#27: Ada "Sweet" Dandridge Ball (1880-1971)

Ada as a young girl.  Scanned images from a family scrapbook.  Enhanced by MyHeritage.com  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Ada and her early life with her parents

Ada Dandridge Ball was born in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday, May 23, 1880.  Her parents were Augustus William Ball (1848-1929) and Isora Lee (1848-1929).  She was their only child.  Ada has two very unique names.  Those names appear elsewhere in the family tree, so I assume that she was named after those others.  She was likely named Ada after her mother's sister Ada Wilson Lee Davidson (1858-1935) and Dandridge after her paternal grandfather Dandridge Ball.

The first document we see Ada in is the 1880 US Census.  The census was taken on June 1, 1880.  So she wasn't even a month old!

A portion of Roll: 1372 Page: 367A of the 1880 US Census for Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia.

In this census, we obviously see Ada with her parents and a larger extended family.  These family members are all related to her father and include two of his aunts, a brother, and a sister.  All of them were living in a home at 2504 Marshall Street, which is located in Church Hill.

Our document trail picks back up with the 1900 US Census.  We find this extended family group mostly still living together.  We also confirm with this census that Ada was the only child born to Augustus and Isora.  The two boxes to the far right in the column for Isora are for # of children and # of children living. 

A portion of Page 16; Enumeration District: 0066; of the 1900 US Census for Clay Ward, Richmond, Virginia.

They are now living at 1021 West Cary Street, which is now part of the VCU Campus.  Surprisingly in this census, there is no occupation listed for Ada although she is 20.  However, a year later in 1901, we find Ada in the Richmond City Directory.  Although she is still living at her parent's home she is working less than a mile away at 908 Floyd Ave and is listed as being a teacher.  There is no building there now and the property is part of the VCU Campus also.

A portion of page 86 the 1901 City Directory for Richmond, VA.

In the 1910 and 1920 US Census', Ada is back living with her parents.  They are now at 235 Laurel Street, just a couple blocks south of Cary St. in Oregon Hill.  Ada's occupation in both is listed as a teacher.

Augustus died in April 1929 and Isora died shortly thereafter in August 1929.  By this time the family had moved across the river and were living at 4508 Forest Hill Ave.  Augustus died of a heart attack and Isora died of a cerebral hemorrhage.  Both Augustus and Isora were buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Ada as a young woman.  Scanned images from a family scrapbook.  Enhanced by MyHeritage.com  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Ada on her own

So at the beginning of the Great Depression and at the age of 49, Ada is now by herself.  But she is not alone.  While she and her parents lived on Forest Hill Ave., they were just a few blocks down the street on Forest Hill from her aunt and namesake Ada Davidson and her family.  After the death of her parents, she moves in with Ada, two of her daughters and a daughter-in-law.

By 1937, Ada is officially on her own.  She has purchased the home on Forest Hill that she had lived in with her parents nearly a decade earlier.  Realty records for the address show that the two-story house was built in 1928.  Since it was built in 1928, did her parents build it?  Was this then the first property that they had owned and not rented?  Did the property have to be sold in 1929 when Ada's parents both died?  How excited and proud she must have been then to be able to purchase the house by herself in 1937!

In Joseph Davidson's written memories he writes: "Ada was still living in her house at 4508 Forest Hill Avenue.  She lived there as long as she could take care of herself.  When the time came that she could no longer live alone, Sally and I sold her house for her and made arrangements for her to go to the Confederate Home where she lived until her death..."

Ada's house at 4508 Forest Hill Ave.,  and with Joseph Davidson as a small child.  Scanned images from a family scrapbook.  Enhanced by MyHeritage.com  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Ada the Family Historian

The first I knew that Ada was a family historian was when I received from my wife's grandparents a huge handwritten family tree that Ada had made.  I'm not sure when she made this chart, but the latest date on it is 1964.  This chart documents Ada's ancestors of her grandparents Mary Jane Faris and Newton McAlister Lee as well as their descendants.  I'm not sure where Ada got all her documentation for the chart from, as I received no supporting documentation.  But in all my research so far, I've been pretty much able to verify all her information as correct.  A portion of the chart appears below.  I've cropped off the portion with the information of people that are still living for privacy.

A cropped image of the Family Tree Chart made by Ada D. Ball.  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Years later in my researching the Lee/Faris family and the ancestor Major John Finley, whom she said served in the Revolutionary War, I found her application for membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  The DAR is a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America's future through better education.  Membership in the organization is open to women who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence.

Copy of Ada's three-page application to the DAR from April 2, 1928.  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

I was able to retrieve a copy of her application from the online DAR archives.  Only this last month when going through files, did I realize that I was in possession of Ada's official DAR certificate from 1928.

©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Now, let me explain how and why I decided to write this week's family history post about Ada.  Over the night of May 30-31, 2020, the headquarters of the Daughter's of the Confederacy was set on fire in riots in Richmond, Virginia protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis due to police brutality.  This was just one night of riots in Richmond in late May to June.  

At that time I did not know that there was an organization called the Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).  I was aware of the Son's of Confederate Veterans, but not the Daughters.  Let alone that the headquarters of this agency was here in Richmond.  I remembered that one of my wife's female ancestors had died while living in the Confederate Home for Ladies.  And I wondered if the home and the United Daughters of the Confederacy were somehow connected.  Time for some internet research!

The Confederate Home for Ladies is not connected to the Daughters of the Confederacy.  The Confederate Home for Ladies building still exists in Richmond.  The building is part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VFMA) complex and contains offices and meeting space.  Between 1885 and 1941 the VMFA property was the site of a large residential complex for poor and infirm Confederate veterans of the Civil War, established as the R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1 by Confederate Veterans.  During that time, in 1932, a residence for destitute female relatives of Confederate veterans was built on the Shepphard St. side of the property.  This was the creation of the Confederate Home for Ladies.  In 1941 the last confederate veteran of the camp died and the camp reverted to the Commonwealth of Virginia which used it for various purposes before transferring the property to the VFMA in 1964, while the Confederate Home for Ladies continued to operate until it was closed in 1989.  I'm not sure when Ada moved into the home, but she died in the home in 1971.

The Home for Confederate Women was designed by architect Merrill Lee, who was inspired by the neoclassical lines and motifs of the White House. Its soaring ionic portico faces Sheppard Street. Photo: VMFA, Travis Fullerton.

To reside in the home, Ada likely had to prove that she was a female relative of a Confederate veteran.  And Ada's father, Augustus was indeed a Confederate veteran.  Since Ada had applied to the DAR I wondered if she had applied to the United Daughter's of the Confederacy at some time.  The UDC does not have their membership applications online, but I reached out to the archivist, who was able to confirm that Ada had completed an application.  I ordered and quickly received a copy of the application.

Copy of Ada's two-page application to the UDC from September 18, 1912.  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Ada's application to the UDC predates her application to the DAR by 16 years.  She was 32 at the time of her application.

Ada died on April 9, 1971, at the age of 90, just shy of her 91st birthday.  Ada was buried at Hollywood Cemetery with her parents.

Photo Credit: John Shuck from www.findagrave.com 2020.07.01.  1 "'Welcome, happy morning!'
age to age shall say" is from a Hymn.

This turned out to be a much longer post than I had originally anticipated it to be.  Thanks for reading all the way through.

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How I'm "related" to Ada Dandridge Ball:

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References:
http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vmfa/VMFA_SC21_ead.xml;query=
https://hqudc.org
https://www.vmfa.museum/about/grounds-history/