BALLARD.
Ballard was one of the first names of the county in the
order of time. As early as 1738, Thomas Ballard obtained
a patent for three hundred and twenty acres near the foot of
Piney Mountain. His descendants became numerous, all
having large families, and occupying farms in the stretch of
country between Piney Mountain and Brown's Cove.
Thomas died in 1781, leaving six sons and three daughters,
Thomas, William, John, David, Bland, Samuel, Ann, the
wife of Gabriel Maupin, Frances, and Susan, the wife of
William Pettit. The second Thomas died in 1804. His
children were John, James, Ann, the wife of a Bruce, Mary,
the wife of a Davis, Lucy, the wife of Joseph Harvey, Elizabeth,
the wife of Frost Snow, and Martha, the wife of Thomas
Pettit. John married, it is believed, Elizabeth, daughter of
Roger Thompson, and died in 1829, leaving seven sons and
one daughter, Edward, James, David, John, Nicholas, William,
Wilson, and Elizabeth, the wife of Pleasant Jarman.
James, brother of John, married Ann, daughter of David
Rodes, and died in 1853. His children were Garland,
Thomas, David, Susan, the wife of Thomas L. Shelton,
Selina, the wife of Thomas Bohannon, Judith, the wife of
Nimrod Day, Frances, the wife of Porter Cleveland, Sophia,
the wife of Hudson Oaks, and Mary, the wife of William
Thompson. William, son of the first Thomas, married a
daughter of William Jarman, and lived below Mechum's
Depot; and his son John P., after occupying a position with
Valentine, Fry & Co. in Charlottesville, removed to Richmond,
where he founded the Ballard House, formerly one of
the most popular hotels of that city. Bland married
Frances, daughter of John Shiflett, and died in 1809. His
family consisted of five sons and ten daughters. He donated
the ground on which the old Ivy Creek Methodist Church was
built.
