Born in
Lancaster County, Virginia, Ball received a liberal schooling as a child. He was a slave owner.
Political career He was a member of the
Virginia House of Delegates from 1805 to 1806 and again from 1810 to 1814. He served as a
paymaster in the
War of 1812 and was assigned to the 92nd Virginia Regiment. He later went on to serve in the
Virginia State Senate from 1814 to 1817. He was elected a
Democratic-Republican and later a
Crawford Republican to the
United States House of Representatives in 1816. He was reelected three times before dying in office in 1824.
Death and burial He served in the House from 1817 until his death in
Washington, D.C., on February 29, 1824. He was interred in
Congressional Cemetery. ==See also==