My grand father, James Norman Ball, never knew his father, James Ball, as he deserted him and his mother when he was very young.
Photos, documents, letters and books from his parent were given to James when he was 16, but they were lost when Aunt Irene moved out of her house. This comes from notes she left me about the family history.
James Ball was originally from Maccesfield, Cheshire, England. He married Margaretha Kohlus of Mitwitz, Kingdom of Bavaria on January 25, 1890 at St. John's Evanglical Lutheran Church, College Park, Long Island, NY by Pastor August Ebendick. Witnesses were Henry and Mary Gissell.
Margertha Kohlus had a passport dated at Coburg, Bavaria in 1883 and 1884. There was also a photo album dated 1876 and 1877. The photographers marks on her school photos was in Schweinfurt, a larger town near Coburg.
James Norman was born at College Park, Long Island, NY on November 29, 1890. He was baptized at John's Evanglical Lutheran Church, College Park, Long Island, NY by Pastor August Ebendick on December 15, 1890. He was presented for baptism by Norman de Mauriax and his parents. Both the marriage and baptismal certificates were written in German.
James Ball made known his desire to become a naturalized citizen of the US in Passaic County, NJ on March 18, 1892. Among the papers James Norman received was a letter from George Ball in Patterson, NJ. James wrote to him at a later date, but never received a reply.
When James Norman Ball was about 3, Margaretha had a stroke. She went to live with friends or cousins in Goshen, NY, while James Norman lived with friends in Patterson. He visited his mother in the summer. She died in 1899 or 1902. After she died, James Norman lived in an orphanage in Patterson from 1901 until 1905, when he went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Edward Spear. They had a daughter Catherine who married Joseph Sipp.
1910 Census
George Ball of Patterson, New Jersey, widower living with his brother-in-law "John Hill." George Ball immigrated to America in 1880.
1910 Census
Peterson Ward 11, Passaic, New Jersey,"James Norman Ball" b. about 1891 in NY, lodger, age 19, single, Stenographer, contracting Civil Engineer.
1900 Census
Paterson City, Passaic, New Jersey Orphan Asylum; "Norman Ball"; age 12 b. "March 1890"
Grandpa Spear had a photographic shop where Norman, as he was called, worked. When he finished high school, he went to business school and took stenographic and bookkeeping courses. James served as a sargeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War I. He moved to Miami, FL and Havana, Cuba, before settling in Jacksonville, FL.
He married Irene Elizabeth O'Hagan on June 21, 1914.
He died in Bay Pines Veterans Hospital in Tampa, FL on May 22, 1940, and is buried in Bay Pines National Cemetery.
They had 3 children:
William "Bill" Edward Ball b. Oct. 10, 1921, Jacksonville, FL d. Aug. 7, 1997, Fernandina Beach, FL.
Married Matsue Tsuji b. April 3, 1923, Tokyo, Japan d. January 3, 1989, Fernandina Beach, FL
3 daughters: Irene Matsue O'Connor, Mary Tama and Rachel Kiku Zahn.
Enlisted in U.S. Marines and fought at Iwo Jima, later enlisted in U. S. Army on Sept. 11, 1946. Retired from the Army in the 1962 to Fernandina Beach, FL, where he worked for Container Corp. until he retired.
Irene O'Connor (me) lives outside of Chicago with her husband, Pat. They have 4 sons: Patrick b. 1971, lives in south Florida; Dan b. 1980, Shay b. 1982 and Ruairi b. 1986 live in Chicago. Shay has a daughter, Kaya, born in 2002. We also have another "son," Wataru Nishida, from Japan who lived with us for over 10 years. Wataru came to study English and home-stayed with us. He graduated from Fenwick High School and from Dominican University. He now lives in Japan.
Rachel lives near Chicago. Rachel has a son, Bobby b. 1981 married to Lisa. They live near Chicago and have 2 daughters. Mary has no children and lives in Hawaii.
Irene Marguerite Ball b. June 23, 1925, Jacksonville, FL d. Fernandina Beach, FL, March 1, 2001, never married. She is buried with her mother and other family members in the O'Hagan plot at Bosque Bello Cemetary in Fernandina Beach, FL.
James Thomas Ball b. 1928, d. April 1, 1967, buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Tampa. He was married to Lorraine Wetherford of Tampa, FL, and they had 3 daughters, twins Jane (Watts) Gardiner, MT, and Marilyn (Farber), Lynnwood, WA, Janet Irene (Stone), Sarasota, FL, and a son, James Thomas Ball, Jr., Newberry, SC,
