William Ball Balls - Sources?

Can we add sources to this profile, as there appear to be some anomalies on this line - and it will help to get it correct.

Using the Sources given on the immigrant settler's profile: Colonel William Ball of Millenbeck (given below)

this profile doesn't fit in?

Born about 1615, William Ball emigrated to Virginia and became a prosperous landowner in Lancaster County, Virginia. He served as a justice, a colonel of the militia, and as a delegate to the House of Burgesses. He fathered four children, including
William Ball (1641-1694) who had nine children, including
William Ball (ca. 1674-1744) married Hannah Heale (d. ca. 1744) and they had 6 children, including
William Ball (ca. 1700-1741) married his cousin Margaret Ball (ca. 1702-1783), the daughter of his uncle Richard Ball (ca. 1675-1726) 17 February 1723/4. They had 6 children, including
William Ball (d. 1760), who had 2 children, including
Dr. William Ball (d. 1785).

I had been talking to Erica Howton about an observation I had made while source checking recently. below is a copy of the discussion...

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I was working on a section of the tree starting at [Susanna Bell Susanna(h) Ball/Bell (Pierson) nee Worthington], who was married to John Worthington.

There were some smart matches which gave her parents, spouse (john) and her siblings, and children after adding her siblings I got a bunch of tree matches and everything seemed to line up so I went ahead with the merging, this then came in full circle back to the mysterious [https://www.geni.com/people/Francis-Ball-of-Springfield/60000000036... Francis Ball of Springfield] who we have as a dead end.

What I found interesting while going through this was one set of matches was for the name ball and some of them for bell

With this in mind, I'm wondering if the surname Ball is incorrect and should have been Bell? I've stopped doing any further merging on this section until I can spend more time doing research but so far what I've discovered could open the doors a little in providing some answer's to solving this mystery. I've added sources for the smart match in the about section for Susanna(h) so we can go back over these, I'm currently at work and it's not an ideal place for me to focus on this right now, but I plan to spend some more time going over things later today when I get home and can focus and perform more research in this area.

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and then Erica's reply to the above was as follows...

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I like it, I think this is an idea worth pursuing. Also remember that Peirson as her surname is not necessarily confirmed either -- and that the Peirce / Perse / Pierce (etc) families are as confusing as the Balls. :) [Everyone claims ancestry from the illustrious Percy's of England, especially Henry "Hotspur" of Shakespearean fame.]

Spelling was quite fungible, as was pronunciation and accents. I wonder if there are certain regions of England where Balls sound like Bells and vice versa.

Bell is more associated with Scots ancestry, which wouldn't necessarily mean "directly" Scots, but of the Borders; the northern end of England where they overlapped [raided with] the Scottish borders. The counties are Northumberland and the ancient palantinate of Cumbria. BUT you can also suspect that by this urbanizing era of the early 1600s the "point of embarkation" may have been different from the actual family origins.

That said, The Great Migration Project has identified English origins for New England as overwhelmingly from East Anglia, where the Puritan revolution took fire. Northern England immigration is more associated with Virginia arrivers and Western counties & Wales with Rhode Island. Maine arrivers seem to have been more like the Virginia adventurers "and also" "they came to fish."

Scots at this early date would most likely be Cromwell's Prisoners of War; he shipped off 100 or so to the colonies in 1651.

You see how interesting a thought it is? Good one.

You'd want to try and understand as much as you can about Francis' life, times & associations (the FAN method). Class was very meaningful in this era, as is occupation, and religious affiliations. If he was a tradesman for instance it is less likely he originates from sheep farmers in the Shetlands.

I would open a discussion from the profile to keep track yourself -- it travels with the profile and is easier to find -- and also to draw in possibly interested members.

And do check the DNA projects, especially the Balls of New England project. You may be able to eliminate whole classes of possible origins just by identifying the known Y DNA haplogroup. As example, the I group is "rare in Wales."

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Hope this helps anyone that is interested in getting this sorted out.

Sharon Doubell Unknown Gooch is not a known child of William Ball of Millenbeck, please disconnect from parents.

William Ball's ancestry is not known at this point, but his descent is illustrious:

Capt. William Ball of Millenbeck
  → Colonel Joseph Ball, of "Epping Forest"
his brother → Mary (Ball) Washington
his daughter → George Washington, 1st President of the USA
her son

Thanks guys :-)

I have found this text in a publication by Martha W. McCartney, "Jamestown People to 1800: Landowners, Public Officials, Minorities and Native Leaders". Please advise if you would like for me to include this as a source before I put it on.

William Ball I: By 1662 had William Ball I, a merchant and planter, began serving as a Lancaster County Justice. He went on to become high sheriff. In 1663, he patented 300 acres and established a family seat at what became known as Balls Point, adding another became 240 acres in 1667. Because a Dutch invasion was expected in 1667 and high ranking officials decided to have fortifications built on the Corotoman River and at other strategically important locations, local military officers convened at Ball’s house. As time went on, Ball invested in land in New Kent and Old Rappahannock counties, and he enhanced the size of his home tract. He went on to become a Lancaster County burgess and attended the assembly sessions held in 1670-1676 and 1677. In November 1671 Colonel Ball received permission to keep a ferry on the Corotoman River, from William Wroughton’s property to John Carter’s landing. A year later, Ball and his son, William II, served together as justices of the monthly court. In 1677 William Ball I, who was again high sheriff, was ordered to collect taxes that could be used to cover the cost of quelling Bacon’s Rebellion. When Colonel Ball made his will on October 5, 1680, he bequeathed life rights in his 540-acre plantation to his wife, Hannah I, during her widowhood but named his son, Captain William Ball II, as reversionary heir to the property. He divided his 1600 acres at the head of the Rappahannock River between his sons, Joseph and William II, tho whole he also gave unequal shares of his merchandise and debts. He left each of his sons, who were to serve as co-executors, some servants and slaves. However, he left only £5 to his daughter, Hannah II, the wife of Captain Da­vid Fox, stating that it was more than she deserved. William Ball l's will was proved on November 10, 1680. The widowed Han­nah Ball I continued to manage the property she had inherited and in 1688 and 1689 was paid by the county for keeping a ferry. In 1691 part of her land was laid out as a town site. When the widowed Hannah Ball I made her will in December 1694, she treated her daughter, Hannah Fox, as generously as she treated her surviving son, Joseph, and the heirs of her deceased son, William II. In Oc­tober 1695 she enhanced her bequests by means of a codicil, leaving personal prop­erty to son Joseph as well as to her grand­sons William III, James, and Richard, the children of her deceased son, William II. In October 1695 Mrs. Ball's will and codicil were proved by son Joseph, daughter Han­nah Fox, and grandson William Ball III. A portion of her will (probably the codicil) was nuncupative and was proved by a black servant named Bess, who lived with the tes­tator. Hannah Ball I's son Joseph seized the household furnishings that had been left to his sister, Hannah II, which prompted her husband, Captain David Fox, to take legal action (NUG 1:491; 11:20, 163, 283; PB 5:300; LEO 38, 42, 45; Lancaster County Wills 1675- 1689:70-71; 1690-1709:52-54; Order Book 1656-1666:175, 370; 1666-1680:147, 209, 226, 288,375,480; 1686-1696:93,114, 170,324,338, 350; Northumberland County Order Book 1652- 1665:303, 321; 1666-1678:174; Westmoreland County Deeds, Patents &c. 1665-1677:347a- 350; HEN 11:256-257).

Joseph Ball: In 1680 William Ball I named his son Joseph as a co-executor and left him part of his merchandise, slaves, and other personal property, and half of a large tract on the Rappahannock River in Richmond County. In 1684 Joseph Ball became a Lan­caster County justice, and in May 1685 he commenced serving as high sheriff. In 1687 he compiled a list of the tithables living in White Chapel Parish and in 1698 was still serving as county justice. When Hannah I, Joseph Ball's mother, made her will in 1694, she named him as one of her principal heirs. He and his sister, Hannah Fox, and nephew William Ball III saw that the decedent's will and codicil were proved. Major Joseph Ball served as a burgess for Lancaster County in 1698 and by 1700 held the rank of colonel in the militia. He served another term in the as­sembly, attending the sessions held in 1700- 1702 (Lancaster County Wills 1675-1689:70-71; Wills 1690-1709:52-54; Inventories & Wills 1650-1705:90; Order Book 1680-1687: 160, 202; 1687-1696:21, 35, 179, 324; 1696-1702:37, 75, 128; LEO 58, 60).

William Ball II: In 1680 Captain William Ball II, the son of Colonel William Ball I, inherited his late father's 540-acre planta­tion in Lancaster County, half of his 1,600 acres on the Rappahannock River, and a sub­stantial portion of his late father's merchan­dise and debts. Captain Ball, who served as a county justice during the 1670s, I 680s, and early 1690s and became high sheriff in 1683, represented Lancaster County in the assembly sessions that were held in 1680- 1682, 1685-1686, 1688, 169 1-1692, and 1693. He also appeared in court from time to time, serving as an attorney. In June 1694 he began serving another term as Lancaster County's high sheriff. However, he made his will in September 1694, indicating that he was very ill, and by November was dead. Ball left his wife, Margaret, life-rights in his mill and the 277-acre plantation on which they were living at the time of his death. She also had the right to use the rest of his sub­stantial landholdings for her own benefit. Ball named as reversionary heirs his sons, William III, Richard, Joseph, George, James, David, Stretchley, and Samuel, and his daughter, Margaret. He designated as ex­ecutors his sons Richard and William III and three friends, one of whom was brother-in­law Captain David Fox (LEO 38, 42, 45, 48- 50, 53; Lancaster County Wills 1675-1689:70- 71; Wills 1690-1709:46-47; Inventories & Wills 1650-1705:90; Order Book 1666-1680:437, 480; 1680-1687:84, 116; 1686-1696: 179, 294, 298; Northumberland County Order Book 1666- 1678: 142,221).