Collection is open for research.
Bulk of typescript copies and later correspondence about Ball and his papers gift or gifts of Eva Emery Dye in the 1930s or 1940s (Lib. Acc. 8297); original items likely acquired in the early or mid-20th century. Microfilm was made of loaned originals from the Grand Rapids Public Library in 1965.
Excerpts of Ball's autobiography were published in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 1920. The autobiography was also later published by Ball's daughters in 1925 as "Born to Wander: Autobiography of John Ball, 1794-1884," and republished with a new introduction and index in 1994.
John Ball was born in 1794 in Grafton County, New Hampshire. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1820, and moved to New York, where he taught school and studied law. In 1832, he accompanied Nathaniel Wyeth's overland expedition to Oregon. At Fort Vancouver, John McLoughlin hired Ball to teach Métis (people of French Canadian and Native ancestry) pupils. In the spring of 1833, he moved south to French Prairie, where he planted potatoes and wheat with another member of the Wyeth expedition. However, displeased with his life in Oregon, he traded his crop for passage on a ship, and after sailing to San Francisco, California, and Hawaii, made his way to Norfolk, Virginia. Ball practiced law in Virginia for two years before moving to Michigan, where he speculated in land, practiced law, and advocated for public education in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He married Mary Thompson Webster in 1849; the couple had five children. Ball died in 1884.
Sources: "John Ball (1794-1884)," by David Peterson del Mar, Oregon Encyclopedia,
Originals of documents on microfilm are held at the Grand Rapids History Center, Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ball's February 24, 1833, letter to Amos Eaton is described in Overland passages: a guide to overland documents in the Oregon Historical Society, entry 13; and Platte River road narratives, entry 15.
John Ball papers, Mss 195, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Additional materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to John Ball are in the Nathaniel J. Wyeth collection, Mss 1198.
The collection consists of papers of and about John Ball, particularly relating to his journey to Oregon with Nathaniel J. Wyeth's expedition and his observations during that journey. Except for two items, the contents are either typescript copies or microfilm of the originals. The two original items are: a February 24, 1833, letter from Ball to Amos Eaton, describing the meteorological and geological observations Ball had made on his journey; and a copy of an article by Ball about the geography and geology of the Northwest, published in the American Journal of Science and Arts.
Typescript copies of Ball's papers in this collection include additional correspondence and meteorological notes that Ball made during his time with Nathaniel J. Wyeth's expedition and at Fort Vancouver, and lectures that Ball delivered about his meteorological and geological observations of the western United States. Correspondents in the collection include Ball's family, Amos Eaton, Hall J. Kelley, and Benjamin Silliman. The microfilm in this collection consists of the originals for most of these materials. The microfilm also contains additional correspondence and documents preceding Ball's journey westward; Ball's 1874 autobiography; and an article about the geology of the Cascade Mountains.
The collection also contains a folder of the correspondence of Ball's daughters, Lucy Ball and Kate W. Ball Powers, with Eva Emery Dye, George H. Himes, Frederick G. Young, and others about Ball and his papers.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.