From contributor Txgirl:
History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston, etc., Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1895.
ALBERT BALL was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to America in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands. Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit. After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him for the women and children. Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years. In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life, - amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomito decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself. He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surving him he left a widow, one daughter, - Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons, - Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
[Source: History of Texas Biographical History of the Cities of Houston and Galveston (1895), transcribed by Mary Saggio.]
Albert Ball was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to American in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands.
Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit.
After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him (or the women and children.
Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years.
In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life,-amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomit decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself.
He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surviving him he left a widow, one daughter, -Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons,- Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston, etc., Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1895.
ALBERT BALL was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to America in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands. Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit. After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him for the women and children. Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years. In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life, - amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomito decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself. He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surving him he left a widow, one daughter, - Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons, - Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
[Source: History of Texas Biographical History of the Cities of Houston and Galveston (1895), transcribed by Mary Saggio.]
Albert Ball was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to American in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands.
Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit.
After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him (or the women and children.
Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years.
In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life,-amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomit decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself.
He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surviving him he left a widow, one daughter, -Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons,- Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
From contributor Txgirl:
History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston, etc., Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1895.
ALBERT BALL was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to America in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands. Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit. After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him for the women and children. Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years. In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life, - amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomito decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself. He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surving him he left a widow, one daughter, - Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons, - Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
[Source: History of Texas Biographical History of the Cities of Houston and Galveston (1895), transcribed by Mary Saggio.]
Albert Ball was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to American in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands.
Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit.
After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him (or the women and children.
Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years.
In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life,-amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomit decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself.
He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surviving him he left a widow, one daughter, -Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons,- Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
History of Texas, together with a biographical history of the cities of Houston and Galveston, etc., Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1895.
ALBERT BALL was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to America in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands. Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit. After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him for the women and children. Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years. In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life, - amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomito decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself. He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surving him he left a widow, one daughter, - Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons, - Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
[Source: History of Texas Biographical History of the Cities of Houston and Galveston (1895), transcribed by Mary Saggio.]
Albert Ball was born September 13, 1810, in Albany, New York, a descendant in the seventh generation from Edmund Ball, who was born in 1640, in Wales, emigrated to American in 1664, and, with twenty-five others, settled in 1665 on the ground where the city of Newark, New Jersey, now stands.
Albert Ball grew to man's estate in his native place, and thence moved to Poughkeepsie, where, in 1833, he married Susan M. Depew, and resided there until coming to Galveston in 1840. He had been preceded to this place by his brother, George, who came out in 1839. The two brothers were engaged in business in this city together, under the firm name of A. & G. Ball, until 1854, when the partnership was dissolved, George becoming the head of the banking house of Ball, Hutchings & Company, since so great, and Albert opened a business of his own on the corner of Strand and Twenty-first street. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business on this corner, and by his industrious, upright course, aided somewhat by circumstances, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable amount of property. In the meantime the Union Marine & Fire Insurance Company, of this city, was organized, and he was made its president. This was the first organization of its kind in Texas, and perhaps the most successful. It owed much of its success to Mr. Ball, who was long its directing spirit.
After the great fire, which swept the Strand and destroyed his business house, Mr. Ball, having received what he considered a liberal offer ($25,000) for the lot, and, being in independent circumstances, concluded to close up and retire from business. He resigned the presidency of the insurance company, and was for a time inactive. But he soon grew weary of repose, and, on the organization of the Galveston Insurance Company, he accepted the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until his death.
Mr. Ball wished to be known as only a plain man of business, and really was such. Politics had no allurements for him, and he never figured prominently in any public capacity. During the war he was a member of the County Court, and on him almost alone depended the duty of supplying the wants of the many women and children deprived of the means of support by the absence of husbands and fathers in the army. He felt all the responsibility of the trust, and devoted himself actively to the work, though often having to take direct issue with the officers of the army, who, neglecting the means to supply troops with rations, sometimes wished to seize those provided by him (or the women and children.
Mr. Ball may almost be said to have been the founder of the first regular fire-company in Galveston. At his instance the law was enacted exempting firemen from jury service. He was empowered by the city to purchase the first engine it ever owned, and he was himself an active fireman for many years.
In the terrible epidemic of 1864, although his own family and all his immediate friends were absent or exempt from the disease, he watched and nursed among the sick and suffering with the same assiduity that he exhibited in other epidemics where the sufferers had more immediate claims upon his kind offices. He had not arrived in Galveston when the first epidemic, in 1839, occurred, though his brother, George, arrived in the midst of it, and voluntarily remained until its termination; yet the deceased was a faithful and assiduous nurse in every other visitation of the kind until the last, in 1867. There are a few old citizens still living in Galveston who came here about the time Mr. Ball did, and who were familiar with all his subsequent career. They were thrown in daily contact with him for more than a third of a century and marked his course in all the relations and vicissitudes of life,-amid the trials of the period of Mexican hostility, when the island was continually menaced with attacks by sea, the times when general want and poverty prevailed, and the needy daily plead for aid, when the fatal vomit decimated the population again and again until the number of the dead almost equaled that of the living, and during the sorrow and suffering of the late war. Such old citizens as survived these terrible ordeals bear witness that in none of them did Mr. Ball fail in any of the duties of humanity, manly firmness and intelligent assistance, wherever want and suffering were to be relieved. Quiet, unostentatious and undemonstrative, he made no exhibitions of his public service, but his personal effort and silent influence were always thrown on the side of justice and humanity. Precise, methodical and prosperous in business he was free from all the tricks of the professional speculator, and would have preferred to be over-reached to the suspicion that he would be guilty of any sharp practice himself.
He died in Galveston August 8, 1875. Surviving him he left a widow, one daughter, -Mrs. Emily B. Sanford; and two sons,- Fenno D. and Albert, Jr.
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Died at Galveston, Texas, aged 65 yrs
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