711). Wife Mary; son Joseph; daus. Hannah Travers; Anne Conway; Esther Chinn; Elizabeth Cornegie; Mary Ball; Eliza Johnson (dau. of his wife), dau. Mary, 400 acres of land in Richmond county; grandson James Cornegie (not 21) acknowledges gift to son Joseph Ball, and daus. Hannah Travers, Anne Conway and Esther Chinn made 11 Feb. 1707; Overseer John Hagan; negroes formerly belonging to Jon. Carnegie, decd. Extr. Joseph Ball. Wits. Geo. Finch, Elizabeth Finch, Margaret Miller, Joseph Taylor. W.B. 10, p. 88.

Eliza Johnson, Joseph Ball's step daughter, is remembered in the will of Joseph Ball with a 100 acres in 1711. "Col. Ball gave his wife a part of his estate during her natural life, with stock, slaves, etc.; to his daughter Mary, he gave 400 acres in Richmond Co.; to Eliza Johnson, 100 acres in Lancaster Co. The Lancaster Co. records could show what disposition she made of this land. She was probably 15 or 18 years old when Col. Ball died, born say 1695, and of suitable age to have married Thomas Lanier."

His estate has caused a considerable argument among researchers.Horance Edwin Hayden laid out the case against the Lanier family connection to George Washington's aunt in an article in ["William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine," Vol. 3, No. 1. (Jul., 1894), pp. 68-74.]

Record of Miltary Service: 1699 , Virginia - Militia Officers in Virginia, June 1699. Lancaster County - Col. Robert Carter - Commander in Chief and Lt. - Col. Joseph Ball.

Sources: Headlam, Cecil, ed., Calender of State Papers, Colonial Series (Volume 17), America and West Indies, 1699, also Addenda, 1621-1698. Preserved in the Public Record Office (Vaduz: Kraus Reprint Ltd., 1964) First Published London: HMSO, 1908. pp. 267-268.
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Source: wikitree Col Joseph Ball Born about May 24, 1649 in London, Englandmap [uncertain] Son of William Ball and Hannah Atherold Brother of Richard Ball, William Ball II and Hannah (Ball) Fox Husband of Elizabeth (Romney) Ball — married about 1680 in Englandmap [uncertain] Husband of Mary (Unknown) Hewes — married after February 11, 1707 in Virginiamap [uncertain] Father of Hannah Ball, Hannah (Ball) Travers, Elizabeth (Ball) Cornegie, Esther (Ball) Chinn, Anne (Ball) Conway, Joseph Ball II and Mary (Ball) Washington Died July 11, 1711 in probably Epping Forrest, Lancaster County VA, USAmap Profile managers: Misty Wood private message [send private message], Mary Hammond private message [send private message], Richard Draper private message [send private message], Jillaine Smith private message [send private message], Bill Rowan private message [send private message], Larry Chesebro' private message [send private message], Jean Ball private message [send private message], Sue Fitzpatrick private message [send private message], Steve Turley private message [send private message], and John Drinkwater private message [send private message] Last profile change on 29 July 2014 10:58: Jillaine Smith answered a question about Joseph Ball [Thank Jillaine for this] This page has been accessed 2,115 times.

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Contents

[hide] 1 Disputed Origins 2 Biography 3 Last Will & Testament 4 Children 5 Slaves Associated with Joseph Ball Family 6 Sources 7 Acknowledgements Disputed Origins

Previous edits suggest he had been incorrectly attached to a certain set of parents. Does this call for a short summary of that dispute?

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.[1] Appearance in William Ball's 1680 will.

Biography

He 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]

"Thereis 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 the a) the woman he married and b) a widow is not explained by Hayne.] He made his residence in Epp[l]ing Forest, Lancaster Co., Virginia.

He served as Lieut. Colonel.[11]

He died between 25 June and 11 July 1711.

His widow married second Richard Hewes,[12].

Last Will & Testament

The last will and testament of Joseph Ball Sr is very long; its full text may be found in Hayne, 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, sugesting that their children together were born in England:[13]

Hannah, b abt 1683; m. before 1707 Raleigh Travers Elizabeth, b 168-; d. before 1711; m. before 1707 Rev. John Carnegie. Had one child, Joseph a minor in 1711. Esther, b 1685, d May 1751; m. bef 1703 Raleigh Chinn Anne, b 1686?; m. 1704 Col. Edwin Conway 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.[14] 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.[15]

Slaves Associated with Joseph Ball Family

As recorded in Joseph's 1711 will:

Murcah (woman, 1711) Tony (man, 1711) Dinah (woman, 1711) Jenny (girl, 1711) the negroes "now on the plantation" (1711) under the care of overseer John Hogan Tome (boy, 1711) Jo [formerly belonging to Jo Carnegie who dec'd 1711] Jack [formerly belonging to Jo Carnegie who dec'd 1711] Sources

↑ 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 ↑ French, p ?? ↑ 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 ↑ 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. ↑ Hayden, p 56 ↑ Gary Boyd Roberts and Julie Helen Otto, Ancestors of American Presidents, Santa Clarita, CA: Published in Cooperation with the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass. by C. Boyer, 3rd, 1995. Print. ↑ Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America, London: Burke's Peerage, 1981. Print. P. 15. ↑ Hayne, p 57-58 ↑ 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. ↑ Hayne, p 57 ↑ The Ball Family, Mount Vernon Association. ↑ Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society 2009, p 1 [check] ↑ Hayne, p 58 ↑ Untitled Family Group sheet for Joseph Ball ↑ Virginia Carmichael, Mary Ball Washington, Fredericksburg: Colonial Press (1967), pg.9. Accessed Jan 24 2014 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 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, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (1885), pp. 56 - 59.

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Father of:

Frances, Anne and Mary.

Joseph was the father of Mary Ball, wife of Augustine Washington, and mother of President George Washington. Therefore, Joseph is George Washington's maternal grandfather.

SOURCE: Married Well and Often, Marriages of the Northern Neck of VA, 1649 - 1800, Headley

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113366639

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John Ball (Richard , Colonel William , William, John II, John Paris, William, Robert) was born 1670 in Stafford County , Virginia, and died abt. 1722 in Stafford County, Virginia. He married Winnifred Williams abt.1694 in Stafford County, Virginia. She was born 1676 in Charles town, Charles County, Maryland.

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This Joseph (b. 1649) couldn't be the son of Richard (b. 1640) and Elizabeth Ball (b. 1646), but I don't know who he belongs to? Any help welcome!

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Joseph Ball (1649-1711) was born in England and came to Virginia sometime before his father's death, making his home at a plantation called Epping Forest. He served as a justice of the county court, a vestryman for his church parish, as a Burgess (in 1698, 1700, and 1702), and as a lieutenant colonel in the county militia. Ball was married twice. From his first marriage to Elizabeth Rogers (or Romney), who died by the early 1700's, he had five children: Anne Ball (later the wife of Colonel Edwin Conway), Elizabeth Ball (later the wife of the Reverend Joseph Carnegie),Esther or Easter Ball (later the wife of Rawleigh Chinn), Hannah Ball (later the wife of Rawleigh Travers, II, and afterwards the wife of Simon Pearson), and Joseph Ball (died 1760).

After the death of his first wife, Joseph Ball married Mary Johnson (died 1721), a widow who had two children from her previous marriage. Together they had one child, a daughter named Mary Ball (1708-1789). Joseph passed away, however, soon after when Mary Ball was only three years old.

Mary Johnson Ball was remarried the following year to a man named Richard Hewes, who left her a widow for the third time in 1713. Her daughter, Mary Ball, was completely orphaned by the age of 12 or 13 and was subsequently raised by a guardian named George Eskridge, a local lawyer, land speculator, and Burgess, whose plantation was called Sandy Point. In 1731, at the age of 23, she married Augustine Washington (1694-1743), a middle-aged widower with three children, who ranged in age from 13 to 9. Their first child, a little boy they named George Washington (1732-1799), was born early the following year.

Bibliography: Broun, Thomas L. "The Ball, Conway, Gaskins, McAdam and other kindred of William and Janetta Broun of Northern Neck, VA," William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine 20, 60-8.

Freeman, Douglas Southall. George Washington: A Biography, Volume I. New York: Scribner's, 1948. See particularly, 42-47 and 530-534.

Heck, Earl Leon Werley. Colonel William Ball of Virginia, the great-grandfather of Washington. London: S.M. Dutton, 1928.

Jones, Christine Adams. Queenstown: Early Port Town of Lancaster County, Virginia, 1692. Lancaster, Virginia: Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library, 1980.

Pierce, Elizabeth Combs. "Mary Johnson, second wife of Col. Joseph Ball," William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine 15, no. 2: 176-7.

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https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20085591.pdf

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References

• The Branch, Harris, Jarvis, and Chinn book: a family outline. Composed by members of these families, and brought together in this form by Benjamin H. Branch Jr. by Branch, Benjamin Harrison, 1919- page 258. <Archive.Org>