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     James Ball was born circa 1676 in Lancaster County, Virginia.¹

James was named as an heir in both wills of his grandmother, Hannah Ball, on 5 Dec 1694 and 25 June 1695.² James Ball married Elizabeth Hawson on 15 June 1699 at in Essex Co., England; James and Elizabeth had two children: Anne, born 1702; and Eliza, born about 1700, both in Lancaster Co. James also had a second wife, Mary Bertrand, who he married in Lancaster Co.¹

James died on 22 January 1704/5 in Lancaster County, Virginia.¹

     Elizabeth Hawson was born on 16 February 1685/86 at in Essex Co., England.¹ She married James Ball, son of Joseph Matthaus Ball and Elizabeth Julia Romney, on 15 June 1699 at in Essex Co., England; James and Elizabeth had two children: Anne, born 1702; and Eliza, born about 1700, both in Lancaster Co. James also had a second wife, Mary Bertrand, who he married in Lancaster Co.¹

     Caleb Ball was born circa 1678 in Essex County, England.¹

     William Ball was born circa 1679 in Essex County, England.¹

William was named as an heir in both wills of his grandmother, Hannah Ball, on 5 Dec 1694 and 25 June 1695. He was named as an executor in the second will.²

     Henry Ball was born circa 1680 in Essex County, England.¹

     Mary Ball was born circa 1708 at Lively, Lancaster County, Virginia.^1,2,3

Mary Ball Washington (b. approximately 1707 – d. 1789) is primarily known as the mother of George Washington. Limited information about Mary and her personal life has survived, although the historical record shows that she shared a complex and oftentimes strained relationship with her son. Mary has garnered a type of “mythos” over time, venerated as “The Mother of Washington” by groups in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and vilified by some historians in more recent years. Despite her many mythologies, Mary, as George Washington's sole surviving parent, was an undeniably influential figure in the life of the first president.

Mary was born between 1707 and 1709 at Epping Forest, the Tidewater Virginia home of her father, Joseph Ball, and her mother, Mary Johnson.1 Mary’s father died when she was an infant and although her mother remarried, she also died by the time Mary was twelve. Mary became the legal ward of her uncle, Colonel George Eskeridge, the Burgess of Westmoreland.2 In 1731, Eskeridge introduced Mary to Augustine Washington, his recently widowed brother-in-law. The pair married shortly afterwards and moved to the Washington family home at Pope’s Creek, Virginia.3

George Washington, their firstborn son, was born on February 22, 1732, and was most likely named for Colonel Eskeridge. In 1738 the Washingtons moved to Ferry Farm, an estate situated on the Rappahannock River across from Fredericksburg, Virginia. Here, Mary gave birth to five more children: Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred, who died in infancy. Augustine Washington died in April 1743, leaving Mary in charge of her family and Ferry Farm. She remained single for the rest of her life, and carried Ferry Farm through periods of significant economic depression.4

The most commonly repeated story about Mary Washington details her refusal to allow George to join the Royal Navy in 1746, despite the encouragement of Lord Fairfax and George’s older half-brother Lawrence. Mary came to this conclusion after writing to her brother Joseph Ball, who lived in London. Joseph argued that life in the Navy would be laborious and unprofitable for George, as “a planter that has three or four hundred acres of land and three or four slaves, if he be industrious, may live more comfortably.”5 Washington, resigned to his mother’s decision, pursued a career as a land surveyor instead.

In 1771 Mary moved into a house next door to the Fredericksburg home of her daughter Betty, and her husband, Fielding Lewis. Despite the fact that George purchased the home for his mother, Mary frequently complained in both public and private that she lacked resources and regularly asked her son for money.6 Mary was an avid gardener, and popular legend claims that she frequently spent time in prayer on her favorite “high-perched rock” in the garden.7

The most uncomfortable moment in George and Mary’s relationship came in 1781 when Mary requested a paid pension from the Virginia House of Delegates, claiming that she was unable to support herself. Virginia Speaker of the House Benjamin Harrison quelled the potentially embarrassing situation for Washington, and Washington responded with a detailed letter in which he defended his continued care for his mother: “Before, I left Virginia, I answered all her calls for money; and since that period, have directed my Steward to do the same . . . she has not a child that would not divide the last sixpence to relieve her from real stress.”8

In 1787 George wrote his mother a long letter addressing her continued requests for financial support. He urged her to move in with “one of her children,” writing, “It is, I am convinced, the only means by which you can be happy.”9 She refused, and continued to live alone in her house in Fredericksburg until her death. In April 1789, with Mary on her deathbed, Washington visited his mother for what he knew would be the last time. The visit, to which he referred as his “last Act of personal duty” to her, took place at the beginning of his trip from Mount Vernon to assume the presidency in New York.10

Mary died of breast cancer in Fredericksburg on August 25, 1789.11 George wrote of his mother’s death in a letter to his sister, which opens: “Awful, and affecting as the death of a Parent is, there is consolation in knowing that Heaven has spread ours to an age, beyond which few attain.”12 While the letter also reveals George’s continued frustration at his mother’s consistent requests for financial support, high-ranking members of the newly formed government in New York entered a five week period of official mourning, and Washington himself donned a black badge for five months following Mary’s death.13 However, Washington did not lay a gravestone for his mother, and one was not placed on the site until 1833, when the then-President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, spoke at the dedication ceremony.14

A localized movement to erect a mon.⁴

Mary married Augustine Washington on 6 March 1730/31 probably in "Epping Forest", Lancaster County, Virginia.³ Mary Ball died on 25 August 1789 at Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, Virginia.^1,2,3

     Frances Ball was born in 1681 in Lancaster County, Virginia.^1,2 She married John Carter on 21 November 1698 at St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster County, Virginia.^1,2

Frances died on 3 September 1699 in Lancaster County, Virginia. Her funeral service stated that "Francis the loving dear Wife of John Carter and Dau. of Mr. Joseph Ball and Elizabeth his Wife Departed this Life at 5 mins to 8 a clock in the Morning of ye 3d day of Sept 1699 three hours after she was delivd of a Son in the 18th year of her life. And was buried on the 5h day at St Marys White Chapell attended by an affectionate and sorrowing Husband and a large concorse of Relatives and friends.Joseph Ball Carter followed his mother to the Grave on the 1st Day of July 1700 of a flux and was burd at So. Marys on ye 2d.[Prayer Book ofCaptain Thomas Carter of Barford, Lancaster County, VA, US GenwebArchives, Virginia].¹

     John Carter was born on 6 May 1674 in Lancaster County, Virginia. He was the son of Capt. Thomas Carter and Katherine Skipwith Dale Carter (per Blanche Keating Collie, family researcher).² He married Frances Ball, daughter of Joseph Matthaus Ball and Elizabeth Julia Romney, on 21 November 1698 at St. Mary's White Chapel, Lancaster County, Virginia.^1,3

John died on 19 February 1790 in Virginia at age 115.²

     Hannah Ball was born in 1683 at Lancaster County, Virginia.^1,2,3

Hannah married Rawleigh Travers before 11 February 1707 in Lancaster County, Virginia, Hannah and Rawleigh had three children: Rawleigh; Elizabeth; and Sarah Travers.. Hannah also had a second husband Simon Pearson..^1,4

Hannah was named as an heir in the will of father, Joseph Matthaus Ball, on 25 June 1711 in St Mary's White Chapel Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia. The will acknowledges a Deed of Gift to Hannah, her sisters Anne and Esther, and her brother Joseph made on 11 February 1707 and recorded in Lancaster County. Hannah is also in full for her share of the estate 4,000 pounds of "Tobbo & Caske".⁵

Hannah died after June 1711 in Lancaster County, Virginia. Hannah Ball registerd her Will, which was filed June 25, 1695 and bond required in 1712 so she apparently died between these dates and after she was listed in her father's will in June 1711.The description below is about the Ball family coat of arms on this document. Hannah Ball: Will, Lancaster, June 25th, 1695, and Richard and David Ball, bond, Lancaster, 1712, apparently the same arms. the seals of the two last are perfectly preserved, and bear a bend between two lions rampant holding a globe in the dexter paw. That on Mrs. Ball's will is somewhat defaced, but shows the bend between what appears to be lions. Her crest, perfectly preserved, is a lion rampant with dexter paw extended (probably holding a globe). This coat differs somewhat from the well known emblazoning of the Ball arms, described by Hayden (Va. Genealogies) and others. [William and Mary CollegeQuarterly Historical Papers, Vol. 1, No. 3. (Jan., 1893), pp.167-171.].¹