Col. Burgess BALL
M, b. 28 July 1749, d. 7 March 1800
Col. Burgess BALL was born on 28 July 1749 at "Bewdley" in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Virginia, son of Jeduthan BALL and Elizabeth BURGESS.
He was only six months old when his father died. His grandfather, Major James Ball, provided for Burgess by devising land, in King George, Spotsylvinia and Stafflord counties in northern Virginia to Burgess, when he came of age. The Ball estate was known as "Travellers' Rest" near Fredericksburg. The land upon which Travellers' Rest sat was owned by Col. James Ball of Bewdley in Virginia in 1700. This tract was originally a portion of the massive Sherwood Forest property granted to William Ball and Thomas Chitwood in 1667. on 15 Jul 1754, Ball willed the Travellers' Rest property to his grandson, Col. Burgess Ball. Burgess Ball built a two-story brick home with dormer windows in a style popular at the time. The chimneys of this structure were unique in that they were situated so that the fireplaces were in the corners of each room instead of in the center of the wall, as was the usual design.
In its prime, the house was the center of hospitality. Legend is that there was prominently displayed the sentiment "Enter ye weary, no matter whence you came and whither you go, and have rest." Today, the site, about five miles from the Chatham Bridge near Sherwood Forest, sits deserted and radically changed due to years of excavation, its only remaining feature an overgrown and hidden old cemetery.
Travellers' Rest evolved throughout the years from a somewhat small Colonial home to a grand mansion with beautiful gardens laid out in formal patterns by an English landscape gardener.
At the end of the Revolutionary War, Ball returned to Travellers' Rest, where he continued to offer hospitality to those who visited. The government refused to reimburse Ball for his financial and personal investment in the war efforts, and soon his remaining finances vanished. His health and fortune destroyed, Ball sold Travellers' Rest to Thomas Garnett and retired to Springwood, a rustic farm in Loudoun County.1,2
Burgess married Mary Chichester on 2 July 1770 in St. James Northam Parish, Goochland County, Virginia.3
Burgess saw military service during the American Revolution beginning on 10 February 1776 in Virginia when he was recorded as captain in the 5th Virginia Continental Line. He had raised, clothed and equipped the company from Lancaster county at his own expense. He was court martialed in Williamsburg for failing to prevent a stranded brig at Willoughby's Point being retaken by the British. He was unanimously acquitted of all charges. The regiment was at the Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton on 26 Dec 1776 and at Princeton in January 1777. On 10 Feb 1777 he was promoted to major of the 5th and participated in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown in late 1777. He became lieutenant colonel in command of the 9th Virginia 17 Dec 1777. They spent the winter of 19 December 1777 to 19 June 1778 at Valley Forge as part of Brigadier Gen. Peter Muhlenberg's 1st Virginia Brigade in Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Greene's Division. They fought at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 Jun 1778. The remnants of the 5th and 9th were transferred to the 1st Virginia regiment of foot 14 September 1778. They were sent South in December 1779 and captured at Charleston, South Carolina 12 May 1780. He was paroled on 12 Feb 1781 when he retired. At the start of the war Ball was a volunteer Aide de Camp on the staff of his kinsman, life long friend and cooresondent, Gen. George Washington. Preferring the action of the field he exchanged his position for the captaincy in the 5th. After the war he was awarded 7,777 acres of land for seven years service in the Virginia Continental Line. An additional 300 acres was awarded on 31 May 1811.4,5,3
Col. Burgess BALL married secondly Frances Ann WASHINGTON, daughter of Charles WASHINGTON and Mildred THORNTON, on 7 April 1781 in Stafford County, Virginia.6
In 1790, the General Assembly of Virginia appointed a commission to sell certain lands of Major James Ball and to reinvest the funds obtained for his grandson, Colonel Burgess Ball. The Commission then bought Big Springs Farm near Leesburg, later known as Springwood, from Thompson Mason on behalf of Col. Ball. The property could not be sold by Col. Ball, but descended to his children.
Col. Ball, deaf from his service in the Revolutionary War, moved with his family to Big Springs soon after the conclusion of the war. Less than ten years later, he died.2
In 1795, the American portrait miniaturist, Raphaelle Peale, traveled through Virginia on his way from Philadelphia to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was engaged to paint miniatures of the gentry elite. It is thought that Peale painted a miniature of Colonel Ball at that time, probably to be presented to Frances. Gentry women are often depicted wearing such miniatures on ribbons or cords around the neck and frequently requested loved ones to sit for their portraits.7
Col. Burgess BALL died on 7 March 1800 in Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, at age 50. He was buried in "Springwood," in the Ball Family Cemetery.
Children of Col. Burgess BALL and Mary Chichester
Elizabeth Burgess BALL
Burgess BALL Jr.8 b. 26 Oct 1773
Children of Col. Burgess BALL and Frances Ann WASHINGTON
Mary Washington BALL b. 17 Feb 1783, d. 27 Feb 1784
George Washington BALL b. 20 Mar 1784, d. 1815
Mildred Thornton BALL b. 22 Oct 1785, d. 5 May 1854
Fayette BALL b. 20 Apr 1791, d. 8 May 1837
Charles Burgess BALL
Frances Washington BALL b. 20 Apr 1798
Martha Dandridge BALL+ b. 9 Oct 1799, d. 20 Apr 1822
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~opus/p53.htm
