Fayette County, Alabama
 
~ Ballard Family Cemetery ~

VIEWS OF CEMETERY

This 2-year-old child was the son of James W. BALLARD and his wife, Martha J. (COWEN) BALLARD.  James W. lived adjacent to his father's (Lewis J. BALLARD's) farm in the 1880 Fayette County census.  This child was one of the first burials in the cemetery.

This is James I. BALLARD, a son of William R. BALLARD.  William R. BALLARD's farm adjoined Lewis J. BALLARD's farm and was located just to the southwest of the cemetery.  James I. Ballard married Lucy MURRY, 26 Mar 1902 in Fayette County.

This is believed to be Luizer Jane (--?--) WHITE BALLARD, the second wife of 1) Hugh P. WHITE and 2) Willis A. BALLARD (son of Lewis J. BALLARD).  She and Willis were married 19 Mar 1882 in Fayette County.  Luizer Jane's maiden name is not known to any degree of certainty; however, she may be the Jane ESTES listed in the Samuel ESTES household in the 1860 Fayette County census.  The ESTES family was recorded in close proximity to the WHITE family.  Hugh P. WHITE was buried near his first wife in the Ballard Schoolhouse Cemetery. 

This is Martha Ann (BARNETT) MARDIS BALLARD, widow of Lewis J. BALLARD.  She married (1) Moses J. MARDIS, 27 Sep 1856 in Blount Co., AL.  After Mr. Mardis' death, she married (2) Lewis BALLARD, 6 Jan 1867 in Blount County (also his 2nd marriage).  

This is Sarah A. (BYNUM) BALLARD, the first wife of Willis A. BALLARD (son of Lewis J. BALLARD).  She was the daughter of Jesse BYNUM and Hannah Serena (EASLEY) BYNUM.  She married Willis BALLARD, 17 Jan 1870 in Blount Co., AL.  Their family was listed in the 1870 Blount County census and the 1880 Fayette County census. 

This infant was born about 6 months after his father died (see J.I. BALLARD above).

This 1-year-old child was the son of William R. BALLARD and wife, Julia A. BALLARD.   This is one of the earlier burials at this cemetery.

This 3-month-old child was the son of William Fletcher BALLARD and his wife, Indiana "Annie" BALLARD.  William Fletcher BALLARD was the son of William R. BALLARD.  Ulus M. BALLARD was survived by his twin, Dosha F. BALLARD.  [1]

This is Matilda E. (COWEN) BYNUM.  She was the first wife of Elijah C. BYNUM and the sister of Martha J. (COWEN) BALLARD.

This is Charles Claudins COWEN.  He was the son of James W. COWEN and Amazonia (BALLARD) COWEN.  James W. COWEN was the brother of Martha J. (COWEN) BALLARD & Matilda (COWEN) BYNUM.   Amazonia was the daughter of Willis BALLARD of Blount Co., AL, and the niece of Lewis J. BALLARD.  [2]

This is Rufus M. COWEN, who appears to be somehow connected to Mary COWEN (sister of James W.,  Matilda and Martha COWEN). 

This infant appears to have been the child of W.D. KILLINGSWORTH and Piety (BALLARD) KILLINGSWORTH.  Piety was the daughter of James W. BALLARD and Martha J. (COWEN) BALLARD, and the granddaughter of Lewis J. BALLARD. 

This is Eli W. SULLIVAN.  He married Nelly GRAVES (nee HYATT?) in Blount Co., AL, 01 Mar 1859.  Both had been married once or twice before.  They moved to Fayette County in the 1870s.  E.W. SULLIVAN gave a deposition in support of James W. BALLARD's 1890 Probate Petition to sell the Lewis J. BALLARD property for estate distribution.  He was identified as William SULLIVAN (SILLIVAN) in a cluster of BALLARD families in the 1900 Fayette County census.  He was at least a neighbor, but whether there was a family relationship is not known.  A "new" (relative to the age of the other headstones) Confederate States of America marker has been placed on this grave.

This infant likely was connected to the E.W. SULLIVAN family (above). 

This is Seviller (GRAVES) WHITE, supposedly a step-daughter of E.W. SULLIVAN (above).  She married Olintheus WHITE in Blount Co., AL, 20 Feb 1868.  The WHITEs were neighbors of the BALLARDs in the 1880 Fayette County census and probably were connected to the WHITE family that moved with the Lewis J. BALLARD family from Georgia to Blount Co., AL, in the mid-1850s.

"I believe that this cemetery was established on what was then Lewis J. Ballard's farm (1870s–1891).  Sadly, it has fallen into really poor condition (briars, brush, sunken graves, deteriorated headstones)."
     — Don Bynum, great-greatgrandson of Lewis J. & Sarah Ballard  (6/17/04)


"Last month, we visited Alabama again, and went by Fayette County.  We stopped by the Ballard Cemetery to do a bit toward clearing all the brush.  However, during the summer, there had been a cleanup (I think, urged on by Karen Manasco).  While there I generated a rough sketch of the layout of the cemetery [see above], and tried to get a few [more] photos of the cemetery and headstones.  Note ... there are several more graves in the cemetery than I was able to find in May.   However, none of these newly-found graves had names associated with them.  As can be seen from the photos, the cemetery area has been significantly cleared, but the headstones/graves are in need of some restoration."  
     — Don Bynum  (11/14/04)

Photos generously contributed by
Karen Melton Manasco (1) & Don Bynum (2)