EV. JOHN T. BALL was converted under the ministry of Rev. W. B. Wellons, and united with the church organized at Newbern. He did not have the advantages of an education in his youth, having been apprenticed to one who gave little attention to the culture and development of the mind. When a boy he was collector for the man for whom he worked, and when it came to raising money for the church enterprises he was very persistent.

      In 1860, he was a delegate from the church at Newbern to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Pleasant Hill in Chatham county, North Carolina. At this time Rev. H. B. Hayes was pastor of the Newbern church. In 1878, at the Conference at Damascus in Orange county, he was a delegate from Hayes' chapel and appeared before the Educational committee. He was licensed to preach as a probationer. And he was also appointed on a committee "to devise a plan to carry into effect the districting of the churches."

      In 1879, Rev. J. T. Ball, as a fraternal messenger from the North Carolina and Virginia Conference, attended [364] the Eastern Virginia Conference at Windsor, Virginia. This year he attended also the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Christian chapel in Chatham county, but had no regular charge. At the Conference at Bethlehem in Alamance county, in 1880, he delivered a trial sermon from 1 Cor. 3:11, after which he was ordained to the office of Elder by the presbytery composed of Revs. Solomon Apple, J. W. Hatch, and W. S. Long. During the year he labored in the cause of missions in the bounds of the Eastern Virginia Conference. In 11881, he reported to the Conference at Catawba Springs having charge of four churches. At the Conference at Oak Level in 1882, he served on the committee on Temperance and on the Building committee of the Raleigh Christian church. He was pastor of Salem chapel and preached at other places. In 1883, at the Conference at Poplar Branch in Moore county, he was chairman of the committee on temperance. He was pastor of Mt. Bethel, Salem chapel, Liberty School House, and built two churches--Howard chapel and Kellam Grove. In 1884, he reported to the Conference at Union in Alamance county, that he "had charge of five churches," and had "organized two new Churches."

      At the Conference at Hayes' chapel, in 1882, the Executive committee reported that it suspended the Rev. J. T. Ball last March, that he having made retractions, it recommended that he be restored to his place as an Elder in the body. But the committee on the Standing of the Ministry referred the case of John T. Ball to Conference, he having been charged with falsehood. The matter was referred to a committee of all the Elders. He was exonerated. In 1886, the Conference met at New Providence in Alamance county; Rev. J. T. Ball was charged with three offences: First, with a breach of promise in regard to a contract entered into to live in a friendly christian way with all the brethren; Second, [365] indulging in a malicious spirit; Third, with falsehood. "Having given the accused a patient and careful hearing, we are unanimously of the opinion that Rev. John T. Ball is guilty of each and all the charges preferred against him." The decision of all the Elders being reported, he was deposed as an Elder of the Conference November 22, 1886. While he was under suspension, he endeavored to present in a circular letter the rightness of his course to the members of the Conference, and thus closes his appeal: "In the meantime, and while I am under this dark cloud, all I can do is to submit and beg your faithful prayers in my behalf. In remembrance of our associations as brethren and the happy seasons we have spent together around the altars of God, I am, yours truly, Jno. T. Ball." He thereafter devoted himself to secular pursuits, and soon sank under the weight.

[LCM 364-366]