Born to Wander: Autobiography of John Ball, 1794-1884

by Kate Ball Powers

Book by Ball Powers, Kate, Ball Hopkins, Flora, Ball, Lucy

164 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1994

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Ball, born November 12; 1794 in New Hampshire, died February 3, 1884, graduated Dartmouth College in 1820, study law & traveled, was a teacher in the 1st school opened in Oregon in 1832/33, came to Grand Rapids in Nov 1836 looking for development land. G R wasn’t even a village yet, 2 years away with only 600 individuals. Married Mary T Webster (formerly from New Hampshire, came toG R to teach) at the age of 55 and was married for 35 years (5 children). Very interesting to read about him, Grand Rapids and all the places he traveled which was rustic as the years was in early 1800’s, (example he went to Hawaii) and he wrote about a lot of cities he visited in his travels. He left 40 acres to the city and we get to enjoy that as we visit the John Ball Zoo! He and his wife is buried in the Fulton Street Cemetery.

[Ms. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, detail-filled autobiography by one of Grand Rapids, MI pioneers and philanthropists. The language is understandably a bit archaic, since Ball died in 1884, and some of the information is a bit plodding. It was great source material for my middle-grade biography, JOHN BALL, available in March 2015.