John Ball (November 12, 1794 – February 5, 1884) was a settler, educator, lawyer and member of the

Michigan State Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ...

Early life

Ball was born at Tenny Hill,

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

Grafton County, New Hampshire Grafton County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,118. Its county seat is North Haverhill, a village within the town of Haverhill. Until 1972, the county courthouse and other offices ...

. He had a

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...

education that he got from short times at winter with a local clergyman when his father would let him leave his tough labors at the farm. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1820, having started there as a student when he was 21.Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.'' New York City: Oxford University Press. 2007, p. 525 He studied law two years at

Lansingburgh, New York Lansingburgh was a village in the north end of Troy. It was first laid out in lots and incorporated in 1771 by Abraham Jacob Lansing, who had purchased the land in 1763. In 1900, Lansingburgh became part of the City of Troy. Demographics Lansi ...

and then went to

Darien, Georgia Darien () is a city in and the county seat of McIntosh County, Georgia, United States. It lies on Georgia's coast at the mouth of the Altamaha River, approximately south of Savannah, and is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statist ...

where he was shipwrecked and taught school for the winter of 1822–23 to earn his passage back to New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1824. Ball's sister Deborah married William Powers who set up an oil cloth factory in New York. When William Powers died Deborah continued to run the factory and hired Ball as foreman who at that point left his law practice.

Oregon

As a member of

Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (January 29, 1802 – August 31, 1856) was an American inventor and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts who contributed greatly to its ice industry. Due to his inventions, Boston could harvest and ship ice internati ...

's first expedition, in 1832 he traveled to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

. While overwintering at

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the ...

from 1832 to 1833, he was employed by

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver fro ...

to teach the children of the fort. The Chief Factor told the New Englander that "you will have the reputation of teaching the first school in Oregon", making him the first white teacher of Oregon.Hussey, John A. ''Champoeg: Place of Transition, A Disputed History.'' Portland: Oregon Historical Society. 1967, pp. 64-66 In the spring of 1833 McLoughlin tried to convince the American to continue running the school, but Ball desired to begin practicing agriculture. McLoughlin gave Ball farming equipment, potatoes, corn, 25 bushels of

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. Ball and a friend departed in March to the

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

area and temporarily resided with retired HBC employee Jean Baptiste Depatie McKay. With help from his white neighbors and a "wild Indian" he planted, raised and harvested a

crop. This made him the first American to farm on the

French Prairie French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. It was named for some of the earliest settlers of that part of the Oregon Country, Fr ...

, several French-Canadians having already begun farming operations some years prior. By September he described being tired of living a "primitive life" and interacting with the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group, people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Va ...

people. To afford passage back to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, Ball sold his wheat crop to McLoughlin to travel aboard a HBC vessel, the Dryad. He returned via the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

and

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

in 1833–34.

Later life

Despite returning to his hometown of Lansingburgh, Ball settled at

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

in 1837. He opened a law office and partnered with, among others, the

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

, formerly Chief Justice of Michigan and Solomon Lewis Withey, late United States District Judge. Ball represented eastern capitalists in locating lands during the "

wildcat banking Wildcat banking was the issuance of paper currency in the United States by poorly capitalized state-chartered banks. These wildcat banks existed alongside more stable state banks during the Free Banking Era from 1836 to 1865, when the country ha ...

" era. In 1842 he was appointed by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

John Barry to select 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) of the 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of land granted to Michigan by Congress for

internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canal ...

. These were mainly selected about Grand Rapids and were mostly taken up with internal improvement warrants, and as these warrants could be bought for about forty cents on the dollar, it resulted in a speedy settlement of the Grand River Valley. Ball was a strong promoter of Grand Rapids. He was interested in schools, geology,

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

s and all local enterprises; he provided the first written account of the geology of Oregon. Ball was a key figure in creating Michigan's public school system. In politics he was a conservative Democrat and served in the

. He donated the land in

that is now

John Ball Park John Ball Zoological Garden is an urban park located on the west side of the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. The John Ball Zoo is situated on the ravines and bluffs along the west edge of the park. The zoo houses more than 2,400 in ...

and John Ball Zoo.Lewis Norma and Jay de Vries
''Legendary Locals of Grand Rapids, Michigan.''
Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. 2012, p. 16

References

External links

John BALL, Grand Rapids City, pp. 944-950 (Chapman 1881)Born to Wander; The Autobiography of John BallFind-a-grave for John Ball and Mary T. Webster Ball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, John 1794 births 1884 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Politicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan Oregon pioneers People of the Michigan Territory Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives People from Hebron, New Hampshire 19th-century American politicians