Bland Ballard

Bland Ballard (October 16, 1761 – September 5, 1853) was a soldier and statesman from Kentucky.

Biography

Ballard was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1779, at age 18, he moved to Kentucky, Ballard was married three times. He and his first wife Elizabeth Williamson were the parents of seven children. After Elizabeth Williamson Ballard's death in 1827, he then married Diana Matthews in 1833. After Matthews' death in 1835, in 1841 Ballard then married for a third and final time, to Elizabeth Weaver Garrett. Ballard served as a scout in George Rogers Clark's 1780 expedition into the Ohio country. During the Northwest Indian War, he again served as a scout, this time for Clark's 1786 Wabash campaign. Ballard participated in the battles of Fallen Timbers (1794), Tippecanoe (1811), and the River Raisin (1813). As a major of Kentucky volunteers, he played a leading role in the expedition against the British and American Indians who had invaded southeastern Michigan. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Frenchtown, but was among the group of prisoners who were transported into Canada and so escaped the River Raisin Massacre. Following the war, Ballard served as a Delegate from Shelby County in the 1800, 1803 and 1805 Kentucky General Assembly.

Bland Ballard (American football)

Bland Ballard was a prominent college football player for the Princeton Tigers in the 19th-century. He was captain of the 1879 team.

References

Bland Ballard (judge)

Bland Ballard (September 4, 1819 – July 29, 1879) was a United States federal judge.

Ballard was the son of James and Susannah (Cox) Ballard and grandson of the Kentucky pioneer of the same name. Ballard was born in Shelby County, Kentucky. He read law in the office of Judge James Turner Morehead in 1840 to enter the Kentucky Bar, and later was graduated from the law department of Transylvania University in 1846. He opened a private practice in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and then moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he practiced law in partnership with the Henry Pirtle, later the distinguished Chancellor of the Louisville Chancery Court, until 1861. Ballard was connected with the business interests of Louisville and took an active interest in the city and its institutions. At one time he served as city councilor for the City of Louisville.

On October 16, 1861, Ballard received a recess appointment from President Abraham Lincoln to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky vacated by Thomas Bell Monroe, who had become a member of the Congress of the Confederate States. Ballard was formally nominated on December 9, 1861 and on January 22, 1862, he was confirmed by the United States Senate and received his commission. He quickly reorganized the court and insured that the federal court system in Kentucky would continue without disruption. "His district was responsible for more indictments for treason and conspiracy than perhaps any other" and he was "regarded as fair-minded and guided by the law, not prejudice. He was opposed to slavery and strongly supported the Union".