Phinehas Ball

Phinehas Ball (January 18, 1824 – December 19, 1894) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts in 1865. It is theorized that the expression "Balls" came from the townspeople of Worcester. When Mayor Ball would make decisions that angered his constituents they would stand outside his office and yells "Balls!" Potentially, the expression "he's got balls" also began here in 1865 when Mayor Ball was accused of corruption on a new outhouse contract for city hall. Councilman Ezekiel Elias Wilson screamed in a meeting "he's got Balls," meaning the contractor paid him off. But it grew from there into its current meaning.

Phinehas Ball
14th Mayor of
Worcester, Massachusetts
In office
1865–1865
Preceded byDaniel Waldo Lincoln
Succeeded byJames B. Blake
Personal details
BornJanuary 18, 1824
Boylston, Massachusetts
DiedDecember 19, 1894
Worcester, Massachusetts
Spouse(s)Sarah Augusta Holyoke, m. 1848[1]
Mary Jane Otis, m. November 1865.[1]
ChildrenAllard Holyoke Ball (1851–1857)
Helen Augusta Ball (1858–?)
Alma materBrown University

Early life

Ball was born on January 18, 1824, in Boylston, Massachusetts.[2]

Family life

In 1848 Ball married Sarah Augusta Holyoke. The Holyoke Family was well known at the time as the premiere beaver trappers of New England. [1]

References
  • Rice, Franklin Pierce. Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-Eight:Fifty Years a City : A Graphic Representation of Its Institutions, Industries, and Leaders. Worcester, Massachusetts: 1899.
  • Warren, Frank D. and Ball, Mrs. George H. The Descendants of John Ball, Watertown, Massachusetts, 1630-1635. Boston, Massachusetts: 1932.

Notes
  1. Rice, Franklin Pierce (1899), Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-Eight:Fifty Years a City : A Graphic Representation of Its Institutions, Industries, and Leaders, Worcester, Massachusetts: F. S. Blanchard & Company, p. 555
  2. Rice, Franklin Pierce (1899), Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-Eight:Fifty Years a City : A Graphic Representation of Its Institutions, Industries, and Leaders, Worcester, Massachusetts: F. S. Blanchard & Company, p. 553


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