A representative agriculturist of Nowata County, residing five and one-half miles east of Delaware, is J. T. Ball. He was born in Coowescoowee district, one mile from where he now lives, on the 29th of January, 1884, a son of John L. and Annie (Daniels) Ball. The father was a native of Tennessee, who arrived in Indian Territory in 1865 and located one-half mile from where J. T. was born. He later moved onto the old homestead, where he resided until his death in March, 1895. He was engaged in farming and stock raising and became well known in those connections throughout the community. His wife, Annie Daniels, was one-quarter Cherokee, and a native of Georgia. To their union ten children were born, J. T., whose name initiates this review and a sister, Lucy, now the wife of C. E. Crawford, being the only ones living. The deceased are: Alfred, Julia, John, Rachael, Lydia, Josie, Willie and Ettie, the last named being the eldest child.
J. T. Ball was educated in a log schoolhouse near his birth-place and put his textbooks aside at the age of seventeen years. On account of the many deaths in the family he remained at home and engaged in farming. He took care of his mother, who was living on the old home place in Coowescoowee district, until her death in April, 1904, at the age of fifty-four years. After that he removed to his present place, one mile from where he was born, where he has five hundred and thirty acres, one hundred and twelve of which are under cultivation. He not only engages in general farming but raises beef stock and registered Duroc hogs. He has a splendid home on the farm, also a fine barn thirty-six by thirty-eight feet, and gas is used for both lighting and heating purposes. The success Mr. Ball is enjoying is the result of his own intelligently directed efforts, stanch determination and laudable ambition and he has won an enviable place for himself among the representative agriculturists and stockmen of the state.
In 1915 occurred the marriage of Mr. Ball to Ollie, daughter of J. A. and Mary (Haverfield) Boyd, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Illinois. For many years they resided on a farm four miles north of Mr. Ball. To their union two children have been born: Opal and Evelyn. Mrs. Ball has one child by a former marriage, Claude Dixon, nine years of age and a student in the schools here. Mrs. Ball’s brother, Layton A. Boyd, is a veteran of the World war, having served with the Medical Corps in France for eighteen months. He subsequently went into Germany with the Army of Occupation, making his entire term of service overseas two years. At one time he was nearly buried alive by the explosion of a large shell and nearly died before he was rescued.
Mr. Ball has many and stanch friends in this community, in which he was born and has always lived, and he is known to have been influential in many movements for the development and improvement of the County. Although the greater part of his time has been devoted to his farming interests he has always realized the duties and responsibilities as well as the privileges of citizenship and he is readily conceded to be a representative citizen of Nowata.