According to the Ball Family Lineage Chart found in this collection, one of the first Balls to arrive in America was Alling Ball of England. He settled in Connecticut around 1635 and by 1687 his grandson, Thomas, was born in Newark, New Jersey. In 1720 Thomas Ball is found farming in Hanover Township, Morris County, New Jersey. By 1816, the land had passed onto John, who then sold 37 acres of this property to his son, John Ball (Jr.) The indenture reads, "Beginning at the southwest corner of the whole tract in the road leading from Booneton Iron Works to [said] John Ball's thence (1) along said road North eighty six degrees and thirty minutes East Twelve chains and twenty links to a corner on the East side of the bridge over the brook that comes out of the miry swamp and runs through the land herein conveyed...". Today, this property is located in the Mountain Lakes section of Parsippany, the next town down the road from Boonton.
Henry was born in 1824 to John Ball (Jr.) and Nancy Badgley Ball in Hanover. He died in 1906 at the age of eighty-two. As a boy he was educated at Syms Private Academy in Morristown, and as an adult he was known as a progressive farmer and a Democrat. At the time of his death he was a Director at the Boonton National Bank. He was married to Mary E. Minton and they had seven children: John Minton, J. Johnson, Mary (Mollie), Edward E., Emily, Harry Minton and Julia. As both parents came from prominent Morris and Essex County families, they had many relatives and cousins in the area. Their daughters married into the Cook and Day families while one son married into the Hopping family of neighboring Hanover. In addition, they were related to the Howells, Fairs, Halseys and Kitchels.
The legal documents, property records, diaries, correspondence, photographic material and newspaper clippings of this collection date from the 19th century into the first half of the 20th century. The most prominent family names found in these papers include: Ball, Minton, Day, Cook and Howell. Of particular interest in this collection are the three diaries of John Minton Ball, the eldest son of Henry. He writes of working on the farm, visiting the Philadelphia World Fair of 1876 and the pain he felt a month before his early death at the age of 23.
The eighteen folders of this collection are in chronological order. Three undated folders were placed at the beginning of the box.
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This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History Center archives access policy. These records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission.
Be aware that some of the loose pages in this collection are fragile and brittle. They may be photocopied, but researchers are advised to handle and photocopy them with care. Pages that have been sleeved in plastic may not be removed from their protective enclosures.
The Ball Family Papers were donated to the Morristown and Morris Township Library by J. Burkett of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey.
Finding Aid to the Ball Family Papers, 1810-1950.
Processed, described and encoded in September 2012.