Eleventh Generation

1656. Edward BALL^{366,367,368,369} was born between 1640 and 1644.
He first appears in the Branford, CT records in 1665. He moved to Newark in 2nd half of 1667 or soon afterwards. No record has been found which stated Edward's age. He served on a grand jury in Feb 1709/10. At that time the maximum age for jury service was 70, suggesting he was born no earlier than 1640. He was the defendant in a law suit in Branford in 1665, hence probably at least 21, indicating he was born no later than 1644. This estimation of Edward's age was given by John R. Burnet in 1850.
He signed a will on 31 Aug 1696.³⁷⁰
Will dated 31 Aug 1696, will proved 20 Sep 1696.
He died after 1696 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
Suppositions are the nearest approach that can be made to the origin of the Ball family. There have been several theories expressed, but we are sure only that Balls have lived in England for eight or nine hundred years, perhaps longer, and that they were particularly numerous in the Midlandshires of England. They have been supposed by some to be of Welsh or Norman extraction; others describe them as "Teutons, fired with Aryan blood, rough and ready, eager for conquest; it may be pirates and invaders, triumphant over natives of our mother island, and
assuming that might give them right to lands and flocks of conquered tribes."
The most romantic and interesting explanation, and probably the most plausible, is that "the name had been handed down from the Romans and the family had been transplanted to England through the Roman invasion" When Caesar conquered Briton, the desperately wounded were left behind in the hurried return to Rome. Among these, it is thought, was a certain Johan Bal (Jan Bale), who was nursed back to health by an Anglic family and who married their daughter.
After the Roman legions left the island, society was for a long time in constant flux. About the tenth century Angles, Jutes, Lanes, Saxons, and Normans were there, contending, destroying, and causing so much general confusion that accurate history of the period is impossible.

The first Ball in New Jersey was Edward. Edward Ball was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England about 1640. His early life was spent in the English colony of Barbados with his father. His life there gave him suitable training for the pioneering life he would encounter in the New World. Edward Ball was about twenty-five years old in May of 1667 when he traveled by ship from Boston to the Passaic River under the guidance of Captain Robert Treat and settled there with his wife, Abigail Blatchley, a three-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. His name appears among the first settlers of Branford, Connecticut in 1665. Edward Ball was probably a farmer by profession. During the winter months, he was probably a lawyer. He owned a house on Broad street in Newark and owned much land outside of the Newark settlement. He appeared in three court cases in Branford, twice being sued - one for running a wagon over a pig. In 1665 Ed. Frisbie complained of him about a swine, but Ball won the trial. In 1669 he branded a horse at Branford.

Edward Ball, the subject of this sketch, was at Branford, Conneticut 30 Oct 1666 on which day the heads of families, designing to remove to Newark, NJ, signed an agreement, the most noticeable article of which was not to admit as freemen any but church members. In 1667 he was at Newark, NJ and was assessed in the first list of taxables. On 1 Jan 1767 he first appears in public life as messenger of the town Courts. In Mar 1678 he was one of the Surveyors appointed to run a boundary line of an Indian purchase. In 1683 he was appointed on a Committee to settle certain differences between the settlers and the Lords Proprietors and was continued on this very important committee, from year to year, for several years while all his associates were changed. About this time he was appointed Attorney to prosecute offenders against the town ordinances and in 1693 he received the appointment of High Sheriff of the County.

Edward Ball was one of the most important men in the Newark settlement. He held a number of offices including surveyor of Highways, 1674-1678; town attorney, 1679-1686; constable, 1683-1689; overseer of the poor, 1692; high sheriff of Essex County, 1693; and grand juror, 1709-1710.

Edward Ball, who was born about 1640, came to this country from Wales in the year 1664 and located at Branford, Connecticut, where he married Abigail, daughter of Thomas Blachley. On October 25th of the following year, in company with twenty-five persons, he settled on the site of the present prosperous city of Newark, New Jersey, where he remained, and where some of his descendants are still honored and useful citizens. Others live in different parts of New Jersey and the United States. He was a man of influence and prominence, and occupied positions of trust and responsibility among his fellows. He was high-sheriff of Essex County, New Jersey, in 1692 and 1693, and filled many minor offices. His last appearance in public life was as a member of the grand jury of Essex County in Feb 1709-10. He was living in Jun 1724, being then at an advanced age.

According to the family history of Dorothy Vanderveer Des Brisay James,
Edward Ball was assigned as his home lot six acres between Broad and Washington streets, the sight of, or near to, Park street Newark, NJ, probably died there. Dates of death on Edward and Abigail Ball unknown. The last record of him alive is 1724; age 81 or 82 years.

No record has been found which stated Edward's age. Edward might have been the s/o William BALL who was in New Haven by 1643 and who died there in 1648 but no records have been found to suggest he had, or didn't have, children. The notorious Gustave Anjou, perpetrator of many fraudulent genealogies, gave an Irish ancestry to Edward however, the record which links Edward to Ireland appears to be a fake created by Anjou. Besides their charted 7 children, there may have been others judging from the large gaps between births. All the children, with the possible exception of their first, were probably born in Newark.

The Congregational Church, which Edward and his fellow settlers from Connecticut founded, became afterward a Presbyterian church and is now the First Presbyterian Church at Newark - "Old First Church" on the east side of Broad Street. It is spacious, beautiful and beautifully cared for; a gracious welcoming oasis in a noisy commercial area of a large city, proud of its heritage, ministering to the needs of present day Newark residents. Nearly two centuries after the beginnings of this church in Newark, the keeper of the clock in its tower was Archibald Ball, Edward's great-great-great grandson.
Edward BALL and Abigail BLATCHLEY were married about 1664.

1657. Abigail BLATCHLEY³⁷¹ was born about 1648 in Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut. She died about 1725 in New Jersey.
Abigail Ball returned to Branford to settle her mother's affairs and to pass on her share of her mother's estate to her brother, Aaron Blatchley... See Town Clerk's record; 31 May 1698 will of Samuel Rose names cousins Hannah Brant, Sarah Morris, Abigail Ball, and Phebie Day. From Branford Deeds Col 2 p 78 Abigail Ball of Newark Receipted to brother Blatchly of Guilford for her portion from estate of her mother Susanna Blachly. In deed on p. 96 Aaron Blachly called himself lately of Branford, now of Guilford.

Children were:

812	i.	Caleb BALL Sr.
	ii.	Abigail BALL was born about 1664. Married David Harrison.
	iii.	Joseph BALL died in 1711. He was born born 1673. Married first Hannah Harrison, second Elizabeth ?.
	iv.	Lydia BALL was born in 1677. She died in 1742. Married Joseph Peck.
	v.	Moses BALL was born in 1685. He died in 1747. Married Mary Tichenor.
	vi.	Thomas BALL was born in 1687. He died in 1744. Married Sarah Davis.