James Ballou III was born in 1723 in an area of Massachusetts that would become Rhode Island. James was the third generation Ballou (named James) to be born in the New World. Their patriarch Maturin Ballou, a Baptist minister, immigrated from England. Seeking freedom from the Puritans, he helped Roger Williams co-found Rhode Island. The northeast corner of the state was known as the "Ballou District." James III’s mother, Catherine Arnold, was related to Benedict Arnold.
In 1744, now
in Rhode Island, James married Tamasin Cook. Before the Revolution, they had 11
children who all survived childhood including James IV who was famous for his
ability to tell the future. His daughter Elizabeth was the mother of
President James A. Garfield.
James III's
cousin Abner Ballou was their strict Baptist pastor. By 1770, James broke from the family church
and started his own which allowed members to worship with song. He moved his family to New Hampshire and
bought seven adjoining lots for his seven sons. He ultimately encouraged the
family to believe in universal salvation. His cousin’s son Hosea Ballou became an
influential clergyman now called the father of American Universalism.
In 1779 at
age 56, James III joined Mooney’s Regiment of the New Hampshire Militia, raised
in defense of Rhode Island. As a fifer, his job was to play the tunes that
would signal the soldiers’ next action.
He lived to
age 88, just in time to see the war of 1812. Twenty-one Daughters of the American Revolution list James
Ballou III as their patriot ancestor.
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