John Ball

John Ball (November 12, 1794 – February 5, 1884) was a settler, educator, lawyer and member of the Michigan State Legislature.

Early life Ball was born at Tenny Hill, Hebron, Grafton County, New Hampshire. He had a common school education that he got from short times at winter with a local clergyman when his father would let him leave his tough labors at the farm. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1820, having started there as a student when he was 21. He studied law two years at Lansingburgh, New York and then went to Darien, Georgia where he was shipwrecked and taught school for the winter of 1822–23 to earn his passage back to New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1824.

Ball's sister Deborah married William Powers who set up an oil cloth factory in New York. When William Powers died Deborah continued to run the factory and hired Ball as foreman who at that point left his law practice. While overwintering at Fort Vancouver from 1832 to 1833, he was employed by John McLoughlin to teach the children of the fort. In the spring of 1833 McLoughlin tried to convince the American to continue running the school, but Ball desired to begin practicing agriculture. By September he described being tired of living a "primitive life" and interacting with the Kalapuya people.