Edward Ball

Edward Ball (November 6, 1811 – November 22, 1872) was an American farmer and law enforcement officer who served two-term as a U.S. representative from Ohio from 1853 to 1857.

Biography Born in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Falls Church, Ball attended the village school. He moved to Ohio and located near Zanesville, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits.

Early career He served as deputy sheriff of Muskingum County in 1837 and 1838 and sheriff from 1839 to 1843. He served as member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849, and became editor of the Zanesville Courier in 1849.

Congress Ball was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Anti-Nebraska candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857). In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Thirty-fourth Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1856.

Later career After his tenure in Congress, Ball studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1860, and commenced practice in Zanesville. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1860, and as Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives in the Thirty-seventh Congress from 1861 to 1863.

He resumed the practice of law, and was again a member of the State house of representatives from 1868 to 1870.

Death He was accidentally killed by a railroad train near Zanesville, Ohio, on November 22, 1872.