Obituary Record

Grace Ballard
Died on 8/23/1939
Buried in Blair Cemetery

#1-Omaha World Herald 23 August 1939

Grace Ballard, First County Attorney, Is Dead

Miss Grace Ballard, 62, county attorney of Washington county and first woman to hold such an office in Nebraska, died at her home here this morning of a heart attack.

She had been ill for several months, and recently was compelled by her health, to take a brief vacation from her duties.

She was serving her third term in office. Elected first in 1918, four years after graduation from the University of Nebraska law school, she was re-elected again in 1934 and 1938.

Worked for Suffrage

Miss Ballard inherited her inclination for law from her father, Martin Ballard, pioneer Blair attorney. Her flare for politics in public life showed itself early.

She was elected president of her law school class at the university. Upon graduation she entered upon a campaign for woman suffrage, joining the Pennsylvania Woman’s Suffrage association and working strenuously in that state and later in Iowa and Nebraska.

She had little sympathy for the adage, "A woman's place is in the home."

Recently she declared, “There is not a county, district, state or national office, save perhaps that of policing, that women cannot fill as satisfactorily as men.”

During her first term in office she faced an ouster proceeding based on charges she had failed to vigorously prosecute alleged prohibition law violations. She came out victorious, however, when the district judge, hearing the case, dismissed it and commended her for "the wise discretion she had used in administering the laws of the state." Miss Ballard blamed "politics” for the ouster action.

At that time, also, Miss Ballard attracted attention in Omaha with her effort to solve the identity of “The Mystery Girl,” found murdered near Calhoun.

She brought the body to Omaha where it was viewed by hundreds of persons, but the mystery was solved nearly 10 years later after investigations by The World-Herald.

Funeral services have not yet been arranged. The body is at the Bendorf Funeral Home here.

Surviving are a sister, Harriett, and a brother, A. N. Ballard, both of Blair.

#2-Pilot Tribune 24 August 1944

Five Years Ago (Aug. 24, 1939)

Victim of a heart attack, County Attorney Grace Ballard collapsed and died at her home, south west of Blair. Aged 62, Miss Grace Ballard had been a lawyer here since 1918.

Pilot Tribune, Tuesday, August 26, 2015

People of the Past: Grace Ballard served as one of first female county attorneys in U.S. (Photo on campaign poster) (photo)

Article written byTammy Bain

The handwritten piece of paper has survived for years. Now, it's found at the Danish American Archives and Library in Blair.

The name of Martin Ballard — then a lawyer in Washington County — is written across the page, with the names of his wife, sons and daughter written below.

But only one of Ballard's children followed his footsteps to practice law in Washington County. His daughter, Grace, would go on to become the first female Washington County attorney, and the first to fulfill the role in Nebraska.

Born in 1877, Grace graduated from Blair High School and attended Dana College and the University of Nebraska law school.

The president of her law school class, Ballard became an advocate for women's suffrage, and joined the Pennsylvania women's suffrage association. She then worked for the movement in Nebraska and Iowa, according to her obituary in the Omaha World-Herald.

"She had little sympathy for the adage, 'A woman's place is in the home,'" her obituary says.

"A woman's place is wherever her interests lie," she said in 1939, just after beginning her third term, reported the Shamokin News-Dispatch, a now-defunct newspaper in Shamokin, Penn.

After practicing law for years in Blair, in an office that now houses Bra-Ta Boutique, Ballard first ran for county attorney in 1918 and won.

"Her flair for law and public life showed itself early," the World-Herald obituary says.

The World-Herald obituary says that Ballard, a Republican, faced an "ouster proceeding" during her first term as county attorney for failing to prosecute prohibition violators.

But when the district judge at the time heard the case, he dismissed it and commended Ballard for "the wise discretion" she'd displayed. Ballard blamed politics for the ordeal, the obituary says.

Ballard was also known for her attempts to solve "The Mystery Girl" —the case of the body of a young woman found outside of Blair that remained unidentified for 10 years.

After serving her first term as county attorney, Ballard became secretary of the Republican county central committee, a biography for Ballard found at the Washington County Museum says.

But Ballard would go on to serve as county attorney two more times, once from 1934 to 1938, and had just begun her third term seven months before she died.

A Methodist, Ballard also had affiliation with the Order of Eastern Star, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Founders and Patriots and the Nebraska Society.

Months before she died of a heart attack, Ballard experienced "failing health," an obituary published in a 1939 Washington County Pilot-Tribune says, which caused her to take a break from her office duties.

But days before she died, she worked in her office as usual. Her death shocked residents, the obituary says. Her father had died in 1889, while her mother died just a few years before Grace's death.

After Ballard's seat remained vacant for several weeks, Chauncey Carl — "a young Blair lawyer" who currently served as Blair's city lawyer — took Grace's place as county attorney, an article in the Washington County Pilot-Tribune says.

Despite Grace's stature, many people connected with historical societies in Washington County had never heard of Ballard or her work. A 1940s Washington County history book lists her as Blair's "only lady attorney."

#3-24 Aug., 1939 - The Enterprise

CO. ATTY. GRACE BALLARD FOUND DEAD

County Attorney Dies of Heart Attack Following Illness Since Feb.

PRACTICED 25 YEARS

The sudden death of County Attorney Grace Ballard came as a shock to the citizens of this community Wednesday morning. She had been in poor health since last February when she was confined to her home for several weeks, a victim of the flu epidemic.

Later she was able to attend to her duties as county attorney, but about two months ago, through the influence of her physician, she was prevailed upon to take a rest which she did in the quiet of her own home.

Last week she felt able to again take up her duties, and was at her office all last week and on Monday and Tuesday of this week. She seemed to feel much better as she went about her work, but on Wednesday morning at about 8:30 as she was preparing to go to her office, she suddenly collapsed. Her sister, Harriett, who was in the basement of the home at that time heard her fall, and hastened to her, but life was extinct before she reached her, as was confirmed by the physician who was hastily summoned.

Deceased was born in this county in the house in which she died. She was sixty four years of age on August 12. Her father came to Blair in 1869 and at once established the present home and opened a law office.

In the late eighties the family moved to Chadron, Nebraska, where her father later became county attorney of Dawes county. He died while county attorney of that county in 1889, and following his death the family moved back to Blair.

Following in her father’s footsteps Miss Ballard studied law and in 1914 graduated from the State University, the only woman in a class of eighty. during the last year in University she had the honor of being president of her class. She also attended Dana College where she took the commercial course.

After taking up her practice in this county and successfully practicing for nine years, she became a candidate on the Republican ticket for county attorney, and at the fall election of 1926 was elected. After serving one term she was defeated in 1930, but was re-elected in 1934 and again in 1938, thus at her death she was serving her third term as county attorney for Washington County, and she bore the honor of being the only woman in the state to serve as a county attorney which alone is a mark of her ability.

She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and had filled the different offices ending with being Matron of the order, and at her death was serving as secretary, a place which she had filled for some time.

The surviving relatives who mourn her departure are one brother, A. N., and one sister, Harriett of Blair, and three nephews, John L. Ballard of Sac City, Iowa; E. A. Ballard of Sioux City, Iowa; and Grant Ballard of Waterloo, Iowa.

Funeral services will be held at the home on Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock, and interment will be made in the Blair cemetery. The services will be under the auspices of the local Eastern Star Chapter.

#4-Published Tuesday, March 21, 2023 Blair Pilot-Tribune

By Cheyenne Alexis - features@enterprisepub.com

Grace Ballard becomes first woman county attorney in Nebraska

(Photo

Grace Ballard honored and represented women in many ways during her life.

Born in 1877 in Washington County, Ballard supported women's voting rights and women in the workforce.

Prior to college, in 1903, Ballard presented on Australian women's voting rights at the Nebraska Women Suffrage State Convention in Omaha.

She attended Blair High School and Dana College before enrolling at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she was president of her class in 1914 and was admitted to the bar.

Also in 1914, Ballard spoke of women's suffrage at the Blair July 4 celebration.

In 1926, Ballard made history when she was elected Washington County attorney, being the first woman in Nebraska to hold that office.

One of Ballard's biggest cases was her attempt at identifying "the mystery girl" of Fort Calhoun, who was killed and found in a ravine west of Nashville.

Ballard would be elected county attorney twice more, from 1934 to 1938, and was in her third term when she died of a heart attack on Aug. 23, 1939, at age 62.

Note: Buried in Block: 59, Lot: 5, Grave: 9 of Blair Cemetery.

Find A Grave Memorial# 113937265

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~

Printed in the Omaha World Herald on 8/23/1939


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