My Genealogy Hound

MRS. MARY E. BALL, wife of Cyrus M. Ball, is one of the most energetic and ambitious little women in Clark County. Being possessed of ample means, she has employed them in making her home beautiful, and has had erected for herself and husband the largest and finest brick mansion to be found in the Buckeye State outside of its large cities. Mrs. Ball, having been reared in the country, prefers to live amid the beauties of nature and where she can give free rein to her artistic desires and enjoy to the full the unrivaled paintings done by the Great Master. She hopes to spend many pleasant hours in the studio which is being made a feature of the new home, being herself an artist and finding one of her chief enjoyments in depicting upon canvas the beauty which is present to her mind. She was known in her maidenhood as Miss Mary E. Linson and is a native of Madison County, in which her grandparents were early pioneers and large land-owners. They were George and Elizabeth (Hutcenpellar) Linson. Her father, John Linson, married Nancy, daughter of David and Mary (Gray) Stroup.

In her early life Mrs. Ball received every advantage of education and training which the means, good breeding and fine position of the family afforded, and her cultured mind, fine manners, and worth of character are a result to be admired. She has no children, but her home is brightened by the presence of her two sisters. Her husband being incapacitated from physical exertion by paralysis, she has oversight of their temporal affairs and ably conducts them. Mr. Ball owns eleven hundred acres of land in this vicinity, the most of it being fine farming land.

Mr. Ball represents two excellent families which have been known in this county for many years. His father, Eulass Ball, was a graduate of Lexington Medical College and, locating at Clifton, was one of the pioneer physicians of this county. He afterward removed to South Charleston and engaged in the mercantile business, buying his goods in Philadelphia and hauling them by teams from Cincinnati. While in business in South Charleston he was married to Miss Margaret, daughter of Mungo Murray of Scotland. Mr. Murray, one of the earliest settlers of this county, was the owner of a large amount of land, among which is the estate occupied by our subject, which fell to the daughter Margaret at her father’s death when she was but eighteen years old. A nice frame house was built in 1837 on the ground now occupied by the present mansion. This gave place in 1868 to a fine brick structure, which in its turn was torn down to make room for the present one. The site is one of the finest, being slightly elevated above the pike leading from South Charleston to Springfield, and overlooking the beautiful valley of the Little Miami River, which stretches away to the northeast. Cyrus M. Ball was married, January 15, 1878, to his present wife.

The mansion which was begun in April, 1889, and which when completed will represent a cost of about $35,000, deserves special mention in this work, as it is without doubt the largest and finest farm house in the State, if not in the United States, and will stand as a monument to the builders formally years. The walnut, cherry, white oak, and other woods used as finishing lumber, have been cut from the premises of Mr. Ball. No convenience to be had in any city will be omitted from this elegant dwelling, which will be furnished with hot and cold water throughout, lighted by gas which can be ignited by electricity, supplied with electric call bells, and connected by telephone with South Charleston, one and a half miles distant. In addition to the numerous fireplaces throughout the building, it will be heated by two large furnaces, each of which will take a stick of wood five feet long. Fourteen radiating pipes from each convey the heat to any part of the building desired. Each floor is abundantly supplied with lavatories, elegantly finished in marble and brass mountings.

Including the basement, the building is four stories high, the dimensions being ninety-nine feet in width from north to south, and one hundred and ten feet long. A porch from nine to fourteen feet wide and one hundred and thirty feet long, encircles the front, the roof being supported by fifty-five turned and carved pillars. This veranda being about five feet above the ground makes a charming promenade overlooking the road and the Miami Valley. The basement floor will be used for kitchen, dining-room, laundry, dairy, cellar, and furnace room. A tramway from the rear of the building to the furnaces and cellar will carry material which can then be distributed by means of an elevator to any of the upper floors. On the first floor will be found the parlors, library, sitting-room, reception room, private sitting-room and bedroom, conservatory, main dining-room and hall. So roomy is the mansion that on this floor a wagon drawn by two horses could be driven from the hall through the parlor, dining-room and sitting-room and ample room afforded in the hall to pass another team. From the private sitting-room on the north, Mr. Ball can have a full view of the road in front and the barns and other outbuildings in the rear. The conservatory is 16x18 feet, with a glass dome eighteen feet in diameter and is separated from the dining-room by a partition through whose crystal purity guests can see the tropical plants which will adorn it. The opposite side of the dining-room will be furnished with a large mirrored sideboard, which will reflect the beauty to those whose backs are toward the conservatory, and give the impression that the latter is duplicated.

The second floor is given up to sleeping rooms which are large, light and airy. Each is finished in a different wood, on which may be seen some handsome carving done by the architect and builders. The rooms all open from a large and well-lighted hall, and immediately in front a turret swell affords place for a cozy little sewing-room, overlooking the road north and south for miles. On the third floor will be a large hall for dancing or other social use, and the art room, which is especially adapted for its purpose, being finished in white and lighted by many large and low windows. The antique room is prepared for the collections of relics, and on this floor will also be found the store room for supplies, the tank room and a number of others.