Overview
Primarily manuscript legal documents of Josiah Ball of Milford, Massachusetts.
Dates
- Creation: 1732-1857
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
.5 linear feet (1 box)Manuscript legal documents including deeds, receipts, contracts, plot plan maps, and a mortgage, all related to the Ball family, concerning property in and around Mendon and Milford, Massachusetts. Primarily the papers of Josiah Ball (1742-1835), who is often referred to in these documents as Josiah Ball Jr., his father was Josiah Ball Sr. (1712/13-1791). Also includes a few personal papers such as Josiah Ball's autograph manuscript record of births and deaths in his family and a few family letters.
Biographical / Historical
Josiah Ball (1742-1835) was a farmer born at Mendon, Worcester County, Massachusetts in 1742. He was the son of Josiah Ball (1712/13-1791) and Rachel Corbett Ball (1717-1757). He married Sarah Palmer (1744-1791) and after her death married Sarah Tilton in 1799. He died on March 11, 1835 at Milford, Massachusetts at the age of 92.
Some of the Ball family genealogy pertinent to these documents are:
- Joseph Ball (1674-1730); married Elizabeth Parkhurst (1681-)
- ___Joseph Ball (1702-1781)
- ___Abigail Ball (1705-)
- ___Peter Ball (1707-1754)
- ___Elizabeth Ball (1710-)
- ___David Ball (1716/17-)
- ___Patience Ball (1718-)
- ___Jonas Ball (1729/30-)
- ___Isaac Ball (1712/13-1713) twin
- ___Josiah Ball Sr. (1712/13-1791) twin; married Rachel Corbett (1717-1757)
- ______Levina Ball
- ______Rachel Ball (1746-)
- ______Mary Ball (1748/49-); married Jonathan Jones in 1767
- ______Lazarus Ball (1751-1827)
- ______Elijah Ball (1743-); married Joanna French:
- _________Lucretia Ball (1773-1777)
- _________Fordyce Ball (1775-1848)
- _________Lucinda Ball (1777-)
- _________Elijah Ball (1778-)
- _________Joanna Ball (1781-1815)
- ______married Prudence Rice:
- _________Hyder Ally Ball (1787-)
- _________Nancy Ball (1789-)
- _________Charlotte Ball (1791-1800)
- _________Polly Ball (1793-)
- _________Josiah Ball (1796-1832)
- ______Josiah Ball Jr. (1742-1835); married Sarah Palmer (1744-1791)
- _________Rachel Ball Desper (1771-1834)
- _________Asenath Ball Carter (1772-1834)
- _________Sarah Ball Homes (1775-1791)
- _________Hannah Ball (1781-1818)
- _________Zenas Ball (1778-1861); married Mary Sumner
- ____________Abner Sumner Ball (1807-1885)
- _________Abner Ball (1784-1805)
- ______married Elizabeth Tilton:
- _________Mary Sumner Ball (1813-)
- _________Lorenzo Ball (1815-1893)
- _________Sarah Palmer Ball (1817-1846)
- _________Homer Tilton Ball (1819-)
- _________Elizabeth Ann Ball (1821-1832)
- _________William Eustice Ball (1823-1850)
- _________Josiah Ball (1825-)
- _________Zenas Edwin Ball (1827-1903)
- _________Ellen Maria Ball (1830-1833)
- _________Francis Marion Ball (1832-)
- _________Horatio Nelson Ball (1837-1859)
[Source: The New England Ball Project: http://www.newenglandballproject.com ]
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Legal documents
- II. Other papers
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Gift of Charles H. Taylor; received: 1928 March 27.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Ball, Josiah, 1742-1835. Josiah Ball family papers, 1732-1857: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02504
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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