If Mary Ann died in 1814, why would her husband, Moses Ball, Jr. write the following in his will. Moses' will was dated December 15, 1831.
"And I it is my further Will and desire that if my wife Molly [Mary] shall have the rent of the said land that I have divised to my son, Bennett Ball during her natural life for her support."
In the 1830 Hawkins County census, there was one child between the ages of 5 and 9 living in Moses Ball’s household. Besides Moses, who was 82 at the time, there was also a female listed who was between 70 and 79 years old. Because the early census does not list names other than the head of the household, I do not know who this female was. Could this have in fact been Mary Ann? Could the information about Mary Ann’s earlier death be incorrect? I believe it is highly likely that this was Mary Ann that was listed in the Census of 1830. Like many other "sources" found on the internet and sometimes in print, I believe Mary Ann's death was mixed up with another "Mary Ann" by some genealogist and every genealogist following took the mistaken information for the gospel. I have seen this over and over during my research of My Ball Family History and Genealogy.
