Fascinating video

How marble tombstones are made

Most interesting video showing the process of creating marble headstones.

Find a Grave

This is a good website where you can look for information about locating an ancestor's grave.  There are more than 53 million graves, often with pictures and headstone incriptions.  You can search by name, by location, or by cemetery.  Really good information here.
http://www.findagrave.com/

Thanksgiving 1894

"At Thanksgiving time 1894 all of the family that was living except Cora Pealer assembled with Pa & Ma Ballard for Thanksgiving dinner at their house on Washington Street Dunkirk, Ohio. After dinner we concluded to go to the photograpers and get our picture taken. This is a copy of that picture.

Lower row - from right to left: Father Ballard, Mother Ballard, Jonathan Ballard

Upper row - from right to left: Freelove Baughman, Emmeline Hammond, Francis Marion Ballard, Mary Alice Crist, Emily Marshall."

Francis Ballard, a gentleman of culture

FRANCIS BALLARD, son of Jonathan and Eleanor (Simmons) Ballard, b. November 11, 182O, town of Watertown, Jefferson Co., N. Y.;
Married on January 1, 1843, at Mt. Blanchard, Ohio by Godfrey Wolford, J.P. to Rosanna ELDER;
d. Dunkirk, 0., August 3,1903; buried in Dunkirk Cemetery.
Came with his parents, in 1835, from Mayville in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., to Orange Twp. in Hancock Co., Ohio; for several years employed as teacher during the winter season;
purchased on December 12, 1842, land in Orange Twp.;
in 1852 with his brother Fayette and others drove a herd of milch cows through from Missouri to California;
returned soon after by way of Panama and New York City to Ohio, and lived until 1850 in Orange Twp., re-moving to a new farm near Mt. Blanchard, and in 1863 to a farm near Dunkirk.
He was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church.
From a sketch read at his funeral by his son-in-law, Rev. A. M. Crist, "Francis was a typical pioneer - strong, steady, thoughtful, prudent, quick to respond to a call of need; slow to return an injury; a man of strong convictions, an insatiate desire for knowledge and a lifelong student--truly a gentleman of culture."

Civil War Records of Fredrick Ballard

A few years ago, before the prices increased, I sent for the Civil War records of Fredrick Ballard of Hancock County, Ohio. There was not much there except for his physical description...and how rare is that! When he enlisted, 5 September 1864, he was 18 years old with hazel eyes, dark hair, dark complexion, and was 5' 8" tall. He enlisted for a term of one year and was due $100.00.
He mustered out in Nashville, Tennessee on 14 June 1865. Having drawn $23.90 for clothing, he was due $66.66 2/3. That's what is handwritten! I wonder how they paid that 2/3 cent!
Fredrick was the 5th great-grandson of the first Ballards in America, William and Grace.

Genealogy Search Help

Genealogy Search Help for Google,

which helps you run targeted genealogical

Google searches

Get the Best Genealogy Searches for Google by Using Your Family Tree
This free genealogy site will help you use Google™ for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks" that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google to find ancestry information on the Internet.
Just complete the small family tree on the above link for an ancestor and this site will set up the best searches for you, based on what you enter. Tip: If you don't know an ancestor's parents, but know one of the ancestor's children, use the child's name for the First Name and Last Name below (and spouse, birth, and death) and then enter the ancestor as the Father or Mother. This gives more information for building a search.

Great new resource - free

If you go to the New York Times site, you can enter your search terms in the bar near the top of the page and select whether you want to search articles since 1981 or before 1981. Once you have your results, you can select the Advanced option to limit your search to specific dates. The stories are downloadable as PDF documents. (If you happen across articles that aren't in the free years, they're $4.95 each, or you can get a monthly pass for $7.95 that allows 100 story downloads.)
I used a couple of Ohio place names and found real gold...many surnames, too. Try it.

Ballard, Eastman, Reeve

An interesting note:

Israel Ballard was the great grandfather of George Eastman,

founder of Eastman Kodak Company

Another interesting item:

Joshua Ripley, through Israel's wife, Alice, is a direct ancestor of Christopher Reeve...as is anyone who is a descendant of Israel!

Origins of Ballards in America

This Ballard family began in America with William Ballard1 (1617-1689) John2, Sherebiah3, John4, Israel5, (1748-1810) to Israel6. This part of the family went into central New York in 1792 and remained there for many years into the 20th century. The Richland, Oswego Co., NY arm still owned land into the 1930’s.
William Ballard of Andover, MA arrived in America on the ship Mary and John which left England on 26 March 1634. By 1645 William owned land in Newbury, MA. He died 10 July 1689, the father of 10 children.
William’s great-great grandson Israel Ballard bought land in Plainfield, CT 17 June 1779. In the 1790 first U.S. census Israel and his family were enumerated still in Plainfield. On 15 February 1792 the Plainfield property was sold. The family removed to Whitestown, Oneida Co., NY. This area of almost solid woods lay nearly uninhabited. On 29 April 1795 Israel was elected an elder in the United Presbyterian Society of Whitestown. He died in 1810 still living in Whitestown.

Research comment

He who cares nothing about his ancestors will rarely achieve anything worthy of being remembered by his descendants. —author unknown

Sherebiah Ballard, grandson of William

Willington deeds document that Sherebiah was of Andover when he purchased 210 acres of Fenton's River 7 September 1749. On 8 February 1750/51, then of "Willington," he sold two pieces of land to John and Jonathan Ballard, not mentioning that they were his sons; on 2 January 1755 Jonathan, now back in Andover, sold his piece, on the "northwest corner of my... father Sherebiah's land" to John. Sherebiah sold 65 acres on 24 December 1759 to "Sherebiah Ballard Junr of sd Wellington" who the next day leased it back to his father and mother so long as either would live. On 28 November 1759, Willington Congregational Church records listed Sherebiah and Lydia Ballard among those in full communion. A number of other deeds were recorded. The picture, however, is complicated by the coming of age of his grandson, another Sherebiah, the son of John, born in 1745. On 14 April this third Sherebiah discharged Johathan Kingsbury (his stepfather) "my late gardeen," giving a receipt for the sum of 4 pounds. On 21 January 1768 "Sherebiah Ballard Jr. of Willington son to Mr. John Ballard late of Willington deceased" sold a piece of land to Timothy Pearl, a neighbor and frequent party to Ballard land transactions. As it was not Sherebiah, the son of John who was "Jr.," the eldest Sherebiah presumably had died. Unfortunately no probates are recorded for Sherebiah, Sr. or Lydia.

John William Ballard, son of William

He had a fulling mill with his brother Joseph. Was admitted to the South Church of Andover 7/18/1714. He was in Capt. Joseph Gardner's Company in King Philip's War, and was paid L2-14, 6/24/1676. He was a constable; took prominent part in arresting persons suspected of witchcraft in 1692. He inherited his father's homestead, except that part which was set off to his sister, Mrs. Blunt. His will, dated 11/30/1715 was proved 4/16/1716. Mentions wife Rebeckah; estate in Andover, and Billerica; to eldest son Jonathon land in Billerica; youngest son, Sherebiah, land in Andover; eldest daughter Rebecca; Daughters Ruth and Elizabeth unmarried. Two sons executors. Estate appraised:

• Land and buildings in Andover, L140
• in Billerica, L120
• horses and cattle, L64
• household stuff, L30
• tools, L10

Wife to be maintained by the sons.

William Ballard

William immigrated in 1634, a passenger on the "Mary and John," a wooden sailing ship that left Southampton, England March 24, 1633/34. He settled in Andover, Mass. around 1644, spending most of his life there. He served in King Philip's War. He brought up his family on a plantation in Andover where all of his children were born.

The Ballard Name

The ancient Anglo-Saxon culture which was once found in Britain is the soil from which the many generations of the Ballard family have grown. The name Ballard was given to a member of the family who was a person known for their lack of hair. (So the legend goes.)
As a point of interest, the name is derived from the Old English word ball-ard, which means a bald headed man. The family lived in Yorkshire and the first Ballards came to America in the early 1600's.