Edward Ball (congressman) explained

Edward Ball
Birthname:Edward Ball
Order1:11th
Office1:Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives
Term Start1:July 5, 1861
Term End1:December 8, 1863
Predecessor1:Henry W. Hoffman
Successor1:Nehemiah G. Ordway
State2:Ohio
Term Start2:March 4, 1853
Term End2:March 3, 1857
Preceded2:John Johnson
Succeeded2:Cydnor B. Tompkins
Office3:Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
Term3:1845-1849
Party:
Birth Date:6 November 1811
Birth Place:Fairfax County, Virginia, US
Death Place:Zanesville, Ohio, US
Restingplace:Greenwood Cemetery

Edward Ball (November 6, 1811 – November 22, 1872) was an American farmer and law enforcement officer who served two-term as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1853 to 1857.

Biography

Born in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Falls Church, Ball attended the village school. He moved to Ohio and located near Zanesville, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits.

Early Career

He served as deputy sheriff of Muskingum County in 1837 and 1838 and sheriff from 1839 to 1843. He served as member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849, and became editor of the Zanesville Courier in 1849.

Congress

Ball was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857). In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Thirty-fourth Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1856.

Later career

After his tenure in Congress, Ball studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1860, and commenced practice in Zanesville. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1860, and as Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives in the Thirty-seventh Congress from 1861 to 1863.

He resumed the practice of law, and was again a member of the State house of representatives from 1868 to 1870.

Death

He was accidentally killed by a railroad train near Zanesville, Ohio, on November 22, 1872.