Series 1. Papers of the Ballard Family, 1872-1976, undated

This series includes the business and personal papers of the Ballard family. Subjects include estate settlements and the papers of Helen Ballard Clark, Isaac Newton Ballard, and Margaret Byrnside Ballard.

Estate settlements pertain to Baldwin Ballard; his wife Leah Mann Ballard; their sons Charles Spurgeon Ballard, Simpson S. Ballard, and Isaac Newton Ballard; and Helen Ballard Clark, Isaac's daughter.

Helen Ballard Clark's papers include both business and personal papers (ca. 1920-1970s). Her business papers concern her book, Geraldine. Her personal papers include the manuscript and book, Geraldine; letters to her mother, Kate May Walkup Ballard; letters from friends; and memorabilia.

Isaac Newton Ballard's papers include both business and personal papers (ca. 1870s-1950s). He was the first president of the Bank of Greenville and a Postmaster at Greenville. He was also part owner of a general store in Union called Ballard and Arnott. Materials included in his business papers are routine business correspondence, correspondence concerning routine farm business and his various investments, New River Grocery, the Bank of Greenville, C&P Telephone, property deeds, leases, tax and other receipts, store account books, and personal account books. Isaac N. Ballard's personal papers include letters to his wife, Kate May Walkup Ballard; letters to and from his brothers, Charles S. Ballard and Simpson S. Ballard; letters to his daughters, Helen Ballard Clark and Margaret Byrnside Ballard; letters to and from family and friends; an autobiographical sketch; and his manuscript, A Trip to the Holy Land.

Papers of Margaret Byrnside Ballard, compiler of this collection, include business and personal papers (ca. 1910s-1970s). Her business papers concern routine financial matters such as investments. Also includes papers and correspondence concerning Margaret B. Ballard's long medical career in Baltimore, such as published articles written by her and correspondence concerning her membership and practice and later dismissal from the Planned Parenthood Association. Margaret B. Ballard's personal papers include an autobiographical sketch, college journals and other material regarding her education, diaries, other journals, papers concerning the Alleghany Collegiate Institute, Arts and Crafts correspondence, and other miscellaneous papers reflecting her personal interests.

Although Margaret B. Ballard's general genealogical correspondence is found in Series 2 and 3, box 24 contains the Ballard family genealogy and related correspondence. Box 24 also contains Margaret B. Ballard's family genealogy, William Ballard, with her handwritten annotations and newspaper clippings dealing with the Ballard family.

Although Series 1 contains the bulk of the business and personal papers generated by the Ballard family, many other family papers are interspersed throughout the collection. Margaret Ballard often arranged family papers in her collection according to subject matter rather than person of origin. For example, while a folder's subject heading may be Greenville Post Office, it may contain correspondence and other materials generated by I.N. Ballard because he was the Greenville Postmaster for a time. Many subject headings or family histories may be compared to research projects with the research materials used by M. Ballard contained within.