Who Was John Ball?

Several weeks ago, I received a call from a lady in Anacortes wanting to know if I had any information on the Ball House. The reason she was asking was she thought she might be a descendant of the family who had built the house. This inquiry gave me an excuse to look into this interesting old house, that I have often heard referred to as the "Ghost house on the flats." Although I did not find even any sub stantial rumors about ghosts, what I did find was a very interesting family.

Marjeane, I hope this will help you in your search.

The Ball House can be seen to the north of Highway 20, east of the Swinomish slough bridge and east of the Whitney-Fidalgo Road, looking from a distance as if the next good gust of wind will knock it down (actually it has looked that way for the last 30 years that I know of). The large house was built by John Ball as a home for his family and was completed in 1903. That it is still standing is proof of how well many of these homes were built. Unfortunately, it is one of the very few survivors of an era, before electricity, when fire from kerosene lamps, fire places and wood stoves caused the destruction of so many of these ornate homes.

John was born in Harrison, Hamilton County, Ohio, April 1,1838. He learned carpentry from his father, Sam, who was born in England in 1788 as was his mother, Mary, who was born in 1803. Not long after Sam and Mary were married, they left England for Canada, after a brief stay they moved on to Ohio, in 1836, where they raised a family of nine and remained for the rest of their lives.

John left home at the age of 15, traveling first to SL Louis, Missouri where he worked for two years as a carpenter on the government custom house. In 1859, he headed for Pike's Peak. According to the Skagit and Snohomish County History , "In company with 40 other equally adventurous spirits, he negotiated for passage across the plains with an ox outfit, the terms of the contract being $40 each for transportation of luggage and provisions, the men to walk ; and the company on their part contracted to land them at a desired point and not turn back so long as even one of the party insisted on going forward. This contract they carried out, even to paying the passage for young Ball and another companion to California from Fort Laramie, when it was learned by returning prospectors that the Pike's Peak mining bubble had burst."

Reaching California in the fall of 1860, John went to work in the mines. Being a very energetic and conscientious young man, he went from miner, to foreman, to sole owner of a mine in three years. At this point in his life, he decided it was time to settle down and get married. Selling his mine holdings, he purchased the Butterfield ranch in Plumas County and began raising cattle for the mines.

He also began courting the lovely 16-year-old Eleanor Mary Massey. Eleanor's young life had been as interesting as his to this point. She had been born in England, Sept. 30, 1848 and had crossed not only the Atlantic, but the whole of the United States by the time she was six years old. John was as successful in his courtship as his other endeavors. He and Mary were married, Nov.15,1864 in Plumas County, Calif.

In May of 1873, they sold the ranch and with the oldest three of their four children, William M., Thomas A. and Globe E., came to the Washington Territory. They lived for a time in Seattle, building a house near where the court house now stands. They even spent a winter at Walla Walla, where John bought large herds of cattle, sheep and horses, which he transported back to Seattle, selling most for slaughter. He was, at this point, very discouraged with the railroad construction, which had not developed into the boom that he had expected.

He brought the rest of his herds north to the Swinomish Flats, where he purchased an interest in a ranch owned by his brother-in-law, M.D. Smith, and a Mr. McClellen. "This was the first introduction of horses on the Swinomish Flats," according to the Skagit and Snohomish County History .

In 1876, John purchased the interest in a claim from Sam McNutt. It was here that the last of their children, Puget E. was born.

Through more hard work at diking and farming, his holding grew to over 1,000 acres. He must have been very successful with his dikes, as indicated by the diary of E.A. Sisson: "Sunday, June 13, the bluest day on Swinomish flats. Whitney Island flooded also George Jensen, Fred Jennings, R.H. Ball, J. Peth, and in fact everything is under water but J. Ball and Callahan."

Other stories of the day all refer to a well-kept farm, stocked with high bred draft horses and driving horses. John apparently loved a good horse race and was one of the supporters of a race track near LaConner. He also worked very hard to promote the Skagit County Fair, which was then in Burlington.

From the pages of Skagit Memories the following poem about the old house, unfortunately the author is not credited.

"The salt winds sweep, as always 'round the walls, and sends its breezes seeking, searching through the empty rooms and halls. They once were full of warmth and cheer--no mansion now no refuge from the storms, no cheerful gathering of family kin whose hands a fireside no longer warms. A house can die like we, when human hearts no longer beat within."