Jonathan Ball II was born 1713 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts to Jonathan Ball (1680-1726) and Sarah Whitney (1678-) . He married Martha French (1719-) 4 April 1739 in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts.
Biography
Jonatahn was baptized on 18 Feb 1728 at Lexington MA, but like his sisters that was likely several years after his birth. He owned the covenant at Lexington and lived for a time in Lancaster, MA.
Owned the Covenant
It means they formally agreed to ("owned") the statements of belief and behavior of the Puritan (Congregationalist) Church, including a personal conversion experience. This was necessary to be a church member, which in turn was necessary to hold civil office, vote, etc. depending on the time period. As the first Puritans of the Great Migration of the 1630s died off, a dispute arose over the covenant, specifically the conversion experience. This resulted in the institution of the "Half-way Covenant" in 1662. It continued at least until the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s. So, the dispute would have been going on at the time your relatives owned the covenant and may be genealogically relevant.
Do an Internet search on "half way covenant", or take a look at: Wikipedia Half Way Covenant.
Jonathan Ball would have been of age to be involved with the Great Awakeining revivals of the 1730s and 1740s.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Deborah Ball (1742-1800) | |||
| Martha Ball (1746-) | |||
| Jonathan Ball (1751-1819) | 16 September 1751 Lancaster, Middlesex County, Massachusetts | 1819 Bolton, Worcester County, Massachusetts | Mary Pratt (1752-1825) |
| Betsy Ball (1755-) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Sarah Ball (1710-) | |||
| Jonathan Ball (1713-) | 1713 Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts | Massachusetts | Martha French (1719-) |
| Phinehas Ball (1716-) | |||
| Thankful Ball (1721-) | |||
| Jane Ball (1724-) | |||
| Susannah Ball (1726-) | |||
References
- New England Genealogical Memories... by William Cutter (1908), Vol 1, Pg 449. (Free on Google Books).