Mr. John Ball was the first settler in Floyd County ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with the USGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The following history was found in the History of Floyd Co., Iowa: Ulster Township was organized in the year 1858. The name Ulster was the name of a county in New York State from which many of the first settlers of this township emigrated. Mr. John Ball was the first settler in this township, coming from Lake County, Indiana in December, 1853. Next to follow Mr. Ball were two brothers by the name of Daniel and Peter Beaver. They came in about January, 1854. In the spring of 1854, the first log cabins were constructed within the limits of what is now known as Ulster Township. These gentlemen were the first to leave the endearments of home in other lands, and penetrate into the wilds of what we now know as beautiful Flood Creek. The original occupants and owners had just vacated. Vestiges of their camping grounds were plainly visible, and their trails easily followed. The wild deer roamed at will unmolested by the chase of the white man, and the grandeur of nature was untouched by the hand of art. The first sermons preached in the township were in the house of John Ball in the spring of 1854. According to a conversation with a well-known pioneer of that neighborhood: "Well do I know with what pertinacity Elder Ball clung to the good old Methodist hour, as he called it, of 11 o'clock for worship and how we used to walk a distance of two miles or more to meeting in the hot summer time and while we partook of the spiritual food which he dispensed to us in a sermon of an hour's length, how the natural man longed for that other food which was so ravenously devoured on arriving at home." In 1856 John Ball and others applied for formation of the first school district in Ulster Township. He was the contractor and builder of the twenty-two feet square schoolhouse. The house was completed and paid for Nov. 10, 1858, the cost being $399. It was good work, as the condition of the house today testifies. John Ball was elected Treasurer of Ulster Township and Township Trustee in the first elections. In 1857, the first post office was established in John Ball's house, he was appointed Postmaster. He resigned his position in 1875, and the office was abandoned. John Ball was born in Goshen, Orange County, New York, July 12, 1817. At the age of fourteen, Mr. Ball moved with is parents to New Jersey, near Newark. He learned the carpenter's trade with his father and at the age of sixteen went to Newark to work. In August, 1835, in company with his father, moved to Michigan City, Indiana, where he remained one year, when he married Nancy Glover, who was born in Putnam County, Indiana, January 4, 1816. After their marriage they moved to Lake County, Indiana. Here they remained engaged in farming principally till the year 1853, when they emigrated to Iowa and located in Ulster Township, Floyd County, being the first settlers of the township. Here they still reside, alone as they started, having raised a family of six children, who have grown up and are now out in the world tasting of its bitter and sweet, as they did forty years ago. In the year 1855, Mr. Ball was elected County Judge and has many years filled its office of Justice of the Peace. Mr. Ball was elected on the first Board of Supervisors in 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Ball are both members of the Free Methodist Church. Mr. Ball has held the license of local preacher ever since coming into the state. In the years 1861-62 under the presiding eldership of John Gould, Mr. Ball traveled as a supply on the Forest City Circuit. Their family consisting of three sons and three daughters, are all enjoying the religion of the gospel. Mr. Ball has certainly been a marked character and a moving power upon the frontier. During the war, though well up in years, he was determined to enlist and help Uncle Sam do his threshing, but was refused the job on account of his age. In spite of this rebuff, he joined the Quartermaster's Department and remained for a time, when failing health caused him to return. Besides being a man of daring spirit, he is one of public spirit, and encourages every enterprise tending to the good of humanity, and has furnished as valuable assistance in compiling this work. Mr. Ball settled on the northeast quarter of Section 10 consisting of 113 acres at present, formerly owned 480. A sidenote: The 5 Ball Bros. of the Ball Masonry Jar Co. are 4C1R of John Ball. Contributed by: KindredKeepsakes, P.O. Box 41552, Eugene, Oregon 97404-0369 Joanne Rabun