from:deborah freeman e-mail:freemand@gemair.com Hello everyone, I am looking for anyone who has a Robert Kendall m to a Melvina Glass. Also a James Andrew Kendall m to a Lillie Boonie Lee Ball. Also a George Kirkland m Mary Viola Kendall. Also a John walter Bullock m Lucy Mae Kirkland. These are my Adopted Family names. Thank folks. debbie freeman ----- Original Message ----- From: Ullom, Larry <ldullom@iolinc.net> To: <KYCARTER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 11:55 AM Subject: [KYCARTER] Andrew Jackson Ball and Lena Sofronie Ison - Kentucky/West Virginia > IN HONOR OF GRANDPARENT'S DAY: > > My paternal grandparents were Andrew Jackson Ball and Lenah Sofronie Isom. > They both died before I was born so I never knew them personally but I enjoy > doing research to learn more about them. > > Andrew Jackson Ball was born on August 10, 1886 in Pike county, Kentucky to > John C Ball and Margaret "Betty" Jane (Blackburn) Ball. He was the oldest > of 11 children. He had 5 brothers: Thomas, Frelan, Basil, Landon and > Charles and 2 sisters: Nancy and Mary. He had 3 other siblings who died > when young that I have not yet identified. Andrew was often called "A.J." > or "Bud" by his family. When he was a teenager his father moved from the > Pond Creek area of Pike County to Northfork in McDowell county, West > Virginia. Around 1910 the family moved to Matewan in Mingo County, West > Virginia and he started working in the coal mines there. > > Lena Sofronie Isom was born January 25, 1895 in Leon, Carter county, > Kentucky to Melvin C Ison and Elizabeth "Eliza" Lyons. She was their only > daughter. She had 9 brothers: Charles, Jerry, Bayless, George, Isom, > Martin, Lee Roy, Robert Luther, and James. Lena was called "Fronie" or > "Frone" by her family. > > I have not yet figured out how Fronie and A.J. met but I do know that both > of their fathers were timbermen and used huge saws. I have also found out > that some of Fronie's brothers were coal miners at Red Jacket #6 in Mingo > County, West Virginia. It is possible that the families worked together. > > "Bud" and Fronie were married on September 27, 1913 in Matewan, Mingo > County, West Virginia. They had 2 sons: Alfred and Lee Roy and 1 daughter: > Hazel. Alfred and Hazel are still living. > > Fronie died on February 3, 1918 in Matewan, Mingo county, West Virginia of > heart disease shortly after giving birth to Lee Roy (my father). Her > father, Melvin Ison, died later that same year on July 14th in a sawmill > accident. She and her father were buried in the Ison/Isom family cemetery > in Fultz, Carter county, Kentucky. > > After Fronie's death, A.J. moved back in with his parents who helped him > with the children. Fronie's mother and brothers appear in the 1920 census > in Mingo County so they must have moved there sometime after the 1910 > census. An older lady once told my dad that his grandma (Eliza) helped his > mother (Fronie) when she was very sick and couldn't get out of bed to care > for her own children. Perhaps that is when the Ison family moved to > Matewan. > > Toward the end of 1920, John C Ball moved his family to Beckley in Raleigh > County, West Virginia. A.J. and his children moved with him. Eliza Ison > and her sons did not go to Raleigh County but at some point did return to > the Fultz area of Carter county, Kentucky. > > A.J. was a coal miner. He broke his back while working in a coal mine at > Skelton in Raleigh county, West Virginia. After that he was forced to > retire and required a cane when walking. He considered the coal mines very > dangerous and did not want his sons to work there. Against the wishes of > his father, Lee Roy, convinced one of A.J.'s brothers to help him get a > mining job. Although he never had any serious accidents in the coal mines, > Lee died of black lung contracted from breathing the coal dust. > > A.J. died on January 6, 1948 near Beckley in Raleigh county, West Virginia > of cancer. > > A.J. never spoke much about his wife or her family. Perhaps it was too > painful for him. All my father ever knew was that his mother, Fronie Isom, > died when he was a month and 3 days old and that she was buried in Carter > County, Kentucky. He searched for her grave many times during his life but > was never successful at finding it. Six months after his death, I found her > grave and put some flowers and a note on it. Shortly thereafter I was > contacted by some of her nephews. That summer, my family met some of my > father's first-cousins that he never knew ! > > -- Submitted by Debbie Ullom, granddaughter of A.J. and Fronie (Isom) Ball > on September 11, 2000. > > >