Could the BALL family you are researching include John Sterling Ball and Margot Walker?? They settled in Kent Co. MI (following the migration pattern of my Braford family from Cayuga NY to Kent Co MI to Mont) James Sterling Ball was born 9 March 1862 in Kent Co., the son of John Sterling Ball and Margel Walker. and there is a neat story concerning him in a Montana biographical book, the name of which I can't find right now. (Avon Mont. History?) Here is the excerpt, which is TOTALLY FASCINATING and worth sharing: Two years after James Ball's birth, his family moved to Omaha, Neb. When James was five his mother died and he and his two sisters were put in a home where they remained for three years. The older sister died and their father took the younger sister, Anna, to live with him. A friend of the family, Mr Nelson, was going West to take pictures of buffalo and he begged Mr Ball to let young James go with him as his companion and to help with the mules. So on August 3, 1868 they left Omaha with a covered wagon, four mules, two saddle horses, and trinkets and goods to trade with the Indians. When winter overtook them they were in a small basin northeast of Helena, where Nelson decided to stay, near a friendly Indian camp. This basin is still called the Jim Ball basin. They built a dugout in the hill where there was plenty of grass for the horses. The winter would have been quiet and uneventful but an epidemic of smallpox broke out in the Indian camp and Nelson gained the undying gratitude of the Indians by nursing and saving many of them. However, his young ward contracted the disease and was very sick, but recovered in the spring. Nelson decided to return east as he was running short of plates for his camera as well as goods to trade with the Indians. They started for Deadwood, South Dakota but ran into hostile Indian country. One night they met some soldiers from Fort Laramie on the trail of warriors who had been on the warpath, killing settlers and driving off horses. They wanted Nelson to camp with them, but he had never come in contact with Indians on the warpath and thought that if he treated them right they would do him no harm. So he went up the creek a mile and a half to pitch camp. He was developing some pictures by the light of the fire while James watched from his bed under the wagon, when the Indians suddenly rode into their camp. One shot Nelson in the spine rendering him helpless. He told Jim to get his horse and go to the soldiers for help while he kept shooting at the Indians. So Jim crawled out in the dark, caught his horse and would have gotten away undetected except that one of the mules followed the horse. A warrior saw the mule and followed, shooting the boy in the left side. Jim held on to his horse until he reached the soldiers, then fainted from fright and loss of blood. When the soldiers reached Nelson's camp they found him dead, his wagon and equipment burned. Young Jim then went by wagon to Deadwood and was placed in the care of a hotel manager there. The hotel manager was kind to him and when Jim got well he was given work as an errand boy for the hotel. He was only ten years old but being livery born and large for his age he told everyone that he was 13 and got by with it. He remained there for 13 years and even rode pony express for a time. One day a race horse man from St. Louis by the name of Courtendoil came to the hotel. James went back with him, stopping off to visit his father and sister in Omaha. He rode as a jockey for Courtendoil until one day he was thrown from a horse, breaking both legs and a wrist. Courtendoil took him to his home and had the best doctors care for him. Courtendoil took a liking to the young man, now 16, and when he had recovered was put in charge of Courtendoil's motherless daughter, who was a cripple. All three of them came west to Helena to visit a brother, John Courtendoil and family. About this time James began to think about an education. He had learned little except what Nelson had taught him, so he took a job as clerk in a store owned by I B Wells and went to night school. Here he met his future wife, Miss Della Braford, niece of his employer. He worked for Wells for some time and in the spring of 1876 came to Old Blackfoot City, where he worked as a butcher boy, delivering meat to the numerous miners. Here he met Mr Blair and went to work at Helmville. Blair had been a school teacher and through the long winter evenings he helped Jim get an education. He worked for Blair for four years. In 1889 the railroad came through Avon and James' father came with it as a section foreman. James, having saved some money under Blair's advice, went back to Helena to school. While working and attending school for three years he renewed his acquaintance with Miss Braford and they were married in Helena on Feb 22, 1886. In the meantime, James' father quit railroading and took a homestead about six miles north of Avon on Three Mile Creek where the young people went to live. John Ball died 12 years later leaving his homestead to James who lived there for 36 years, finally selling it to James McGillvary. They are found in the 1900 census for Ophir twsp, Deer Lodge Co Mont., and Della states that she is the mother of 13 children, 8 of whom are still living. From 1900 to 1914 James Ball drove the stage from Blackfoot City to Avon, then Mr Buckland took over. Della died 18 Mar 1927 and James died 28 May 1940.Both are buried in Avon, Mont. Tracy Reinhardt