Article: Simmons and Related Families Histories

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February 20, 2012

by Wayne Simmons, February, 2011

Why the Quest?

When I was growing up in the 1950's my grandmother told my siblings and I that we were related to George Washington through our Ball family line. I, for one, did not give that claim much credence and later in my life just considered that claim as "family folklore". As my research into the history of my ancestors matured in scope, depth and content some of my siblings would remind me of the claims of our grandmother about being related to George Washington and encourage me to dig deeper into that claim. Over the last five years I have found much information about our Ball family and have tried a few times to find that potential link to George Washington. However, each time I could not link our Ball family line to George Washington.

Getting Started

About one year ago I received an email from a Gail Watson who found my SimmonsGenealogy website and noted the Ball family connections that I had at that time. She then sent me an email explaining her frustration in researching her Ball family connection and also explained that her grandmother claimed a George Washington connection through their Ball ancestors. Her Ball family research frustrations mirrored mine quite closely and she included a couple of Ball family names that could be matched with my Ball family line. However, no further detail was found as a result of her communication with me and I set her email aside. Now, one year later, I reopened that email and read it again but this time I noticed something that I did not notice a year earlier. That is, Jacob Ball was a Captain during the Revolutionary War and that George Augustus Ball is a grandson of Jacob Ball. Upon further quick research via the Internet I found some possibilities that Jacob Ball could be a descendant of the Ball family that is connected to George Washington through his mother Mary Ball. So, with renewed interest in proving or disproving my grandmother's claim, I have begun extensive research to find that Ball family connection to George Washington.

What's Next?

During this research I will document my progress and findings on this web page and other web pages connected, in the hopes that these findings and progress reports will encourage other interested parties to join in the research and share their findings with me. At times the information documented here may seem disjointed because of missing pieces of information, misinterpreted information or wrong assumptions made. As the missing pieces are found, information is corrected and assumptions are proven or disproven the overall view should become clear to all of us.

Date	Research Effort	Results
20 Feb 2011	Some summary notes to begin describing the tracking of my ancestors back in time beginning with Elizabeth A. Ball who is my great grandmother. She has also been known as Susan Ball within her immediate family. Other Ball family members have also used names other than their given name at birth. The photo of Elizabeth here is a tin-type photo in fair condition. This photo was discovered in a photo album that my grandmother left to my mother. Most of my research was completed prior to creating this webpage therefore, the dates on the left represent the dates that I reviewed the data and documented the research results here.	Where you see hyper linked text, such as Elizabeth A. Ball to the left, you can click on the link to view details about that individual. Also, when you see a small photo, such as the one on the left, you can view a larger copy by clicking on the photo. The banner at the top of this webpage was created from photos of George Washington found on a history website dedicated to George Washington. Most of the links below will take you to another page within this website, so one can return to this page by clicking on the "back" button of your browser.
20 Feb 2011	So, where do I look to go back beyond Elizabeth A. Ball? Had to start with her then find her parents and siblings. First I searched some old files and photos that my mother left behind. These old files and photos helped piece together Elizabeth's immediate family. The photos were interesting but created more questions than answers.	One document found helped me immensely was a typed summary of the Ball family that began to help me fill in some missing pieces. To see both pages click on this image. However, the information about Wm Ball being born 1821 was a little confusing. I am not sure of the source of this document as the information contained within suggests that it was created about 1965. Since my grandmother and grandfather were in their late 80's, I believe this document was created by either my mother or one of her sisters trying to document information that my grandmother and grandfather could remember before they passed on.
20 Feb 2011	The photos that were found (to date) of the Ball Family have been partially restored, placed into an album and linked to the identified individuals. As more photos are identified as part of the Ball Family Line I will include them in this album. You may view this album via the link on the right.	Ball Family Line Photo Album.
21 Feb 2011	Elizabeth's father is Wm N. Ball born abt 1830 in Canada. Wm died as a young man at the age of 40 years while residing in Lowell, Michigan in the year of 1870. From the documents and photos found in my family's records and from the US Census records I was able to find the families of all of Wm Ball's known children. Wm's wife's name is Mary whose surname is not known. Mary was born in Canada about 1832 and died in Lowell, Michigan about 1902. For details about their family see the Wm and Mary Ball link on the right. For a quick view of Elizabeth's ancestors see link on the right.	Wm and Mary Ball Ancestors of Elizabeth Ball
22 Feb 2011	About a year ago I did not have information about Wm N. Ball's parents or most of his siblings. Through the review of some old records of my grandmother Anna (Borgwaldt) Beckett I found information about Nathan P. Ball born 1822 and Jesse P. Ball born 1810. Once I determined that the three were brothers I again turned to the census records. Family information found about Wm and Mary was confirmed when I located a Canadian Census of 1861 and also indicated his parents as George Ball born about 1785 in Canada and Ann Ball born about 1788 in Canada.	1861 Canadian Census George and Ann Ball
22 Feb 2011	Once I knew the parents of Wm Ball, I began to search for the family of George and Ann Ball. I found much information via the website of GenCircles.com. The Ball family listed there was created by Rae Ball. See GenCircles link on the right. I also found Canadian Census of 1851 for George and Ann Ball. See the Canadian Census links on the right for details.	George Ball - GenCircles.com 1851 Canadian Census 1851 Canadian Agriculture Census
01 Jul 2011	George Augustus Ball b. 1785 in Niagara, , Ontario, Canada to Peter Mann Ball b. 1755 in Schoharie, Schoharie, New York, USA and Elizabeth Showers b. 1765 in Pennsylvania, USA. Peter and Elizabeth Ball are the great grandparents of Elizabeth Ball (my grandmother) and Elizabeth Showers Ball is probably the source of my grandmother's given name. It is interesting to note here that Peter and Elizabeth were both born in the USA not Canada. Peter was first married to Gertrude Becker b. 1755 probably in the USA they bore a son Jacob b. 1777 in Berne, Albany, New York, USA. Why did Peter and Gertrude separate? So the question must be asked: why and when did Peter and Elizabeth Ball move to Canada? Since George A. Ball was born at Niagara, Canada it would appear that Niagara was the point of entry into Canada for Peter and Elizabeth. Also, since George was born in Canada another question is: did Peter and Elizabeth meet and marry in Canada or did they marry in New York and move to Canada?	Peter Mann Ball b. 1755
01 Jul 2011	Peter's parents are Jacob Ball b. 1731 in Schoharie, Schoharie, New York, USA and Maria Elizabeth Mann b. 1737 in Schoharie, Schoharie, New York, USA and they were married 1754 in Schoharie, Schoharie, New York, USA. There is much written about Jacob Ball and is quite interesting to note the reason he and Maria took their family to Niagara, Canada about the year 1783. Since some of their children were old enough to be on their own then why did they follow Jacob and Maria to Canada? Most questions can be answered with the articles linked on the right here.	Peter Mann Ball b. 1755
	. . . . . to be continued . . . . .	[top of page]

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