The Ball Family Lineage from their arrival from England to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1) Nathaniel (1618-1706) & Mary (Mousal) Ball
2) Nathaniel (1663–1725) & Mary (Brooks) Ball
3) Nathaniel (1692-1749) & Sarah (Baker) Ball
4) Ebenzer (1721-1790) & Sarah (Goodkin) Ball
5) Nathaniel (1751-1834) & Sarah (Nevins) Ball
6) John (1794-1884) & Mary (Webster) Ball
In 1997 John Miller Ball of Atlanta, Georgia and Josephine (Ball) Brokaw of Traverse City, Michigan finished years of compiling the Ball Family Lineage they entitled; A Brief History of the Ball Family; Our Family Line. It relates the family’s migration from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to New York to Michigan and beyond. Also included is a report of Deborah (Ball) Powers, John’s sister, who after the death of her husband, William Powers in 1829 of an oil cloth factory fire, she becomes the first self-made American millionairess by the mid-1800s.
John Ball (1794–1884) photo circa late-1870s or early-1880s.
Known to many in Grand Rapids, Michigan as the park and zoo guy, but his is a rich history in local development of both Grand Rapids and West Michigan as well as a pioneer in Portland, Oregon.
Autobiography of John Ball ©1925
Autobiography of John Ball was published in1925 both at Dean Hicks Publishing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the midwest and east coast distribution and at The Arthur H. Clark Company of Glendale, California for the west coast distribution.
Born to Wander, Autobiography of John Ball ©1994
Born to Wander, The Autobiography of John Ball was later redesigned and reissued during the 200th anniversary of his birth in November 1994.
