William Ballard
Among the farmers of New Jasper township whose influence, in a generation now past, lent stability to that community, there were few who left better memories at their passing than did the late William Ballard, who died at his home in that township in the fall of 1894 and whose daughter, Miss Luella Ballard, now a resident of the village of Jamestown, still owns the old home place of two hundred and twenty acres in New Jasper township.
William Ballard was a native son of Ohio and all his life was spent in this state. He was born on a pioneer farm in Adams county on March 23, 1811, son of the Rev. Lyman and Sarah (Hanover) Ballard, early settlers in that county, who later became residents of Greene county, where their last days were spent. The Rev. Lyman Ballard was a native of the state of Massachusetts, born in November, 1783. In the days of his young manhood he came to the then Territory of Ohio and located in Adams county, where he married Sarah Hanover and where he remained until 1822, in which year he came with his family up into Greene county and bought from William Frazer a tract of land in Ross township, about three miles north of the village of Jamestown, where he established his home and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in June, 1873. The Rev. Lyman Ballard is said to have been the first man in Ross township to own a wagon and four-horse team and when he used to go to mill, driving up to Clifton with his "grist," his neighbors would utilize this conveyance as a means of getting their "grist'' taken to mill, so that his wagon usually was well filled before he had gone far on his journey. As a preacher in the old Bethel church he for years exerted a wholesome influence in the community. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the second in order of birth, the others having been Joseph, Nathan, John, Elizabeth, Jackson and Martin. Jackson Ballard became the owner of the old homestead place in Ross township after his father's death.
William Ballard was but eleven years of age when his parents settled with their family in this county in 1822, and he grew to manhood on the home place in Ross township. He had begun his schooling in his native county of Adams and completed the same in the schools of Greene county; early became licensed to teach school and for some years spent his winters teaching in the local district schools. After his marriage in the spring of 1842 Mr. Ballard and his wife began housekeeping in a house adjoining that of the former's father in Ross township, but after awhile moved to another farm in that same neighborhood and there resided until 1856, when they moved to the farm in New Jasper township referred to in the opening paragraph of this memorial, where both spent the remainder of their lives. William Ballard was for many years director of schools in his home district.
On April 21, 1842, in Cedarville township, William Ballard was united in marriage to Margaret Cunningham, who was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, February 14. 1820, and who was but a child when her parents, James and Mary (Leach) Cunningham, came to Greene county with their family and settled in Cedarville township. James Cunningham and wife were the parents of five children, Mrs. Ballard having had two brothers. Nelson and John, and two sisters. Martha and Sarah. To William and Margaret (Cunningham) Ballard were born four children, namely: Rufus H., who died on September 14, 1914, and is buried in the cemetery at Jamestown; Aniel M., who died on September 22, 1874; Elizabeth, widow of S. F. Evans, and Luella, the latter of whom still retains the old home farm in New Jasper township, though now living at Jamestown, to which village she moved on March 10, 1914, and where she lives with her sister, Mrs. Evans. The mother of these children died on October 9, 1862, about six years after the family moved to the New Jasper township farm, and was buried in the cemetery at Jamestown. William Ballard survived her for many years, his death occurring on the old home farm on October 18, 1894, and his body also was laid in the burying ground at Jamestown. He was well past eighty-three years of age at the time of his death and more than seventy years of his life had been spent in Greene county, which he came to know as well as any man in the county. He had been twice married, on March 1, 1865, having married Anna Ellis, of Clinton county, a daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Oglesbee) Ellis. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. While Mr. Ballard never joined any church, he always aided church work with his means and influence.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918