Ralph Ballard
July 5, 1870-Feb. 16, 1962
Niles Daily Star, Saturday, February 17, 1962, page 2, col. 5-6, microfilm Niles District Library
Niles Historian Ralph Ballard Dies Friday in Hospital at 91
RALPH BALLARD, 91, of 742 Broadway, well known and recognized authority on the early history of Niles and area, died at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Pawating Hospital where he had been a patient since Jan. 28. He had been in failing health for several years.
Mr. Ballard, who had been the oldest living alumnus of Niles High school, was born on July 5, 1870, in the old Ballard home on Ballard Hill, M-60 west of the city, and had lived there until 1945 when he purchased the present home on Broadway.
After he was graduated from high school here in 1886, he operated the Ballard Farm, specializing in dairy cattle and apples, with his brother, Harry, and uncle, O.W. Ballard, now deceased. He was a member of the state Horticulture Society.
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IT WAS AS a historian that he gained his greatest recognition, having contributed heavily to the work of Fort St. Joseph Museum and authored several pamphlets and a book, "Tales of Early Niles," concerning early history.
Material for his book, read by many, had been assembled by Mr. Ballard over a period of many years and was obtained after painstaking search of official papers and letters, early newspaper files and other authentic documents.
Publication of the book was important to Niles in that it was the first volume ever published that contained a composite story of early events here.
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AMONG HIS many other achievements was the printed compilation of trees native to Berrien County, which he originally prepared for the Niles Garden Club. The work later won recognition as outstanding in its field and gave the author further recognition as a naturalist.
Mr. Ballard also had done other extensive study in the field of horticulture.
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HE WAS married on Oct. 5, 1898, in the Ballard home to Mary H. Huston, who survives. The couple had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1948 and had been married 63 years in October.
Also surviving are nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in the Kiger and Halbritter Funeral Home here with the Rev. John P. MacLachlan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
Friends are being received at the funeral home.