1650 - There is a rather long and detail history written by Mrs. Elizabeth Lewis Neale about the St. Mary's White Chapel in Lancaster County, Virginia.  Some of the names connected to this church include David Fox, Ralaigh Downman, John Washington of Westmoreland County, as well as a good deal of information on the Ball family. 

"The Old Bible was given by Rawleigh Downman, of Belle Isle, in 1838.  The  beautiful circular Communion railing remains as in olden days, but the brick aisles have been planked and carpeted, as has the chancel, and fitted up with modern furniture.  The old Communion table is still in the vestry room. It once stood in the chancel, and was covered with a green velvet cover with a gilt fringe, and in the center was the Ball coat-of-arms in bas-relief and done in gilt.  This was sold years ago to one of the Downmans, whose maternal ancestor was a Ball. "

"In the churchyard are a number of old tombs of massive marble, bearing dates in the sixteenth and seventeenth  centuries.  Nearly all of the oldes are inscribed with the name of Ball. The first is David Ball, seventh son of William Ball, Mary Ann Ball, daughter of Rev. John Betrand, Jesse Ball, Mary Ball, daughter of Edwin Conway, and James Ball, her husband; Fanny, daughter of Rawleigh Downman, of Lettuce, third wife of James Ball and daughter of Richard Lee, of Ditchley.

These names show that this church counted among her numbers names of old Virginia Aristocrates of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  Among the Churchmen of the eighteenth century we will mention, Chinn, Downman, Carter, Ball, Mitchell, Lee, Lewis, Ewell, McCarty, Towles, Chowning, Sneads, Pierce, Robinson and Chilton.  ...

In the corner of the churchyard ... Col. William Ball, who came to this county from England in 1650, settled at the mouth of Corrotoman River,  bringing his family. He died in 1669, leaving two sons and one daughter, Hannah, who married Daniel Fox.  William left eight sons.  Joseph left no male issue, but General George Washington is his grandson by his youngest daughter, Mary.  Mary Ball, grandmother of Washington, lies buried at "Epping Forest," five miles from the church, and a handsome oil picture of her adorns the walls of the court-room at Lancaster, county seat.  None of Col. William Ball's children are buried at the church, but his grandchildren and their descendants.  Joseph Ball married a Miss Ravenscroft, of England, and settled in London.  He was brother of Mary Ball, who was the mother of Washington.  He only daughter, Fannie married Raleigh Downman, of Morattico; Fannie, who married Col. James Ball, of Beaudley, and Mr. Raleigh Downman, of Belle Isle.  "   [Lewis pp. 308-312]

In the name of God, Amen, I, Hannah Ball, widow and relict of Coll. William Ball late of the County of Lancaster, do make and ordain this to be my last will and testament.

2. I give and bequeath to my loving daughter Hannah, one negro or Mulatto girl named ................, being increase of a negro woman named Bess given unto me by husband, Coll. William Ball.

3. I give and bequeath unto my grandson William Ball one negro woman named Bess.

4. My grandson James Ball.

5. My daughter Hannah Fox and Grandson William Ball executors.

I set my seal in the year of our Lord 1695-June 25.

1698 July to Aug - William Ball, as executor of Capt. Wm. Ball, deceased for a debt, files suit against the estate of Henry Bell and the executor Richard Bell(this sometimes spelled Ball).

Lancaster Co. Judgement is granted to Wm Ball of Richard Ball estate of Capt Wm Ball, deceased against ffran ffrerzel for 488 pounds of tobacco unless he shows reason at next court [Lancaster Co., VA probate records OB 4 p 44 as copied by Billie Jones on GenWEB archives ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/lancaster/bios/bell1.txt]

REGISTER OF ST. JAMES NORTHAN PARISH, GOOCHLAND COUNTY.
John Payne and Anne Chichester, Anne Ball, b. Feb. 16, 1769.

William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Papers, Vol.
1, No. 3. (Jan., 1893), pp. 156-157.
LANCASTER COUNTY RECORDS.

1712 -                                               Will of Rawleigh Downman

__________

Lancaster County, Virginia Court Records - 1671
     "Att a court helde for ye County of Lancaster Nov. ye 8th
Ano Dni 1671 at ye Cort house there
     Mr Will Ball Sen            Mr Bryan Stott
     Mr George Wale              Mr Robt Beckenham
     Mr Tho. Hayne               Mr Will Ball, Jun.
     Mr Robt Griggs              Mr Tho. Marshall
                  Mr Dan: Harrison
Itt manifestly appearinge to yis Cort severale of its members

Capt. William Ball and his wife Margaret Williamson had a daughter, Margaret Ball who married Rawleigh Downman. When Rawleigh Downman died Margaret became involved with Rawleigh Chinn. Its hard to tell from the timing but this may have been one of several affairs that Rawleigh Chinn had. Rawleigh's first marriage to Joseph Ball's daughter Esther collapsed and Rawleigh has three illegitimite children with Margaret Ball Downman, Esther's first cousin according to the researchers of the Ball Library. [Ball Library. 12/1/02}

1740- 1743 List of Vestrymen in St. Mary's Parish, before the union of the parishes, from 1739 to 1756, and of both parishes after the union. by David Ball. (minister)

William Bertrand, William Ball, Jr., Joseph Ball, Joseph Heale, Jos. Chinn, Martin Shearman, Raleigh Chinn, Richard Chichester, Jesse Ball, Robert Mitchell, Colonel Ball, Major Ball, (making five Balls in one vestry,) Joseph Carter, Thomas Chinn. In the year 1743, the following vestrymen from Christ Church met with the vestry of St. Mary's White Chapel,--viz.: Henry Carter, Henry Lawson, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Steptoe, Mr. Martin, Captain Tayloe, Colonel Conway, Thomas Lawson, John Steptoe, Mr. Pinkard. At this time six of each vestry are appointed to form a general vestry, and it is sometimes difficult to determine to which parish each one belongs. Hugh Bent, from Christ Church, James Ball, Jr., Dale Carter, Stephen Towles, George Payne, Merryman Payne, Richard Selden, Thomas Chinn, Solomon Ewell, John Fleet, William Dymer, Charles Carter, John Chinn, James Kiok, Thaddeus McCarty, Thomas Griffin, Thomas Lawson, Edwin Conway, William Montague, in place of Charles Carter, in 1776, Henry Towles, James Newby, William Sydnor, John Berryman, Colonel John Tayloe, James Brent, William Chewning, James Ball, Jr..

In 1786, Cyrus Griffin is appointed to attend the Episcopal Convention in Richmond, and James Ball to attend the examination of the Rev. Edward Jones at the court-house. For what purpose and of what character that examination was, is not certainly known, but it is believed to have been a kind of trial under a canon of Virginia. Thus ends the vestry-book. [Mead. "Old Church Records of Virginia." Vol. 1 -2. Vol 2 online by Walker, Ruth. "Old Church Records of Virginia." part 2. http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?ball::va::13769.html]

Ball Library coorespondence. Dorothy Helmut 12/01/02, email - mbwlibrary.rivnet.net.
Cukro, Diane, Virginia Surnames website. http://www.vanygenealogy.com/
Hayden, Rev. Horace Edwin. M. A. Virginia Genealogies - A Genealogy of the Glassell Familis of Scotland and Virginia, also the Families of Ball, Brown, Bryan, Conway, Daniel, Ewell, Lewis, Littlepage, Moncure, Peyton, Robinson, Scott, Taylor, Wallace, and others, of Virginia and Maryland. copyrighted 1885, Wilks-Barre, Penn'a, 1891
Jones, Audrey records of and coorespondence on Genforum. Sep. 22. 2001, #4598
Mc Coy, Claudius T. "Genealogical History of the Sturgeons of North America." 1926 F# 442833, P#153, )#00956 Source LDS-IGI
Meade, William. Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia, Volume II. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1857
Lewis, Mrs. Elizabeth. Colonial Churches in the Original Colony of Virginia - A Series of Sketches by Especially Qualified Writers.  Richmond Southern Churchman Co., 1908
Walker, Ruth. Old Church Records of Virginia as listed on Genforum http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?ball::va::13769.html , coorespondence of 11/27/02 email - rwalker@hawkpci.net
Wright, William Ball. Ball family records : genealogical memoirs of some Ball families of Great Britain, Ireland, and America. York: Printed for the author by the Yorkshire Print. Co., 1908, 315 pgs.

Cheryl's Family Index | email to Cheryl Grubb

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