FAITH PROMOTING INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF
PATRIARCH ELIHU K. BALL
This life story is located in my grandmother
Leta Boice Boutwell’s Book of Remembrance
(she is the daughter of Alta Artena Ball -
daughter of Elihu Ball)
(Spelling and punctuation corrections have
been made – no changes were made to the
sentence structure or voice – other
corrections will be shown in parenthesis –
Linda Fretwell Duchaine – April 2007)
Elihu K. Ball was 81 years old when he dictated this history on July 26, 1934
When I was a boy, about fifteen years of age, two Mormon Elders came in our vicinity preaching the gospel.
This was about 1870. I then lived in Russell County, Va. With my father and mother. The names of these
Elders were T.B. Lewis and O.H. Riggs. There were two of my brothers that met up with them, William and
Martin. They embraced the gospel and were baptized by the Elders. After they joined the church, they invited
the Elders to my father’s house. The people in that vicinity were very bitter towards the Mormons. The country
was full of misrepresentations concerning the Latter-Day Saints. When the Elders came to my father’s house,
my mother told my brothers that she wouldn’t cook for them. They asked them out on the porch and they sat
down, and the Elders commenced to sing a song entitled, “We Are The True Born Sons of Zion”. When my
mother heard the song, she couldn’t keep from shedding tears. She then went ahead and prepared a meal
and invited them in to ear. My father had a large orchard of sugar maple trees and also a school house on his
farm. The elders got the privilege of preaching at the school house the next day. The news was spread around
of the hour when the meeting would start and a large crowd gathered to hear the Elders preach. So many
came that the school house would not accommodate them all, so they held the meeting under the maple trees.
T.B. Lewis was a large man weighing two hundred and forty pounds. He delivered the first sermon. He took for
his text a passage in the old Bible which reads something like this, “If the Lord by (thy?) God, follow Him and
Baal be God, follow him.” Two hundred and fifty prophets of Baal challenged Elijah to prove who was the true
God. Elijah told them to build an altar and put their sacrifices on it and pour water on it. The prophets of Baal
were not to pour water on theirs but were to call down their God to send fire to burn their offerings. They did
this but their God didn’t hear them. Then Elijah poured water over his sacrifice and around the altar and called
down help from his God, and his God answered with a fire that burned the sacrifice and licked all the water. T.
B. Lewis preached about two hours, telling the people that when Christ had a church on the earth, they had
prophets and apostles. My father and mother were baptized in Virginia and later they both came to Manassa,
Colorado.
In the spring of 1878, I had a desire to cast my lot with the Latter-Day Saints among the Rocky Mountains. The
morning I left my father’s house, there were 42 of my relatives that came in to bid me goodbye. Some of my
brothers and sisters stopped all night with my mother and father. The next morning at the breakfast table,
which was a long table, I began thinking that this would be the last time I would meet up with my relatives,
especially my father and mother. I filled up so full that I couldn’t eat so I got up and left the table. Then the rest
of them got up from the table and none of them ate their breakfast while I was there. Balford Owens, my
nephew, was also to go with me to Salt Lake.
We started about ten o’clock and he said to me after we started, “Let’s look back”. I said “No”. I didn’t want to
look back or turn back. A passage of scripture came to my mind where it reads something like this,
“Whomsoever puts his shoulder to the plow do not look back”. I felt as if my nephew would turn back before we
got to Salt Lake. After we started we traveled some thirty miles on horse back to a town named Grandy. From
there we walked to Pikesville, Ky. At this place, we bought a little flat boat and sailed down the big Grandy
River to Louisiana. Here we landed and went over into West Virginia and spent a few days with some of our
relatives. While there, my nephew got homesick and wanted me to return to Virginia with him. He even cried
like a child and said he felt as if he would never see any of his folks. When he found out I wouldn’t go with him,
he wanted me to go back to Louise to help him get his ticket to go on the steamboat to Pikesville, Ky. I did so
and saw him board the boat which was the last I saw of him. On May 5, I left Va. And got a steamboat to Louisa
and sailed down the big Sandy River to Cincinnati and there I took a train to Salt Lake. I arrived in the city on
May 13, 1878. I stopped over night at the hotel named the White House. The next morning I made inquiry if
they knew where my brother, W.L. Ball lived. I was told that he lived four blocks south and 5 blocks east of the
hotel. After going to the above description, I found that my brother lived in a big two-story house. I knocked on
the door and his mother-in-law answered it. I asked her if Wm. L. Ball lived there and she said “Yes, but he is
not in. Are you the brother he is looking for?” I told her yes but not to tell him, that I wanted to see if he knew
me. She said she would go and call him. I set my valise behind the door so he wouldn’t see it. He came and
spoke to me politely and seated himself. We began talking and I could see that he didn’t know me. We talked
on for a while and I said “William, I see you don’t know me.” He said “Is that you Elihu? I’ll swan, what made you
fool me?” He then told me to make his house my home.
A copy of a letter received from my friend while in the city.
Elihu K. Ball Esq.
Salt Lake City
Dear and respected friend:
No doubt you will be surprised to receive a note from me. But, sir, I have had the privilege of reading both your
letters, one from Omaha, Neb. And one from the city. I just returned from your kind father’s and will say here
that they are all tolerable. Your letter, though short, gives great satisfaction to your relatives and friends also. I
can fully appreciate every sentiment, line and word of you letter and your feelings when you made yourself
known to your brother. Consequently, I feel no other apology is necessary for writing this note. Bramwell
Owens returned safely a few days after leaving you. The machinery of this neighborhood runs much the same
as when you left us. As John W. Ball writes to you today, no doubt he will give you the mournful tidings of the
death of your brother-in-law, Patton Thompson, who died shortly after you left. Johnny will also tell you of the
sickness in his own family so I remain silent on that subject. Dear friend Elihu, you are now safely in your
present journey’s end. I hope soon to hear that your habitual gentlemanly conduct and good character is still
with you. When you rest up and see all the sights in the city, the mountains and the valleys, that you find time
to write to me as fully on the various points as possible and remember that I remain as ever your true and
affectionate friend.
Very respectfully,
Joseph H. Rutroff
My mother also wrote a letter to William shortly after I arrived in the city. Among other things she said, “My it is
hard to give up our children, especially Elihu. He was such a good son, he was beloved by all who knew him.
There were 42 persons came to see him start.”
After stopping at the city for a while, I fell in with Jack-leg Mormons or “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. They
showed the dark side of everything, would curse and swear and take the name of the Lord in vain. This made
me doubtful whether the Mormons had the true doctrine of Christ. I attended several meetings--on in the
Second Ward Sunday School. Bishop Samuel Peterson was the speaker. He spoke in regard to the Sectarian
preachers and the gentile world. He very often in his remarks made mention of the gentiles. I thought he was
giving me a pretty close rub as I was the only gentile in the house, so I got up and left the meeting. He noticed
me going and sent an apology to me by my brother saying he did not notice me in the house and was not
throwing his remarks at me. This reconciled my feelings. I then was persuaded to attend a priesthood meeting
by my brother. Bishop Hunter was the speaker. He said he hoped he was talking to all Latter-Day Saints or
that all were L.D.S. under the sound of his voice. This brought a passage of scripture to my mind where there
was a marriage given to a King’s son. When the King came in to see the guests he saw there was a man which
did not have on a wedding garment. I was not even a member of the church at this time and was not called
upon by the Holy Priesthood. I felt as though I did not have on a wedding garment. I there and then set a
resolution that I would join the church, that I would no longer look at the actions of men that their actions had
nothing to do with the principals of the church. So on August 11, 1878, I was baptized by my brother, Wm. Ball
and was confirmed same day by Bishop Peterson. I was ordained a deacon some time in August 1878. I
remained in the city until Nov. 7, 1879 then I went to Ft. Harriman 20 miles south of the city. Taught a five
month school. Commenced teaching south of S.L.C. Arrived in Springdale, Utah Aug. 28, 1879. While in
Springdale, I stopped several months with E.F. Green. I was ordained an Elder Sept. 26, 1879, by E.F. Green.
Sometime in the latter part of September, I took chills and fever. I had a chill every other day until Oct. 21 at
which time I called for the Elders to administer to me. I had been in bed all day with a burning hot fever. After I
had been administered to the Elders left and the family went to their dinner in an adjoining room and left me
alone, as I could not eat anything and had not eaten anything that day. While left to myself, I was meditating
and thinking over the past. Thinking that I was far away from home, some 2,500 miles and among stranger with
money and couldn’t work to earn anything. While I was in deep meditation I heard a voice say, “You will be
healed from this very hour”. Almost as quick as lightening I felt a shock pass through my body. It penetrated
my system from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. After the shock, I felt as well as I ever did in my
life. The fever left me.
I could not help shedding tears of joy and praised the Lord to myself when all at once Brother Green came
running in the house and asked me what I wanted. I told him I did not want anything. He said he heard a voice
calling him and he supposed it was me. I told him I had not spoken. I then related the circumstances to him and
told him I felt as well as I ever did in my life. I then got up out of my bed and went in the dining and ate a hearty
meal.
Sometime in the latter part of the winter of 1879 and the first of the year 1880, I left Springdale for Salt Lake
City. I remained in the city and its surroundings until Oct. 25, 1880. I then left for Manassa, Conejos County,
Colorado. I arrived in Manassa on Oct. 29, 1880. When I landed in the San Luis Valley, I only had ten dollars
in cash. I went to Alamosa (about 25 miles north of Manassa) to seek employment. I lost a five dollar bill which
left me only five. I did not succeed in getting work. I then returned and went about nine miles southwest to
Antonito. There I got employment as fuel keeper on the D&RGW at $2.25 a day. While working at Antonito I
was introduced to one Minta Ellen Kirtland, daughter of Bird J. and Mary A. Kirtland. I wooed and won her. I
returned to Manassa Sept. 1, 1881. About July 10, I wrote to my intended bride asking her to be my wife. Of
course she said yes.
I will now copy a letter I wrote her after she accepted my offer of marriage.
La Jara, Colorado
Antonito, Colorado
July 17, 1881
Dear Minta,
Many thanks for your kind letter which I received Friday evening. I read your letter with the greatest of
pleasure. I thank you also for accepting my offer of marriage. In my single state, there is always something
wanting; my happiness in incomplete. I lack a loving heart to beat in unison with my own. In your affection,
Minta, I have found consolation, and I hope and trust that our future career will be one of happiness. I feel it
will be so for my feelings and affections are much too strong ever to wander from one that is so good and
generous. I hope always to merit your unaffected regard. Minta, it is your privilege to name the day of marriage
which I hope you will at an early date. Hoping that our mutual sympathies may continue while life lasts, I remain
your affectionate lover,
E.K. Ball
Copy of a letter asking Mrs. Kirtland for her daughter:
Antonito, Colorado
July 16, 1881
Mrs. Kirtland,
Your daughter Minta, has accepted me. May I have her? My condition is somewhat humble at present, but I
hope I will be able to provide for myself and a wife. As regards to my character and disposition, I trust they are
sufficiently known to you to give you confidence in the prospect of your daughter’s happiness. Anxiously
awaiting the result of your consideration on this subject, I remain, respectfully.
E.K. Ball
Copy of the answer to the above letter:
Manassa, Colorado
July 18, 1881
Mr. E.K. Ball
Antonito, Colorado
Dear Sir:
Your note of the 16th has been received and the contents thereof noted and carefully considered, and I
assure you to give my daughter to be the wife of any man is quite a serious matter with me. But as I know of
nothing that would justify me in not granting your request, you have my consent. Hoping that the matter may
prove to be good for the mutual welfare of both Minta and yourself.
I am most respectfully,
M.A. Kirtland
As I said before, I returned to Manassa the 1st of Sept. and was married Sept. 4, 1881 by WM. Ball. After we
were married I built a little log cabin 16 by 18 feet. Did some fencing, put in a crop but raised very little grain.
This caused me to vacate the ranch which I afterwards sold to Eli McIntyre. In the spring of 1883, we moved
back to Manassa then I went to Summitville and stayed until the last of Sept. Then I again returned to
Manassa. The 7th of Nov. 1883, I commenced working for D.E. Newcomb between the Alamosa and La Jara
Creek. Worked for him until August 22, 1884.
The follow is a copy of a Recommend:
August 22, 1884
To whom it may concern: This is to certify that Elihu Ball has been employed by the La Jara Creamery and
Live Stock Assoc. as foreman, and we found him as a faithful, honest and capable man…always willing to do
his duty and needs no watching. Works just as well when his employer is absent was when he is with him.
I will here state that I have always taken a recommend with me from one branch of the church to another.
After I left D.E. Newcomb, I returned to Manassa on Oct. 3, 1884. Myself, wife and two children, Alta and Elsie,
started to Salt Lake City. We went from the city to the Logan Temple in the northern part of Utah. The 16th
day of Oct. 1884, my wife and I got our endowments and were sealed to each other for time and all eternity by
M.W. Merrill. At the same time, we had our two little children sealed to us. We returned home to Manassa
toward the last of Oct. 1884. In the spring of 1885, I put in a crop at Manassa, the I went to the tie camp near
Bighorn Mountain. Chopped and hauled ties the rest of the summer. I then returned home and hauled wood
and posts the most of the fall and winter of 1885. In the spring of 1886, I bought me a pony team and farmed
the rest of the spring and summer. I was ordained on of the Seventy Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints by Miels C. Heiselt, June 27, 1886.
While I remained in Manassa, I assisted the teachers in their labors. March 6, 1888, we moved on to James
McCarrol’s ranch about one mile north east of Conejos. We stopped in the ranch five years. March 7, 1891, I
was appointed to preside over the Mountain View branch of the Manassa Ward. Sept. 27, 1892, I was set
apart to preside over the Mountain View Branch and also set apart as the Supt. Of the Mountain View Sunday
School. March 2, 1895, I moved to Mtn. View. Feb. 7, 1894, I was elected president of School Boards District
No. 28. Feb. 18, 1894, I was elected president of the directors of the northeastern ditch company. May 27,
1894, I was ordained and set apart as one of the Stake High Counselors by Apostle John Henry Smith. Feb.
16, 1896, I was ordained a patriarch in the San Luis Stake of Zion by Apostle Heber J. Grant.
We moved back to McCarrol’s ranch 1 mile N.E. of Conjos, Colo. On the morning of Nov. 14, 1897, we moved
to a ranch which we purchased from the state about 3 miles south of La Jara. I still presided over the Mountain
View Branch until 1896. At this time, the branch was divided. Two branches were made of the one, so I was
requested by Samuel Jackson, Bp, to give the part where I lived a new name. The name Bountiful suggested
itself to me. This name I put before the Brothers and Sisters for approval or rejection. It was unanimously
agreed by all present to call the new branch Bountiful. Afterwards, we selected a new town site which we also
called Bountiful. The presidency of the Stake, Alvert R. Smith, Etc. John Mayfield and myself made the
selection of the new town site.
Shortly after this time I had a dream. I dreamed that Apostle Henry Smith, myself and others were sitting on a
stage. When we were seated there, we saw the devil appear in the doorway. He began to peer forward into the
door and looked at us. Apostle Smith rebuked him and as he did so, the devil glanced at the big double
window that was on the other side of the room. He went over to the window that was on the other side of the
room. He went to the window and went through it. I said to Apostle Smith “Isn’t it strange that the devil could go
through the window without breaking it?” He said, “It isn’t very strange because the devil hasn’t any body and
therefore doesn’t break the glass”.
John Mayfield, one of our neighbors lost his mind. He was very jealous of two other men, Will Hunnicutt and
Billy Dotson because he imagined they would pay attention to his wife. One day he was sitting in the house
and as he looked out of the window he saw a donkey and said, “There is Will Hunnicutt or Billy Dotson”.
Someone who was in the room with him looked out of the window and saw only the donkey and said, “No, it isn’
t either one”. John repeated, “Yes, it is. Just look at their ears”. Later John came to my house and brought
some evil spirits with him. When he left, some of the spirits stayed in my house so I rebuked them and told
them to go follow their master, which they did.
I was set apart by Albert R. Smith as presiding Elder of the Bountiful branch of the Manassa Ward and also
Supt. Of the Sunday School. I called upon Bro. Aaron S. Hawkins to assist me in teaching the families of
Bountiful. Many times we visited a family and a man by the name of Henry H. Arther. Each time we brought up
the subject of tithing, he would say he believed in tithing, but he wouldn’t pay any because they sent the
money to Salt Lake where the authorities and their wives spent the money that was sent up there. We told him
there was a sugar factory in Utah that belonged to the church and that enough money was made there to keep
the men who were laboring among the people. (don’t understand what this sentence means???) He said if
they would not send the money to Salt Lake but kept it in the Stake he would pay as much money as anyone. I
then asked him if he paid fast offerings, because they were kept in the Stake. He said, “No, I haven’t paid any
fast offerings.” On our way back, we felt quite blue because our teachings didn’t have any affect on him. It was
just like pouring water on a duck’s back. I felt impressed to say to Brother Hawkins that the Lord could take the
tithing from him I f He wanted to and even more than the tithing by causing his stock to die. While he was
putting in his crop of grain his stock began to die. Each horse died with a different kind of disease and some of
his cows died also. That left him without any horses to farm with. We felt sorry for him then so each one of us
loaned him a horse to finish putting in his crop. Our horses didn’t die and were returned to us in the fall of the
year as well as when we loaned them to him. In the fall of the year, he told us that he had lost more than $566
worth of horses and cows. You can see that was more than the tithing.
One year when I lived there in Bountiful, I had sowed a lot of grain and it looked fairly well. There was not any
fences in Bountiful to the foothills west. There was a band of houses running on the foothills. One day when I
was down in the field working there came up a great hail storm. It commended on the foothills west of where I
was farming and was coming towards my ranch where I had my crop. It made a terrible noise and the bank of
horses came running towards my place. I called my family together and knelt down and prayed that the hail
storm might divide and not come and ruin my crop. The storm did divide, part of it going to La Jara and part of
it to Romeo, where it did great damage.
My father and mother came out to Manassa from Virginia. After they had lived there awhile, they went to
Cheny, Kansas where they both died. Shortly after their death, I had a dream that my mother came to me
dressed in white and said to me, “Elihu, the next time you go to the house of the Lord, or the Temple, I will be
87 and your father 93.” I thought no more of the dream after that time, until on Sunday I attended a meeting in
the Stake house in Manassa. Pres. Albert R. Smith called me up to the stand and said that he wanted to talk to
me. He said, “Brother Ball, I want you to go to the conference which is to be held in a short time in Salt Lake
City and represent the High Counsel of the Stake.” I said to him, “Brother Smith, I don’t know whether or not I
can get the money to go.” He said, “I want you to take your wife with you. You might want to do some work in
the Temple while you are gone. “ When I went back home, I told my wife that Pres. Smith wanted us to go to
Salt Lake to conference and I didn’t know whether or not I could get the money. She said, “Well we’ll go.” I
said, “I will go down to La Jata and see if I could borrow the money at the bank.” On the way down, I thought of
the dream I had where my mother had appeared to me in white and I counted up and found out that this year
my mother would be 87 and father 93. I went to the bank and asked them if I could borrow a certain amount of
money and they said, “Yes, you can get all you want.” When I got home I asked my wife if she remembered
the dream I had about my mother five years ago and she said, “yes, I thought of it while you were gone to La
Jara.” I then told Brother Smith we could go. Pres. Smith then told me he wanted us to receive our second
anointing while we were in the temple. We went to Salt Lake City and attended the conference in 1904.
Afterwards, we went to the Temple and did the work for my father and mother and got our blessings. When we
returned home the next Sunday, we attended a meeting in Manassa and Pres. Smith called upon us to preach
and we reported our labors while at conference and in the Temple. My wife talked for half and hour, and Rob
Haynie said it was the best sermon he had ever heard a woman preach. When I got up to talk I was feeling
good, and I told about the dream I had had about my mother and how it was just five years after the dream the
Pres. Smith called up to go to Salt Lake. Pres. Smith then got up and said he didn’t know anything about the
dream but felt impressed to call upon me to go. I am now 81 years old the 19th of Sept. 1934 and my wife will
be 71 on Nov. 12, 1934. Feb. 16, 1895, I was ordained a Patriarch in the San Luis Stake of Zion by Apostle
Heber J. Grant.
Up until this date, July 26, 1934, I have given 1,125 Patriarchal Blessings. While giving a blessing to Wm.
Christensen’s son, Martin Christensen in the year of 1899, I was left to myself and the spirit withdrew from me
and it was just like a white sheet of paper was dropped before my eyes and I couldn’t utter another word. I took
my hands off from his head and said I didn’t know what was wrong. There is something the matter with either
you or I. I don’t know which. I can’t go ahead with the blessing. I suggested that we then kneel down and pray.
His brother, Erastus, was acting as scribe. I asked him to lead in prayer. After we got up I felt at liberty to go
ahead and continue the blessing. I laid my hands upon his head and the blessing came free. When I got
thought I said, “There was something the matter with one of us. I don’t know which.” He said, “It was with me.
Just as you got where you couldn’t go any further I was thinking and wondering whether you were guided by
the spirit of the Lord or whether you were just making up a little recitation of your own. That is the greatest
testimony I have ever received.” When his brother, Erastus, was delivering a sermon, afterwards, he told of the
circumstances of the Patriarch giving his brother a blessing and that he couldn’t continue giving the blessing
until we knelt down and prayed, and what surprised him evermore was the fact that the Patriarch commence in
the middle of the sentence where he left off and finished giving the blessing.
In the year 1884, Andy and George Dougherty and I worked for Dan Newcomb. George Dougherty married my
niece. Andy had a premonition that he wouldn’t live long. We were working on top of a large barn and he was
afraid he would fall off and kill himself. He was bitter against the Mormons. One Sunday morning I told George
and Andy that I was going to Manassa to meeting and Andy said, “I’ll go with you.” There was a Mormon girl by
the name of Laurie Daniels who was working for Newcombs at the same time. She asked if she could go along
too. We told her yes. A little later George asked if he could go along and we told him yes. We hitched some
horses up to a double rig. They were none too gentle. When we got ready to start Mrs. Newcomb said to Andy,
who was a good shot, to take his gun along and their dog, who was not good, to the brushland and shoot him.
We started with George and I in the front seat and Andy and Laurie in the back. Andy took his Winchester with
him and then called the old dog. On the way, Andy said, “When I die I’m going to be Bishop of dog heaven.”
And again, cold chills ran down my back. When we got down to the brushland, Andy said, “Here’s the place to
kill the dog.” He got out of the buggy and the dog was about 25 yards away, he shot but missed the dog. The
dog ran on a little way and Andy shot again and missed. The dog went on farther and he shot the third time
but only glazed the top of the dog’s back. The dog was too far, so he came back to the buggy and started to
shove the gun under the back seat. The lock caught on the back ingate causing the gun to go off and shoot
him in the chest. George said, “Lord, have mercy, my brother has shot himself.” He threw the lines down and
jumped over the back seat, knocking Laurie and the seat over. I grabbed the lines as the horses started up.
They ran down the road about 200 yards before I could get them stopped. I turned the horses around to
where Andy lay with George over him crying and taking on. I gave the lines to Laurie and told her to hold the
houses until I got out and saw where Andy was shot. I pulled George up and told him we had to see where
Andy was shot. I saw Andy’s overcoat was on fire so I unbuttoned it and his shirt. I saw that the bullet had gone
in about one inch below the left nipple and came out at his back, right at the cross of his suspenders. I said to
George, “He is shot in a bad place. We’ve got to get him back to Newcomb’s and to a doctor at once.” Andy
only spoke three or four words after he was shot. He said, “Oh, what will my poor mother say when she hears
of this. It’s dark, it’s dark, it’s dark.” I wondered at the time if he meant the future was dark or that death coming
on him made it seem dark. We put him in the buggy and drove back to Ed Newcombs which was nearer than
Dan Newcombs. We sent a runner for the doctor, but Andy was dead before the doctor arrived. My sister was
working for Ed Newcombs and when the accident occurred a man came there and said, “How did Andy get
killed?” Ed said, “Why, he shot himself.” The man said, “I doubt it very much. This thing has to be
investigated.” Ed said, “Oh its so, I guess because Andy’s brother was along also.” The man replied, “Well that
settles it then.” I never did believe in convicting a man on circumstantial evidence. I felt impressed that this was
a judgment sent on Andy because of the remarks he made about being Bishop and going to dog heaven when
he died. We buried him at Dan Newcombs. George asked me to preach at his funeral, and I called upon the
people of the settlement who were non-Mormons to sing, and I preached a short sermon.
I went to Platora to cut some cord wood for the mining camp to help support my family, and one day, when I
went to the Post Office, a letter was handed to me, and I immediately felt by the spirit that something was
wrong at home, that some of them were sick. It said my oldest daughter was sick with pneumonia. My wife didn’
t say she would send for me, but I felt impressed that she would do so. Brother Leroy Martin was hauling the
posts I was cutting, and I told him to keep a sharp look out for a grey horse and buggy that some was coming
for me. Brother Martin and I were doing our own cooking and the buggy didn’t appear in daylight, but as soon
as nightfall came, and we were seated at the supper table, I heard the horse and buggy coming. I said to
Brother Martin, “There they come now.” Carson Kidd was driving the horse, and he said that Alta (my
daughter) was very low and my wife wanted me to come home, and that he would stay and work in my place.
There was no moon and it was very dark and a fearful snow storm had set in. I would have to go through a
large woodland, and I didn’t think I would find my way, but I prepared to start by daybreak. There had fallen
during the night about a foot of new snow on the old. I had faith enough to believe that if I could get home
before Alta died and I could administer to her, her life would be spared. I drove in great haste and reached
home and found her very bad indeed. I administered to her and she seemed to be relieved at once and was
speedily restored to health and strength. I have always believed in following the impression of the spirit and
have always believed in dreams.
White in Platora working, one evening just before supper, Bro. Martin came in and told me that he had lost ten
dollars somewhere on the streets of Platora, and he asked me to kneel down and pray that whoever found the
money might be led to return the same to him. My first thought was that this was a little thing to pray about, but
when I looked at Brother Martin (here was a one-armed man) and he had a large family to support, my heart
went out in sympathy to him. I told him I would and he asked me to lead in prayer and I did. I asked the Lord
that whosoever found the ten dollars would be led to make inquiry as to who had lost the money, and that it
would be returned to Brother Martin. When we got up from prayer, we went ahead to get our supper. While we
were getting our supper, a knock came at our door and when I opened it, a man was standing there and he
asked me if either one of us had lost any money. I told him yes, that Bro. Martin had lost ten dollars. He then
said, “Here it is, I picked it up on the street.” This man’s name was John Lanston. He was rather a wicked man,
but he was honest.
One time I had decided to go into the mountains and take two teams to get a couple of loads of wood and was
going to take my son James (just then in his teens) to drive one team for me. The night before I started, I
dreamed the team that James was to drive ran away and the neck yoke came loose from the tongue of the
wagon and the wagon went down the hill so fast that the tongue ran under a stump, and I had to hitch my team
on the back of the other wagon to pull it out. The next morning, I was so impressed with the dream that I
thought it was a warning not to take my by with me in fear he would come to some harm. I hired a man to go
with me in his place. On the road to the mountains, I stopped and told a man by the name of Roy Bernhardt
about my dream, and he said, “Hell, that will never happen.” After getting up on the mountain and starting back
with a load of wood, the neck yoke of the wagon that this other man was driving gave way and the team began
to run and the wagon tongue ran under a large stump, and we had to hook onto the rear of the wagon to pull
the tongue from under the huge stump, just as I had dreamed it.
On another occasion, I went up in the pinion hills to haul a load of wood all alone and after driving up a rocky
dugway and on top of the hill where I loaded, I had an impression that something was going wrong with me or
my team and wagon, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. After I loaded and started back down the dugway, the
wagon wheel broke down. It completely broke the spokes and fellies out of the wheel. I went back to find the
wagon tire which was three hundred yards back. I back-tracked the wagon and found the tire, and if I had
heeded the impression, I would have been saved of the break down.
At another time, Alezander B. Kidd and I went up to the high mountains to get us each a load of wood. We
stopped our teams and loads of wood up on top of a high hill that we had to go down, and before starting
down (my team was in the lead), I noticed that Brother Kidd had a short brake beam on his wagon and a rope
tied to the top of the beam. I suggested to him that he cut a longer brake beam before leaving the top of the
hill, for I know the rope would pull off the top of the beam when he got to the steep of the hill. One of his
horses was a bronco. He said that would be alright the way it was and would not consent to cut a new beam. I
told him if he wouldn’t do as I suggested, he would have to go down the hill first, but he would not do this on
account of the bronco he was driving. I told him then to wait until I got half way down the hill before he started,
or he would run into my wagon, and I felt we would have a serious accident. Just as he got to the steep of the
hill, the rope slipped off the beam and turned the wagon loose, and he came down the road helter-skelter right
towards me. I thought if I could get past the turn in the road that he wouldn’t hit my wagon, but would hit a large
log by the side of the road instead. As he was coming down the road at a very fast rat of speed calling with
every breath, “Oh, Brother Ball, Oh, Brother Ball.” I gave my horses the word to go and somewhat released my
brake and went quite fast down the rest of the hill until I passed the turn in safety. As he got to the turn of the
road the horses didn’t take it but went over this big log and fell down. He had a very difficult time in getting the
horses loose as the harness had tightened so. We finally had to cut some of the harness to loosen them and
hook on to the rear of the wagon to pull it on to the road again. If he had heeded my impression this trouble
would have been saved.
My two sons, James and Fred, had each taken up a homestead near Mesa Mountain in the year of 1916. Fred
was camping at one of the cabins and I was at the other. During the night, there came up a large snowstorm
and the snow was drifting very badly. It was understood that Fred should come over to my cabin early the next
morning. I felt impressed that he would get lost among the timbers as it was very dense and he had to pass
through the pinion and cedar groves. I thought that I had better go and try to find him. In went up in the timber
quite a ways and called for him. He had started to the cabin where I was and had gotten lost and was way off in
the timbers. He heard my voice and came towards it and it saved any further trouble.
We located at a place that we afterwards called Mountain View. The people in that locality decided to build a
school house. I was elected to the board of directors. We let a contract to a man by the name of Baker to build
a lumber school house for seven hundred dollars. The lumber was hauled on the location where the house
was to be built, and Baker went to work building the same. He had put up the frame and the weather-boarding
of the house and had put on a shingle roof and was building the flue. At this time, Burnhart and I went to
inspect his work, we hadn’t been there previous to that time. When we got about two hundred yards from the
house where he was at work, I felt impressed that the flue would fall down, and I said to Burnhart, “What if the
chimney should fall down and kill the teacher or some of the pupils?” He said, “Oh hell, that would never
happen. Baker has built too many houses not to brace the flue well enough so it would not fall down.” The
chimney was just out of the roof of the house at this time. We hadn’t gone one hundred yards when we heard
the crash and saw the dust rising up and Burnhart said, “Well, I’ll be damned, there it goes now.” The brick fell
and broke the tip joints and floor joints right where the teacher would have had to sit. Burnhart didn’t belong to
the church and that was a great surprise to him.
One time when my wife and I were milking, when we were living on the McCarrol ranch and our team that we
farmed with was right close to the lot where we kept our milk cows. This happened about sundown. We saw
both of the horses there when we went to the house. Just after dark, one of the horses came up close to the
house neighing, and we wondered what was the matter with the other horse. I started out to hunt him. The
fence was around one hundred and sixty acres of land. When I started out, it was after dark. I went all over the
hundred and sixty acres in every direction, and I couldn’t find the missing horse anywhere. This was a very
dark night. No moon shining, and I thought after looking around a long time that I would have to give it up and
go back to the house. I started back and had to go through the potato patch. When I was completely given up
finding him, I heard a voice say, “Go north.” I turned and went thirty steps (and saw) that there lay the horse.
He had been rolling and had turned over between two potato rows, his back down so he couldn’t get a good
foot hold. I took a rope and tied to his feet and turned him over and he got up, and it saved his life.
PATRIARCH ELIHU K. BALL
This life story is located in my grandmother
Leta Boice Boutwell’s Book of Remembrance
(she is the daughter of Alta Artena Ball -
daughter of Elihu Ball)
(Spelling and punctuation corrections have
been made – no changes were made to the
sentence structure or voice – other
corrections will be shown in parenthesis –
Linda Fretwell Duchaine – April 2007)
Elihu K. Ball was 81 years old when he dictated this history on July 26, 1934
When I was a boy, about fifteen years of age, two Mormon Elders came in our vicinity preaching the gospel.
This was about 1870. I then lived in Russell County, Va. With my father and mother. The names of these
Elders were T.B. Lewis and O.H. Riggs. There were two of my brothers that met up with them, William and
Martin. They embraced the gospel and were baptized by the Elders. After they joined the church, they invited
the Elders to my father’s house. The people in that vicinity were very bitter towards the Mormons. The country
was full of misrepresentations concerning the Latter-Day Saints. When the Elders came to my father’s house,
my mother told my brothers that she wouldn’t cook for them. They asked them out on the porch and they sat
down, and the Elders commenced to sing a song entitled, “We Are The True Born Sons of Zion”. When my
mother heard the song, she couldn’t keep from shedding tears. She then went ahead and prepared a meal
and invited them in to ear. My father had a large orchard of sugar maple trees and also a school house on his
farm. The elders got the privilege of preaching at the school house the next day. The news was spread around
of the hour when the meeting would start and a large crowd gathered to hear the Elders preach. So many
came that the school house would not accommodate them all, so they held the meeting under the maple trees.
T.B. Lewis was a large man weighing two hundred and forty pounds. He delivered the first sermon. He took for
his text a passage in the old Bible which reads something like this, “If the Lord by (thy?) God, follow Him and
Baal be God, follow him.” Two hundred and fifty prophets of Baal challenged Elijah to prove who was the true
God. Elijah told them to build an altar and put their sacrifices on it and pour water on it. The prophets of Baal
were not to pour water on theirs but were to call down their God to send fire to burn their offerings. They did
this but their God didn’t hear them. Then Elijah poured water over his sacrifice and around the altar and called
down help from his God, and his God answered with a fire that burned the sacrifice and licked all the water. T.
B. Lewis preached about two hours, telling the people that when Christ had a church on the earth, they had
prophets and apostles. My father and mother were baptized in Virginia and later they both came to Manassa,
Colorado.
In the spring of 1878, I had a desire to cast my lot with the Latter-Day Saints among the Rocky Mountains. The
morning I left my father’s house, there were 42 of my relatives that came in to bid me goodbye. Some of my
brothers and sisters stopped all night with my mother and father. The next morning at the breakfast table,
which was a long table, I began thinking that this would be the last time I would meet up with my relatives,
especially my father and mother. I filled up so full that I couldn’t eat so I got up and left the table. Then the rest
of them got up from the table and none of them ate their breakfast while I was there. Balford Owens, my
nephew, was also to go with me to Salt Lake.
We started about ten o’clock and he said to me after we started, “Let’s look back”. I said “No”. I didn’t want to
look back or turn back. A passage of scripture came to my mind where it reads something like this,
“Whomsoever puts his shoulder to the plow do not look back”. I felt as if my nephew would turn back before we
got to Salt Lake. After we started we traveled some thirty miles on horse back to a town named Grandy. From
there we walked to Pikesville, Ky. At this place, we bought a little flat boat and sailed down the big Grandy
River to Louisiana. Here we landed and went over into West Virginia and spent a few days with some of our
relatives. While there, my nephew got homesick and wanted me to return to Virginia with him. He even cried
like a child and said he felt as if he would never see any of his folks. When he found out I wouldn’t go with him,
he wanted me to go back to Louise to help him get his ticket to go on the steamboat to Pikesville, Ky. I did so
and saw him board the boat which was the last I saw of him. On May 5, I left Va. And got a steamboat to Louisa
and sailed down the big Sandy River to Cincinnati and there I took a train to Salt Lake. I arrived in the city on
May 13, 1878. I stopped over night at the hotel named the White House. The next morning I made inquiry if
they knew where my brother, W.L. Ball lived. I was told that he lived four blocks south and 5 blocks east of the
hotel. After going to the above description, I found that my brother lived in a big two-story house. I knocked on
the door and his mother-in-law answered it. I asked her if Wm. L. Ball lived there and she said “Yes, but he is
not in. Are you the brother he is looking for?” I told her yes but not to tell him, that I wanted to see if he knew
me. She said she would go and call him. I set my valise behind the door so he wouldn’t see it. He came and
spoke to me politely and seated himself. We began talking and I could see that he didn’t know me. We talked
on for a while and I said “William, I see you don’t know me.” He said “Is that you Elihu? I’ll swan, what made you
fool me?” He then told me to make his house my home.
A copy of a letter received from my friend while in the city.
Elihu K. Ball Esq.
Salt Lake City
Dear and respected friend:
No doubt you will be surprised to receive a note from me. But, sir, I have had the privilege of reading both your
letters, one from Omaha, Neb. And one from the city. I just returned from your kind father’s and will say here
that they are all tolerable. Your letter, though short, gives great satisfaction to your relatives and friends also. I
can fully appreciate every sentiment, line and word of you letter and your feelings when you made yourself
known to your brother. Consequently, I feel no other apology is necessary for writing this note. Bramwell
Owens returned safely a few days after leaving you. The machinery of this neighborhood runs much the same
as when you left us. As John W. Ball writes to you today, no doubt he will give you the mournful tidings of the
death of your brother-in-law, Patton Thompson, who died shortly after you left. Johnny will also tell you of the
sickness in his own family so I remain silent on that subject. Dear friend Elihu, you are now safely in your
present journey’s end. I hope soon to hear that your habitual gentlemanly conduct and good character is still
with you. When you rest up and see all the sights in the city, the mountains and the valleys, that you find time
to write to me as fully on the various points as possible and remember that I remain as ever your true and
affectionate friend.
Very respectfully,
Joseph H. Rutroff
My mother also wrote a letter to William shortly after I arrived in the city. Among other things she said, “My it is
hard to give up our children, especially Elihu. He was such a good son, he was beloved by all who knew him.
There were 42 persons came to see him start.”
After stopping at the city for a while, I fell in with Jack-leg Mormons or “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. They
showed the dark side of everything, would curse and swear and take the name of the Lord in vain. This made
me doubtful whether the Mormons had the true doctrine of Christ. I attended several meetings--on in the
Second Ward Sunday School. Bishop Samuel Peterson was the speaker. He spoke in regard to the Sectarian
preachers and the gentile world. He very often in his remarks made mention of the gentiles. I thought he was
giving me a pretty close rub as I was the only gentile in the house, so I got up and left the meeting. He noticed
me going and sent an apology to me by my brother saying he did not notice me in the house and was not
throwing his remarks at me. This reconciled my feelings. I then was persuaded to attend a priesthood meeting
by my brother. Bishop Hunter was the speaker. He said he hoped he was talking to all Latter-Day Saints or
that all were L.D.S. under the sound of his voice. This brought a passage of scripture to my mind where there
was a marriage given to a King’s son. When the King came in to see the guests he saw there was a man which
did not have on a wedding garment. I was not even a member of the church at this time and was not called
upon by the Holy Priesthood. I felt as though I did not have on a wedding garment. I there and then set a
resolution that I would join the church, that I would no longer look at the actions of men that their actions had
nothing to do with the principals of the church. So on August 11, 1878, I was baptized by my brother, Wm. Ball
and was confirmed same day by Bishop Peterson. I was ordained a deacon some time in August 1878. I
remained in the city until Nov. 7, 1879 then I went to Ft. Harriman 20 miles south of the city. Taught a five
month school. Commenced teaching south of S.L.C. Arrived in Springdale, Utah Aug. 28, 1879. While in
Springdale, I stopped several months with E.F. Green. I was ordained an Elder Sept. 26, 1879, by E.F. Green.
Sometime in the latter part of September, I took chills and fever. I had a chill every other day until Oct. 21 at
which time I called for the Elders to administer to me. I had been in bed all day with a burning hot fever. After I
had been administered to the Elders left and the family went to their dinner in an adjoining room and left me
alone, as I could not eat anything and had not eaten anything that day. While left to myself, I was meditating
and thinking over the past. Thinking that I was far away from home, some 2,500 miles and among stranger with
money and couldn’t work to earn anything. While I was in deep meditation I heard a voice say, “You will be
healed from this very hour”. Almost as quick as lightening I felt a shock pass through my body. It penetrated
my system from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. After the shock, I felt as well as I ever did in my
life. The fever left me.
I could not help shedding tears of joy and praised the Lord to myself when all at once Brother Green came
running in the house and asked me what I wanted. I told him I did not want anything. He said he heard a voice
calling him and he supposed it was me. I told him I had not spoken. I then related the circumstances to him and
told him I felt as well as I ever did in my life. I then got up out of my bed and went in the dining and ate a hearty
meal.
Sometime in the latter part of the winter of 1879 and the first of the year 1880, I left Springdale for Salt Lake
City. I remained in the city and its surroundings until Oct. 25, 1880. I then left for Manassa, Conejos County,
Colorado. I arrived in Manassa on Oct. 29, 1880. When I landed in the San Luis Valley, I only had ten dollars
in cash. I went to Alamosa (about 25 miles north of Manassa) to seek employment. I lost a five dollar bill which
left me only five. I did not succeed in getting work. I then returned and went about nine miles southwest to
Antonito. There I got employment as fuel keeper on the D&RGW at $2.25 a day. While working at Antonito I
was introduced to one Minta Ellen Kirtland, daughter of Bird J. and Mary A. Kirtland. I wooed and won her. I
returned to Manassa Sept. 1, 1881. About July 10, I wrote to my intended bride asking her to be my wife. Of
course she said yes.
I will now copy a letter I wrote her after she accepted my offer of marriage.
La Jara, Colorado
Antonito, Colorado
July 17, 1881
Dear Minta,
Many thanks for your kind letter which I received Friday evening. I read your letter with the greatest of
pleasure. I thank you also for accepting my offer of marriage. In my single state, there is always something
wanting; my happiness in incomplete. I lack a loving heart to beat in unison with my own. In your affection,
Minta, I have found consolation, and I hope and trust that our future career will be one of happiness. I feel it
will be so for my feelings and affections are much too strong ever to wander from one that is so good and
generous. I hope always to merit your unaffected regard. Minta, it is your privilege to name the day of marriage
which I hope you will at an early date. Hoping that our mutual sympathies may continue while life lasts, I remain
your affectionate lover,
E.K. Ball
Copy of a letter asking Mrs. Kirtland for her daughter:
Antonito, Colorado
July 16, 1881
Mrs. Kirtland,
Your daughter Minta, has accepted me. May I have her? My condition is somewhat humble at present, but I
hope I will be able to provide for myself and a wife. As regards to my character and disposition, I trust they are
sufficiently known to you to give you confidence in the prospect of your daughter’s happiness. Anxiously
awaiting the result of your consideration on this subject, I remain, respectfully.
E.K. Ball
Copy of the answer to the above letter:
Manassa, Colorado
July 18, 1881
Mr. E.K. Ball
Antonito, Colorado
Dear Sir:
Your note of the 16th has been received and the contents thereof noted and carefully considered, and I
assure you to give my daughter to be the wife of any man is quite a serious matter with me. But as I know of
nothing that would justify me in not granting your request, you have my consent. Hoping that the matter may
prove to be good for the mutual welfare of both Minta and yourself.
I am most respectfully,
M.A. Kirtland
As I said before, I returned to Manassa the 1st of Sept. and was married Sept. 4, 1881 by WM. Ball. After we
were married I built a little log cabin 16 by 18 feet. Did some fencing, put in a crop but raised very little grain.
This caused me to vacate the ranch which I afterwards sold to Eli McIntyre. In the spring of 1883, we moved
back to Manassa then I went to Summitville and stayed until the last of Sept. Then I again returned to
Manassa. The 7th of Nov. 1883, I commenced working for D.E. Newcomb between the Alamosa and La Jara
Creek. Worked for him until August 22, 1884.
The follow is a copy of a Recommend:
August 22, 1884
To whom it may concern: This is to certify that Elihu Ball has been employed by the La Jara Creamery and
Live Stock Assoc. as foreman, and we found him as a faithful, honest and capable man…always willing to do
his duty and needs no watching. Works just as well when his employer is absent was when he is with him.
I will here state that I have always taken a recommend with me from one branch of the church to another.
After I left D.E. Newcomb, I returned to Manassa on Oct. 3, 1884. Myself, wife and two children, Alta and Elsie,
started to Salt Lake City. We went from the city to the Logan Temple in the northern part of Utah. The 16th
day of Oct. 1884, my wife and I got our endowments and were sealed to each other for time and all eternity by
M.W. Merrill. At the same time, we had our two little children sealed to us. We returned home to Manassa
toward the last of Oct. 1884. In the spring of 1885, I put in a crop at Manassa, the I went to the tie camp near
Bighorn Mountain. Chopped and hauled ties the rest of the summer. I then returned home and hauled wood
and posts the most of the fall and winter of 1885. In the spring of 1886, I bought me a pony team and farmed
the rest of the spring and summer. I was ordained on of the Seventy Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints by Miels C. Heiselt, June 27, 1886.
While I remained in Manassa, I assisted the teachers in their labors. March 6, 1888, we moved on to James
McCarrol’s ranch about one mile north east of Conejos. We stopped in the ranch five years. March 7, 1891, I
was appointed to preside over the Mountain View branch of the Manassa Ward. Sept. 27, 1892, I was set
apart to preside over the Mountain View Branch and also set apart as the Supt. Of the Mountain View Sunday
School. March 2, 1895, I moved to Mtn. View. Feb. 7, 1894, I was elected president of School Boards District
No. 28. Feb. 18, 1894, I was elected president of the directors of the northeastern ditch company. May 27,
1894, I was ordained and set apart as one of the Stake High Counselors by Apostle John Henry Smith. Feb.
16, 1896, I was ordained a patriarch in the San Luis Stake of Zion by Apostle Heber J. Grant.
We moved back to McCarrol’s ranch 1 mile N.E. of Conjos, Colo. On the morning of Nov. 14, 1897, we moved
to a ranch which we purchased from the state about 3 miles south of La Jara. I still presided over the Mountain
View Branch until 1896. At this time, the branch was divided. Two branches were made of the one, so I was
requested by Samuel Jackson, Bp, to give the part where I lived a new name. The name Bountiful suggested
itself to me. This name I put before the Brothers and Sisters for approval or rejection. It was unanimously
agreed by all present to call the new branch Bountiful. Afterwards, we selected a new town site which we also
called Bountiful. The presidency of the Stake, Alvert R. Smith, Etc. John Mayfield and myself made the
selection of the new town site.
Shortly after this time I had a dream. I dreamed that Apostle Henry Smith, myself and others were sitting on a
stage. When we were seated there, we saw the devil appear in the doorway. He began to peer forward into the
door and looked at us. Apostle Smith rebuked him and as he did so, the devil glanced at the big double
window that was on the other side of the room. He went over to the window that was on the other side of the
room. He went to the window and went through it. I said to Apostle Smith “Isn’t it strange that the devil could go
through the window without breaking it?” He said, “It isn’t very strange because the devil hasn’t any body and
therefore doesn’t break the glass”.
John Mayfield, one of our neighbors lost his mind. He was very jealous of two other men, Will Hunnicutt and
Billy Dotson because he imagined they would pay attention to his wife. One day he was sitting in the house
and as he looked out of the window he saw a donkey and said, “There is Will Hunnicutt or Billy Dotson”.
Someone who was in the room with him looked out of the window and saw only the donkey and said, “No, it isn’
t either one”. John repeated, “Yes, it is. Just look at their ears”. Later John came to my house and brought
some evil spirits with him. When he left, some of the spirits stayed in my house so I rebuked them and told
them to go follow their master, which they did.
I was set apart by Albert R. Smith as presiding Elder of the Bountiful branch of the Manassa Ward and also
Supt. Of the Sunday School. I called upon Bro. Aaron S. Hawkins to assist me in teaching the families of
Bountiful. Many times we visited a family and a man by the name of Henry H. Arther. Each time we brought up
the subject of tithing, he would say he believed in tithing, but he wouldn’t pay any because they sent the
money to Salt Lake where the authorities and their wives spent the money that was sent up there. We told him
there was a sugar factory in Utah that belonged to the church and that enough money was made there to keep
the men who were laboring among the people. (don’t understand what this sentence means???) He said if
they would not send the money to Salt Lake but kept it in the Stake he would pay as much money as anyone. I
then asked him if he paid fast offerings, because they were kept in the Stake. He said, “No, I haven’t paid any
fast offerings.” On our way back, we felt quite blue because our teachings didn’t have any affect on him. It was
just like pouring water on a duck’s back. I felt impressed to say to Brother Hawkins that the Lord could take the
tithing from him I f He wanted to and even more than the tithing by causing his stock to die. While he was
putting in his crop of grain his stock began to die. Each horse died with a different kind of disease and some of
his cows died also. That left him without any horses to farm with. We felt sorry for him then so each one of us
loaned him a horse to finish putting in his crop. Our horses didn’t die and were returned to us in the fall of the
year as well as when we loaned them to him. In the fall of the year, he told us that he had lost more than $566
worth of horses and cows. You can see that was more than the tithing.
One year when I lived there in Bountiful, I had sowed a lot of grain and it looked fairly well. There was not any
fences in Bountiful to the foothills west. There was a band of houses running on the foothills. One day when I
was down in the field working there came up a great hail storm. It commended on the foothills west of where I
was farming and was coming towards my ranch where I had my crop. It made a terrible noise and the bank of
horses came running towards my place. I called my family together and knelt down and prayed that the hail
storm might divide and not come and ruin my crop. The storm did divide, part of it going to La Jara and part of
it to Romeo, where it did great damage.
My father and mother came out to Manassa from Virginia. After they had lived there awhile, they went to
Cheny, Kansas where they both died. Shortly after their death, I had a dream that my mother came to me
dressed in white and said to me, “Elihu, the next time you go to the house of the Lord, or the Temple, I will be
87 and your father 93.” I thought no more of the dream after that time, until on Sunday I attended a meeting in
the Stake house in Manassa. Pres. Albert R. Smith called me up to the stand and said that he wanted to talk to
me. He said, “Brother Ball, I want you to go to the conference which is to be held in a short time in Salt Lake
City and represent the High Counsel of the Stake.” I said to him, “Brother Smith, I don’t know whether or not I
can get the money to go.” He said, “I want you to take your wife with you. You might want to do some work in
the Temple while you are gone. “ When I went back home, I told my wife that Pres. Smith wanted us to go to
Salt Lake to conference and I didn’t know whether or not I could get the money. She said, “Well we’ll go.” I
said, “I will go down to La Jata and see if I could borrow the money at the bank.” On the way down, I thought of
the dream I had where my mother had appeared to me in white and I counted up and found out that this year
my mother would be 87 and father 93. I went to the bank and asked them if I could borrow a certain amount of
money and they said, “Yes, you can get all you want.” When I got home I asked my wife if she remembered
the dream I had about my mother five years ago and she said, “yes, I thought of it while you were gone to La
Jara.” I then told Brother Smith we could go. Pres. Smith then told me he wanted us to receive our second
anointing while we were in the temple. We went to Salt Lake City and attended the conference in 1904.
Afterwards, we went to the Temple and did the work for my father and mother and got our blessings. When we
returned home the next Sunday, we attended a meeting in Manassa and Pres. Smith called upon us to preach
and we reported our labors while at conference and in the Temple. My wife talked for half and hour, and Rob
Haynie said it was the best sermon he had ever heard a woman preach. When I got up to talk I was feeling
good, and I told about the dream I had had about my mother and how it was just five years after the dream the
Pres. Smith called up to go to Salt Lake. Pres. Smith then got up and said he didn’t know anything about the
dream but felt impressed to call upon me to go. I am now 81 years old the 19th of Sept. 1934 and my wife will
be 71 on Nov. 12, 1934. Feb. 16, 1895, I was ordained a Patriarch in the San Luis Stake of Zion by Apostle
Heber J. Grant.
Up until this date, July 26, 1934, I have given 1,125 Patriarchal Blessings. While giving a blessing to Wm.
Christensen’s son, Martin Christensen in the year of 1899, I was left to myself and the spirit withdrew from me
and it was just like a white sheet of paper was dropped before my eyes and I couldn’t utter another word. I took
my hands off from his head and said I didn’t know what was wrong. There is something the matter with either
you or I. I don’t know which. I can’t go ahead with the blessing. I suggested that we then kneel down and pray.
His brother, Erastus, was acting as scribe. I asked him to lead in prayer. After we got up I felt at liberty to go
ahead and continue the blessing. I laid my hands upon his head and the blessing came free. When I got
thought I said, “There was something the matter with one of us. I don’t know which.” He said, “It was with me.
Just as you got where you couldn’t go any further I was thinking and wondering whether you were guided by
the spirit of the Lord or whether you were just making up a little recitation of your own. That is the greatest
testimony I have ever received.” When his brother, Erastus, was delivering a sermon, afterwards, he told of the
circumstances of the Patriarch giving his brother a blessing and that he couldn’t continue giving the blessing
until we knelt down and prayed, and what surprised him evermore was the fact that the Patriarch commence in
the middle of the sentence where he left off and finished giving the blessing.
In the year 1884, Andy and George Dougherty and I worked for Dan Newcomb. George Dougherty married my
niece. Andy had a premonition that he wouldn’t live long. We were working on top of a large barn and he was
afraid he would fall off and kill himself. He was bitter against the Mormons. One Sunday morning I told George
and Andy that I was going to Manassa to meeting and Andy said, “I’ll go with you.” There was a Mormon girl by
the name of Laurie Daniels who was working for Newcombs at the same time. She asked if she could go along
too. We told her yes. A little later George asked if he could go along and we told him yes. We hitched some
horses up to a double rig. They were none too gentle. When we got ready to start Mrs. Newcomb said to Andy,
who was a good shot, to take his gun along and their dog, who was not good, to the brushland and shoot him.
We started with George and I in the front seat and Andy and Laurie in the back. Andy took his Winchester with
him and then called the old dog. On the way, Andy said, “When I die I’m going to be Bishop of dog heaven.”
And again, cold chills ran down my back. When we got down to the brushland, Andy said, “Here’s the place to
kill the dog.” He got out of the buggy and the dog was about 25 yards away, he shot but missed the dog. The
dog ran on a little way and Andy shot again and missed. The dog went on farther and he shot the third time
but only glazed the top of the dog’s back. The dog was too far, so he came back to the buggy and started to
shove the gun under the back seat. The lock caught on the back ingate causing the gun to go off and shoot
him in the chest. George said, “Lord, have mercy, my brother has shot himself.” He threw the lines down and
jumped over the back seat, knocking Laurie and the seat over. I grabbed the lines as the horses started up.
They ran down the road about 200 yards before I could get them stopped. I turned the horses around to
where Andy lay with George over him crying and taking on. I gave the lines to Laurie and told her to hold the
houses until I got out and saw where Andy was shot. I pulled George up and told him we had to see where
Andy was shot. I saw Andy’s overcoat was on fire so I unbuttoned it and his shirt. I saw that the bullet had gone
in about one inch below the left nipple and came out at his back, right at the cross of his suspenders. I said to
George, “He is shot in a bad place. We’ve got to get him back to Newcomb’s and to a doctor at once.” Andy
only spoke three or four words after he was shot. He said, “Oh, what will my poor mother say when she hears
of this. It’s dark, it’s dark, it’s dark.” I wondered at the time if he meant the future was dark or that death coming
on him made it seem dark. We put him in the buggy and drove back to Ed Newcombs which was nearer than
Dan Newcombs. We sent a runner for the doctor, but Andy was dead before the doctor arrived. My sister was
working for Ed Newcombs and when the accident occurred a man came there and said, “How did Andy get
killed?” Ed said, “Why, he shot himself.” The man said, “I doubt it very much. This thing has to be
investigated.” Ed said, “Oh its so, I guess because Andy’s brother was along also.” The man replied, “Well that
settles it then.” I never did believe in convicting a man on circumstantial evidence. I felt impressed that this was
a judgment sent on Andy because of the remarks he made about being Bishop and going to dog heaven when
he died. We buried him at Dan Newcombs. George asked me to preach at his funeral, and I called upon the
people of the settlement who were non-Mormons to sing, and I preached a short sermon.
I went to Platora to cut some cord wood for the mining camp to help support my family, and one day, when I
went to the Post Office, a letter was handed to me, and I immediately felt by the spirit that something was
wrong at home, that some of them were sick. It said my oldest daughter was sick with pneumonia. My wife didn’
t say she would send for me, but I felt impressed that she would do so. Brother Leroy Martin was hauling the
posts I was cutting, and I told him to keep a sharp look out for a grey horse and buggy that some was coming
for me. Brother Martin and I were doing our own cooking and the buggy didn’t appear in daylight, but as soon
as nightfall came, and we were seated at the supper table, I heard the horse and buggy coming. I said to
Brother Martin, “There they come now.” Carson Kidd was driving the horse, and he said that Alta (my
daughter) was very low and my wife wanted me to come home, and that he would stay and work in my place.
There was no moon and it was very dark and a fearful snow storm had set in. I would have to go through a
large woodland, and I didn’t think I would find my way, but I prepared to start by daybreak. There had fallen
during the night about a foot of new snow on the old. I had faith enough to believe that if I could get home
before Alta died and I could administer to her, her life would be spared. I drove in great haste and reached
home and found her very bad indeed. I administered to her and she seemed to be relieved at once and was
speedily restored to health and strength. I have always believed in following the impression of the spirit and
have always believed in dreams.
White in Platora working, one evening just before supper, Bro. Martin came in and told me that he had lost ten
dollars somewhere on the streets of Platora, and he asked me to kneel down and pray that whoever found the
money might be led to return the same to him. My first thought was that this was a little thing to pray about, but
when I looked at Brother Martin (here was a one-armed man) and he had a large family to support, my heart
went out in sympathy to him. I told him I would and he asked me to lead in prayer and I did. I asked the Lord
that whosoever found the ten dollars would be led to make inquiry as to who had lost the money, and that it
would be returned to Brother Martin. When we got up from prayer, we went ahead to get our supper. While we
were getting our supper, a knock came at our door and when I opened it, a man was standing there and he
asked me if either one of us had lost any money. I told him yes, that Bro. Martin had lost ten dollars. He then
said, “Here it is, I picked it up on the street.” This man’s name was John Lanston. He was rather a wicked man,
but he was honest.
One time I had decided to go into the mountains and take two teams to get a couple of loads of wood and was
going to take my son James (just then in his teens) to drive one team for me. The night before I started, I
dreamed the team that James was to drive ran away and the neck yoke came loose from the tongue of the
wagon and the wagon went down the hill so fast that the tongue ran under a stump, and I had to hitch my team
on the back of the other wagon to pull it out. The next morning, I was so impressed with the dream that I
thought it was a warning not to take my by with me in fear he would come to some harm. I hired a man to go
with me in his place. On the road to the mountains, I stopped and told a man by the name of Roy Bernhardt
about my dream, and he said, “Hell, that will never happen.” After getting up on the mountain and starting back
with a load of wood, the neck yoke of the wagon that this other man was driving gave way and the team began
to run and the wagon tongue ran under a large stump, and we had to hook onto the rear of the wagon to pull
the tongue from under the huge stump, just as I had dreamed it.
On another occasion, I went up in the pinion hills to haul a load of wood all alone and after driving up a rocky
dugway and on top of the hill where I loaded, I had an impression that something was going wrong with me or
my team and wagon, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. After I loaded and started back down the dugway, the
wagon wheel broke down. It completely broke the spokes and fellies out of the wheel. I went back to find the
wagon tire which was three hundred yards back. I back-tracked the wagon and found the tire, and if I had
heeded the impression, I would have been saved of the break down.
At another time, Alezander B. Kidd and I went up to the high mountains to get us each a load of wood. We
stopped our teams and loads of wood up on top of a high hill that we had to go down, and before starting
down (my team was in the lead), I noticed that Brother Kidd had a short brake beam on his wagon and a rope
tied to the top of the beam. I suggested to him that he cut a longer brake beam before leaving the top of the
hill, for I know the rope would pull off the top of the beam when he got to the steep of the hill. One of his
horses was a bronco. He said that would be alright the way it was and would not consent to cut a new beam. I
told him if he wouldn’t do as I suggested, he would have to go down the hill first, but he would not do this on
account of the bronco he was driving. I told him then to wait until I got half way down the hill before he started,
or he would run into my wagon, and I felt we would have a serious accident. Just as he got to the steep of the
hill, the rope slipped off the beam and turned the wagon loose, and he came down the road helter-skelter right
towards me. I thought if I could get past the turn in the road that he wouldn’t hit my wagon, but would hit a large
log by the side of the road instead. As he was coming down the road at a very fast rat of speed calling with
every breath, “Oh, Brother Ball, Oh, Brother Ball.” I gave my horses the word to go and somewhat released my
brake and went quite fast down the rest of the hill until I passed the turn in safety. As he got to the turn of the
road the horses didn’t take it but went over this big log and fell down. He had a very difficult time in getting the
horses loose as the harness had tightened so. We finally had to cut some of the harness to loosen them and
hook on to the rear of the wagon to pull it on to the road again. If he had heeded my impression this trouble
would have been saved.
My two sons, James and Fred, had each taken up a homestead near Mesa Mountain in the year of 1916. Fred
was camping at one of the cabins and I was at the other. During the night, there came up a large snowstorm
and the snow was drifting very badly. It was understood that Fred should come over to my cabin early the next
morning. I felt impressed that he would get lost among the timbers as it was very dense and he had to pass
through the pinion and cedar groves. I thought that I had better go and try to find him. In went up in the timber
quite a ways and called for him. He had started to the cabin where I was and had gotten lost and was way off in
the timbers. He heard my voice and came towards it and it saved any further trouble.
We located at a place that we afterwards called Mountain View. The people in that locality decided to build a
school house. I was elected to the board of directors. We let a contract to a man by the name of Baker to build
a lumber school house for seven hundred dollars. The lumber was hauled on the location where the house
was to be built, and Baker went to work building the same. He had put up the frame and the weather-boarding
of the house and had put on a shingle roof and was building the flue. At this time, Burnhart and I went to
inspect his work, we hadn’t been there previous to that time. When we got about two hundred yards from the
house where he was at work, I felt impressed that the flue would fall down, and I said to Burnhart, “What if the
chimney should fall down and kill the teacher or some of the pupils?” He said, “Oh hell, that would never
happen. Baker has built too many houses not to brace the flue well enough so it would not fall down.” The
chimney was just out of the roof of the house at this time. We hadn’t gone one hundred yards when we heard
the crash and saw the dust rising up and Burnhart said, “Well, I’ll be damned, there it goes now.” The brick fell
and broke the tip joints and floor joints right where the teacher would have had to sit. Burnhart didn’t belong to
the church and that was a great surprise to him.
One time when my wife and I were milking, when we were living on the McCarrol ranch and our team that we
farmed with was right close to the lot where we kept our milk cows. This happened about sundown. We saw
both of the horses there when we went to the house. Just after dark, one of the horses came up close to the
house neighing, and we wondered what was the matter with the other horse. I started out to hunt him. The
fence was around one hundred and sixty acres of land. When I started out, it was after dark. I went all over the
hundred and sixty acres in every direction, and I couldn’t find the missing horse anywhere. This was a very
dark night. No moon shining, and I thought after looking around a long time that I would have to give it up and
go back to the house. I started back and had to go through the potato patch. When I was completely given up
finding him, I heard a voice say, “Go north.” I turned and went thirty steps (and saw) that there lay the horse.
He had been rolling and had turned over between two potato rows, his back down so he couldn’t get a good
foot hold. I took a rope and tied to his feet and turned him over and he got up, and it saved his life.
Front: Elihu Kisor Ball and Minta Ellen Kirtland Ball -
behind them their children: (L to R) Jim, Pearl, Della,
Estella Mae, Aunt Victoria Kirtland and Fred Ball.
behind them their children: (L to R) Jim, Pearl, Della,
Estella Mae, Aunt Victoria Kirtland and Fred Ball.