Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 2 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 8

On the pages of the pioneer history of Wisconsin appears the name of Edward Hyde Ball, who came to the state in the period of its early development. He was born May 29, 1825, in Ogden, Monroe county, New York, where his parents, Joseph and Esther Ball, had settled, removing to the Empire state from Lee, Berkshire county. Massachusetts. In his youthful days Edward Hyde Ball acquired a good public school education and also attended a select school for one year. He received his initial business training in the store of Church & Ball at Spencerport, New York, then one of the largest mercantile establishments in the western part of that state. After seven years' connection with that firm, during which period he had gained comprehensive knowledge of business methods, he removed to the west with the thought of engaging in business on his own account.

It was in 1846 that Mr. Ball took up his abode in East Troy, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he opened a store, and for sixteen years was busy in the conduct of that enterprise. He was located in the midst of a frontier district where settlers were few and where their finances depended upon the growth of crops. It was necessary to extend credit to many, but he carefully watched all points of his business and so directed his affairs that he soon won a substantial measure of success as the years passed on. He enjoyed an unassailable reputation for straightforward dealing and reliability and as the years progressed he secured for himself a comfortable competence. He also built up a most enviable reputation as a citizen and his advice and counsel were sought in many connections having to do with public welfare. In 1862 he disposed of his mercantile interests in that town and removed to Milwaukee, where he broadened the scope of his activity by becoming connected with a wholesale grocery house as a member of the firm of Dutcher, Ball & Goodrich. This association was maintained until 1869 when Mr. Dutcher withdrew, the business being then carried on by the firm of Ball & Goodrich until the death of Mr. Ball, which occurred in Milwaukee, September 7, 1878. His business career in Milwaukee was characterized by the success which had hitherto attended him and was marked by unswerving honesty and uprightness, which made him a model worthy of lasting remembrance and emulation.

On the 26th of August, 1847, Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Cobb, a daughter of Dr. John Cobb, of Ogden, Monroe county, New York, and they became the parents of four daughters and a son. Mrs. Ball passed away March 30, 1897.

When but eleven years of age Mr. Ball became a member of the Plymouth Presbyterian church and later was one of the organizers of the Immanuel Presbyterian church, of which he was made an elder, and ho also took an active part in the Sunday school, teaching the young men's Bible class. No more fitting tribute to his memory can be paid than by quoting from the Rev. G. P. Nichols, pastor and friend of Mr. Ball, who on the occasion of his funeral said: "A thoroughly good, wholly useful, truly admirable man of God has ascended to his crown. There are few who live from beginning to end who will yield so much pure wheat, so little worthless chaff. I never heard him utter a foolish word. I never saw him do a selfish act. His integrity was without a flaw, his honor without a spot. He had a strong conscience himself, without anything of intolerance or imperiousness towards others. The young men of Milwaukee sustain irreparable loss today. They lose a model to imitate, a friend to sympathize, a counsellor to guide and encourage. His memory remains to cherish, his spirit remains to animate, his image remains to comfort, his work remains to be taken up and carried forward."