David E. Ballard was my ancestor. This page contains incorrect information about his father, my 3rd GGF, Appleton Ballard. Please feel free to use this information provided below to correct the page:
The author of this page has confused some facts about Appleton with Appleton's father-in-law, Capt. Benjamin Ellenwood.
Capt. Ellenwood was a Canadian privateer who was murdered: "Dolby’s Wharf in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 31 Jan, 1815. Sometime after docking and selling his cargo he was stabbed to death with a marlin spike by one of his own crew, a man named James Archibald, who was later tried, convicted, and executed for the murder."
Appleton died Oct.26, 1885. Here is his obituary:
Appleton Ballard, was born in Hanover, N. H., July 1, 1809. When he was a boy the family removed to Vermont. Here he met Epiphene Ellenwood, to whom he was married in 1830. In 1836 the family removed to Sparta, Ohio. In 1848 they came to Lansing, Ingham County, before the clay of railroads in this State, spending two weeks on the road. Four sons enlisted when the war broke out, one (Alonzo) being but seventeen years old. One (James Allen) found a grave in Virginia, the others returned, all with battle marks.
Mr. Ballard spent the early years of his manhood as a shoemaker, later as a merchant, and the last years as a vegetable gardener, paying unusual attention to the propagation of choice new varieties of vegetables. He was the owner of forty acres of land in the northeastern part of the city. Before he died he had platted this into city lots, and the farm is now known as Ballard's Addition to the city of Lansing.
In his political preferences he was a Republican and a strong advocate of temperance, even radical on that subject. He became a Christian at twenty years of age and during the greater part of his life was connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which body he was for many years a Class-Leader. His whole life was marked by his Christian faith and zeal. His honesty and integrity were unimpeachable. A man of large sympathies and generous impulses, he was charitable, both in his opinion of others and his conduct toward them. His last words were, "I am near the end, my soul is ready." He died October 26, 1885.
Sincerely,