Ladurna Ballard (1836-1908)

Ladurna Ballard during his assembly term, 1882.

  Another in a long line of oddly named men who peopled the halls of the New York state assembly in the 19th century, Ladurna Ballard represented the town of Lebanon in that body for one term. A lifelong resident of Madison County, New York, Ballard was born in Lebanon on March 16, 1836, the son of Aylmer and Lydia (Utter) Ballard. Bestowed the curious name Ladurna upon his birth, Ballard was a farmer in Lebanon for the majority of his life and married in September 1882 to Fallie C. Hitchcock (1846-1916). The couple would be childless.

  A local political office holder in Lebanon, Ballard served that town as its supervisor on several occasions, was a justice of the peace, and served on the town board. In 1881 he was elected as a representative from Madison County to the state assembly, and during the 1882 session was a member of the committees on Agriculture and Roads and Bridges.

  Following his term, Ballard continued to reside on his farm until removing to another home in Lebanon, where he died on July 9, 1908, aged 72. He was survived by his wife Fallie, who, following her death in 1916, was interred alongside her husband at the Lebanon Village Cemetery.

From the Earlville Standard, July 1908.