Richard Amos Ball (30 November 1845 – 22 December 1925) was a

British Methodist Episcopal Church The British Methodist Episcopal Church (BMEC) is a Protestant church in Canada that has its roots in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) of the United States. History The AMEC had been formed in 1816 when a number of black congregations ...

(BMEC) minister in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Ball was born in St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, the son of a fugitive slave who had made use of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

to come to this community. His father was a lay preacher in the congregation that later built the

British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel The British Methodist Episcopal (BME) Church, Salem Chapel was founded in 1820 Church pamphlet by African-American freedom seekers in St. Catharines, Ontario. It is located at 92 Geneva St., in the heart of Old St. Catharines. The church is a val ...

in St. Catharines. Richard later became a lay minister in the congregation and was ordained as a Deacon of the British Methodist Episcopal Church in 1892. Part of Ball's historical significance comes from his association with the St. Catharines church and its famous parishioner,

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

. Rev. Richard Amos Ball, was the founder and leader of the famed Ball Family Jubilee Singers that traveled extensively across Canada & the US. Rev. R. A. Ball wrote Harriet Tubmans obituary for Canadian press. His son Rev. Richard Randolph Ball ministered in the AME church; notably Hartford, CT & Rochester,NY. Rev R. R. Ball was the presiding minister at the memorial for Booker T Washington at the Zion AME Church, CT.

References

*
''Richard Amos Ball - Ancestry Records''
1845 births 1925 deaths Canadian Methodist ministers {{Canada-reli-bio-stub