John and Elizabeth James Ballard were born in the 1760s. Apparently, he was from Virginia. She may have been from N. Carolina.  It is thought that she was the daughter of Thompson Joseph Ballard who owned land in Buncombe Co. N.C. 

Obediah and Pheobe Hatcher Farley were born in Virginia (Amelia and Bedford Counties) ca 1757. They married about 1780. I have not found the records yet. They were both in Franklin County (then Bedford) at that time. Her parents were Edward and Sarah Hatcher.  The Farleys moved to Washington Co. Tn in 1789.  Sevier Co. Tn. opened in 1794. I think both they and some Hatcher kin moved there shortly. There is an area known as Hatchertown in the Wears Valley area of Sevier Co. I have assumed that they settled there.  (Their sons Matthew and Daniel entered land in the Gist?s Creek area of the County in 1808.  This is on the other side of Sevierville.) Since a son of John and Elizabeth was named Obediah Farley Ballard, and a daughter Pheobe, I have surmised that they were near neighbors and friends. (None of Pheobe Hatcher?s siblings married a Ballard.  I do not know the siblings or parents of  Obediah Farley.)

The courthouse in Sevierville burned in 1857, so records from that county are rare. But across the years I have found John and Elizabeth as members of the Forks of the Pigeon Baptist Church (today?s FBC of Sevierville) before 1807. In 1813 John Ballard was among the signers of a petition calling for help with law and order in Sevier Co. 

The information I got recently concerning their daughter Pheobe suggests that she was born in 1821 in Grainger Co. Tn. I found John and Elizabeth as members of the Concord Baptist Church in 1825.  Their daughter Frances and her husband Daniel were also there. I think that this church was in the Monroe-Meigs Co. area near Paint Rock. The record suggests that the church did not have a permanent site at that time. (Daniel and Frances seem to be in the 1830 census of Monroe Co, but the name is spelled Fardly.) Note that this was a time when counties were being created, so I am not sure of the exact locations. This might be corrected by more research in these counties. It seems that the Concord church was begun in 1825 and continued until 1879. I am thinking that the continuing church at Paint Rock in present day Roane County which dates from 1830 was an arm of the old Concord church. Perhaps six miles from Paint Rock toward Loudon is the Prospect Baptist Church, which was formed out  of Sweetwater in 1826.  The descendents of a William Ballard are buried there. (William may have been their earliest son, but more likely to have been a brother of John, I think.)

In the 1830 census John and Elizabeth were in Roane Co. Tn. The records suggest that they are over 60, and that they have three male children under 20 in their home. Some years ago I got of list of 14 children born to this family from my cousin Grace Farley Carroll. (So, Elizabeth may have had these children over a 25 to 30 year period.) Frances was probably born in 1798. Her husband was born in 1790. The list is in an attached file. Recently, I have gotten files off of the Ballard Family Forum on line for what may well be the descendants of their daughter Pheobe and their sons William and Joe, and now George. (The William list seems to be a little bit of a stretch.) And I found at least part of the family of Newton Ballard, another, younger son, in the 1850 census for Cooper Co. Mo. From the Roane Co. web page I have gotten the marriage dates and confirmation of spouses for Betsy and Susan.

Recently, I have found that there were several  early Ballard marriages in Cooper County, Mo. James, Wm. and Newton.  (See other file.)  And I am working with a file on a George Ballard who was born in Tenn. in 1813. Married and had his first children in Jackson Co, Ala in the 1830s and moved to Washington Co., Ark., about 1843. He might well have been one of their children.

Daughter Frances and Daniel Farley in 1833 moved to Cooper Co. Tn. Tradition declares that this was a river trip. So, they must have gotten on flat boats on the Tennessee River in Roane Co. Traveled down the Tenn. and the Ohio to its mouth. Then up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and up the Missouri to Boonville, Missouri.  Records there indicate that they got land near Otterville.  Brothers of Frances, Newton and Obediah Farley also entered land near by. OF married Sarah Durmsey in 1843.  When he sold land in 1859 it is signed by a spouse named Nancy A.  I have found him in the 1860 census for Carroll Co. Ark. The fact that the boys traveled with the Farleys makes sense. Frances had 8 or 9 children by then. The brothers would have been needed to manage the water passage. The Farleys probably decided to make this move with the encouragement of his sister Sarah Farley Casteel (Castile). She and her husband Fredrick Shadrick Casteel, a Methodist minister, had moved to Cooper Co. in about 1820.  (I found several Shadrick family marriages in the Roane Co. records. But more likely is an Abendigo Casteel who was listed in the 1830 census in Knox County, Tn., as a brother.) Note this was the wild west at this time.  In 1832 there was a major confrontation between the whites and the Indians in Cooper Co.  One small child died on the trip. See the attached listing of the family of Frances and Daniel and also the narrative.

The material I have gotten from the line of Joseph Ballard indicates that his father John was a Rev. War vet. There may be a pension req. and other records available. Also, I have never looked for Grainger Co. Records. (From 1965 to 1978 we lived in Jefferson Co. Tn which lies between Grainger and Sevier Cos.) Because of the scarceness of Sevier Co. records and my limited research in Roane, Monroe, and Grainger Co records, subsequent findings may significantly revise this narrative.  

Another piece of data is that in the 1830 census there is another John Ballard, age 20-30, in Hawkins Co. This would fit with the Powell Valley tradition that the Joseph line has. This John may be the Jack in the list that I got from my cousin Grace. (Note in 1832 a John Ballard got a land grant in Hawkins Co. This may fit.) 

Cousin Grace was interested in the possibility that the James line might connect with that of Frank and Jesse. Their father Bob was an early Baptist church planter in western Missouri. Howver, I recently found a book on Jesse and his family and this does not appear to be the case.
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Ballards and Farleys in E. Tn.