John Ballard
1799 - 1861 or 1862
The following was written by the same cousin who wrote about John's wife Hannah Clarke.
I do not know who the author as, however.
John Ballard was born about 1799 and was raised in Tennessee. He married
Hannah Clarck in East Tennessee.
Afflicted with itchy feet, John moved frequently. Between 1825 & 1830 he moved his
family to Kentucky & probably settled near what is now Lancaster, in Garrard County.
About 1836 he moved his family to a place near Quincy, Adams County, Illinois.
In 1838 they moved to Van Buren County, Iowa and a year or so later moved on to Schuyler
County, Missouri.
About 1842 they moved to Appanoose County, Iowa and settled at Dodge
or Dodger Point, which it is believed was not far from Centerville.
[John Ballard may have been among the first settlers in Lucas County.]
I believe this can be verified by inspecting the Government Survey of
Lucas County supposedly shows John Ballard as living on
the east half of the northwest quarter of section 12, Township 73, Range 21,
known as English Township and also shows John Ballard as the first settler.
John Ballard & his son John, probably in late 1845 or early 1846, went to
Lucas County. There they put up a small shanty & broke out 10 acres of
land & planted it in corn. Then they returned to Appaloose County and in
August 1846 John moved his family back to Lucas County, where they
found the crop had gone to weeds. Believe this house was at a place
called Hickory Point.
John Ballard moved north to section One of English Township for a few
years then about 1858 moved to Decatur County for a while, then about
1859 moved to Southern Kansas where he died near Osawatomie in
1861 or 1862. Osawatomie is in Miami County, Kansas. Paola is the
county seat.
I am deeply indebted to Zane Jacobs for sharing this information with my family.
Last updated: August 2004