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Obituary · primary-source record

Isaac Harrison Ball

circa 1842 (computed from age at death) – 1902, a few days after 31 May

Died 1902 in Biggs, California, days after being stabbed — East Joplin blacksmith, murder reported in the Joplin Globe, 12 June 1902

Editorially verified

At-a-glance facts

Record type

Obituary

Date of death

1902, a few days after 31 May

Date of birth

circa 1842 (computed from age at death)

Age at death

60 years old

Place of death

California, United States

Inscription transcription

OBITUARY:Isaac Harrison Ball (b. abt 1845 in IN.)

Joplin Globe, June 12, 1902.

The family of Isaac Ball, who lived at the corner of Fifth and Division Streets, have been notified of his murder in Biggs, Calif. on May 31. The information was contained in a letter received Tuesday, a telegram claimed to have been sent at the time of the murder having failed to arrive. Ball and his son George have been gone from here several months. Both are blacksmiths, and they went to California thinking perhaps they could command better prices for their work. The family was to have been sent for later. The details concerning his death are very meager, but it seems that Ball had quarreled with a man named Bob Moore, and the latter had deliberately stabbed him without provocation, from the results of which he died a few days afterward. The murderer escaped. His victim was buried in Biggs. Ball was 60 years old and was well known in East Joplin, and liked by everybody.

The first line is the contributor's header, kept as submitted. Isaac Ball was stabbed on 31 May 1902 and "died a few days afterward"; no exact death date is stated, so this record carries the year only. Sources differ on his birth year: the contributor's header gives "b. abt 1845 in IN.", while the obituary's statement that he "was 60 years old" in 1902 implies a birth about 1842. Both readings are preserved. The obituary reports the stabbing on 31 May, receipt of the news by letter, and burial in Biggs, California.

People named in this record

  • Isaac Harrison BallSubject
  • GeorgeChild
  • Bob MooreMentioned

Record submitted by

From the Ancestors at Rest archive

Source & citation

Source type
Transcription only
Provenance
From the Ancestors at Rest archive — founded 2004 by Brian and substantially built out across two decades by Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy.
Transcribed by
Ancestors at Rest archive — original contributor not recorded.
Last verified
2026-07-06
Permalink
/records/obituaries/ball-isaac-1902/
Image vs transcription
Transcription only — no photograph of the clipping in this record

Citation: Death report of Isaac Harrison Ball of East Joplin, murdered at Biggs, California, 1902; Joplin Globe, 12 June 1902, transcribed in the Ancestors at Rest archive. (https://ancestorsatrest.com/records/obituaries/ball-isaac-1902/ : accessed [your access date]).

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