The Ballard/Bruce Connection

For someone who doesn't understand or follow family tree/family history, each person has FOUR major family lines to follow ---which expand from there. My four family names are: my mother's mother and father, and my father's mother and father. SO, my four lines are: BRUCE, BALLARD, WITT, and BANKS. I have done quite a bit of research on the Bruce side (due to available family notes and info). Recently, through a newly found cousin, I connected more info on the Ballard side. Both the Bruce's and Ballard's settled in Virginia. This past weekend --l entered lots and lots of info on my family tree program (Reunion) on the computer. In this quest, I had a big and wonderful surprise. Here's what happened..

BRUCE History
-My mother was Edith Marguerite Ballard (1900-1991).-My grandparents (Mom's parents) were Ida Elizabeth Bruce and James Franklin Ballard. Ida was born in 1874 and died in 1904.
-My great grandparents (Ida's parents) were Daniel Hoge Bruce and Martha Matilda Carr. Daniel was born in 1846 and died in 1915.
- My great-great grandparents (Daniel's parents) were Joshua Henderson Bruce and Margaret Anderson Hoge. Joshua was born in 1825 and died in 1904. -My 3 great grandparents (Joshua's parents) were James Bruce and Elizabeth Justice. James was born in 1802 and died in 1876.
-My 4 great grandparents (James's parents) were Rev. Joshua Bruce and Sarah Hearn. Rev. Joshua was born in 1778 and died in 1865.
-My 5 great grandparents (Rev. Joshua's parents) were William George Bruce and Annie Nancy Ballard. William was born in 1752 and died in 1813.

NOW----do you see the name of my 5 great grandmother?????? Her name was Annie Nancy BALLARD. Now--look at the top name: Edith Marguerite BALLARD (my mother). I thought there may be a connection between these two Ballard's and guess what????? I found it--while researching this past weekend. Now--I don't know how many of you enjoy doing Family History, but finding a connection like this is totally awesome to a person like me working on Genealogy. To connect two of your four family lines is amazing!!!!! Here's how the Ballards and Bruces connect together.

BALLARD History
-My grandfather (mother's father) was James Franklin Ballard. James was born on in 1861 and died in 1936.
-My great grandparents (James' parents) were William Alexander Ballard and Adeline Frances Doss. (He later married Martha Susan Martin). William Alexander was born in 1831 and died in 1903.
-My great great grandparents (William Alexander's parents) were Samuel Goolsby Ballard and Nancy Clements. Samuel was born in 1808 and died in 1875.
-My 3 great grandparents (Samuel's parents) were John Ballard and Nancy Goolsby. John was born in 1772 and died in 1850.
-My 4 great grandparents (John's parents) were Bland William Ballard and Frances Shiflett. (Francis was Bland's 2nd wife. The first wife --name unknown, gave him 9 children and the 2nd wife gave him 6 children. Whew!!!) Bland was born in 1734 and died in 1809. -My 5 great grandparents (Bland's parents) were Thomas Ballard and Susannah Hesson. Thomas was married 3 times: a Sarah, Susannah Hesson and Mary Powers. He had a total of 7 children. Thomas was born in 1717 and died in 1782.-My 6 great grandparents (Thomas' parents) were Capt. John Ballard and Elizabeth Bland. Capt. John was born in 1693 and died in 1745.

Okay--you say, so where's the connection????? I'm glad you asked ( IF you are still reading this blog--HA), so here it is:
My 6th great grandfather (Capt. John Ballard) had a brother named William. William married a woman named Philadelphia Lee. One of their 7 children was named Philip Ballard. Philip married Ann Nancy Johnson. One of their 13 children was named Thomas Ballard. Thomas Ballard married Elizabeth Smith. One of their 5 children was named ANNIE NANCY BALLARD. Wah-lah---there it is!!!!!!!

You got all of this?????? (See why I love detail work???? ha)... Here's an easier way for me to explain the connection: My 6 great grandfather, Capt. John Ballard, had a brother named William. William's great granddaughter, Annie Nancy Ballard, married William Bruce. Annie and William are my 5 Great Grandparents on the Bruce side. Neat, huh????
Sorry I bored you with all of this ---but I was just too excited about the Bruce/Ballard connection NOT to share it!!!!!! If you bothered to read all of this, I give you a BIG Kudos---just for humoring me!!!!!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Since genealogy may be boring to many of you, I'll add a couple of pictures of some gorgeous roses from our yard.


FIRST PRIZE



BELLA'ROMA
Have a wonderful day!
Hugs,

Big Brother

Besides celebrating my birthday and checking out waterfalls, the main reason we went to Florida was to visit my sweet brother, who is in a skilled nursing facility, Westminster Woods, in Jacksonville, Florida. Some of you may not know that I had two older brothers. Ray (the one we visited) is 20 yrs. older than I am (which makes him almost 87. My other brother (Jim) was 12 yrs. older than me, and he lost his life to cancer in 1985 at the young age of 55. My mother was 42 when I was born, and Dad was 53. All are gone now except Ray and me. Today I will share some pictures of brother Ray ---taken through the years. Above is a picture taken on August 4, 2009 when we visited Ray. Below are more!





This was taken about 1945. Ray was 23 and I was 3.





This was on Feb. 18, 1951 --at Ray and Evelyn's wedding. From left to right: me, Evelyn's friend, Evelyn, Ray and our brother Jim. The wedding took place in California. Since my Dad worked for the railroad, we had 'free' passes ---so we rode the train from our home in Virginia all the way to and from California. What a wonderful trip!!!





This one was taken in January of 1953. Our family attended the Eisenhower inauguration in Washington D.C. Ray was 30 and I was 10.





This is Ray and Evelyn, taken in 2004, when they visited George and me here in Tennessee. We of course had to take them to Fall Creek Falls one day while they were here.





Brother and Sister --at Fall Creek Falls, in 2004





Ray and his 'kids' (Bob, Carolyn and Steve); This picture was taken at Evelyn's funeral in September of 2007. Ray and Evelyn have three wonderful children --and six grandchildren, although one is deceased.




Brother and Sister ---taken in Sept. 2007





Taken last Summer (2008) when we visited Ray





Sister and Brother---taken August 4, 2009; God Bless You, Sweet Brother of MINE!! I Love you!

Hugs,