Leon G. Ballance Collection, PC.5282
Abstract
Leon Gerald Ballance (1917-2003) was a lifelong resident of Lake Landing Township
in Hyde County, North Carolina. He was active in many local organizations, including
Watson's Chapel United Methodist Church, the Engelhard Rotary Club, the Albemarle
Area Development Association, the Southern Albemarle Association, the Hyde County
Historical and Genealogical Society, and Octagon House Restoration. Ballance spent
much of his life accumulating papers and genealogical information related to Hyde
County and its residents. The Leon G. Ballance Collection, 1783-2002 and undated,
contains family papers, church records, financial records, deeds, genealogical data,
family histories, historical accounts, interview summaries, notes, and subject files
related to the history and genealogy of Hyde County, N.C. The bulk of the materials
in the collection focus on mainland Hyde County, including the towns of Engelhard,
Lake Landing, Nebraska, Swan Quarter, and New Holland, as well as Lake Mattamuskeet.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Leon G. Ballance Collection
- Call Number
- PC.5282
- Creator
-
Ballance, Leon Gerald, 1917-2003
- Date
- 1783-2002 and undated
- Extent
- 7.000 cubic feet, 5.600 cubic feet
- Language
-
English
- Repository
-
Outer Banks History Center
Restrictions on Access & Use
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as
stipulated by the United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers
are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well
as any donor restrictions accompanying these materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.5282, Leon G. Ballance Collection, Outer Banks History
Center, Manteo, NC, U.S.A.
Collection Overview
The Leon G. Ballance Collection, 1783-2002 and undated, contains family papers, church
records, financial records, deeds, genealogical data, family histories, historical
accounts, interview summaries, notes, and subject files related to the history and
genealogy of Hyde County, N.C. The bulk of the materials in the collection focus on
mainland Hyde County, including the towns of Engelhard, Lake Landing, Nebraska, Swan
Quarter, and New Holland, as well as Lake Mattamuskeet. The collection contains both
original historical records and photocopies of original materials held elsewhere.
These materials were collected by Ballance in the course of his involvement with various
Hyde County organizations and his pursuit of historical research on Hyde County and
the surrounding area. The collection is arranged into two series: Hyde County History,
1783-2001 and undated, and Hyde County Genealogy, 1876-2002 and undated.
Arrangement Note
This collection is arranged into two series: Hyde County History, 1783-2001 and undated,
and Hyde County Genealogy, 1876-2002 and undated. Folders are arrange
This collection is arranged into two series: Hyde County History, 1783-2001 and undated,
and Hyde County Genealogy, 1876-2002 and undated. Folders are arranged alphabetically
within series.
Biographical/Historical
Leon Gerald Ballance was born in Lake Landing Township, Hyde County, North Carolina
on 7 January 1917 to Octavious Coke Ballance (1884-1977) and Mattie Cahoon Ballance
(1886-1966). He attended Lake Landing High School. During World War II, he served
in the United States Army and Air Force and was stationed in Panama. He married Augusta
Jean Woodley (1933-2005) and had two children: Barry Laine Ballance (1963-1964), who
died in infancy, and Sharon Ballance (Loving) (1960-). Prior to his retirement, Ballance
was a farmer. He was a member of Watson's Chapel United Methodist Church and was active
in the Farmer's Home Administration, Engelhard Rotary Club, Albemarle Area Development
Association, Southern Albemarle Association, Hyde County Historical and Genealogical
Society, Museum of the Albemarle board, and Octagon House Restoration. Ballance was
also a Hyde County Commissioner for 12 years. He died 29 January 2003 at the age of
86. Ballance, along with his wife and son, is buried in the family plot at Soule Cemetery
in Swan Quarter, North Carolina.
Contents of the Collection
1. Hyde County History, 1783-2001 and undated
Scope and Content:
This series contains Ballance's subject files on various events, topics, and individuals
in Hyde County's history. Materials in this series include deeds, historical accounts,
Ballance's personal notes on various topics, news clippings, original records and
papers created by various groups and individuals, photographs of Hyde County families
and individuals, and maps and surveys of the Hyde County area. The series includes
a significant amount of original and photocopied church records related to Watson's
Chapel Church, Far Creek Church, Amity United Methodist Church in Engelhard, and the
Mattamuskeet Charge of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Also included are several
folders of records related to Lake Landing Graded School/High School, including several
original documents, invitations, and assignments from Ballance's time as a student
there in the 1920s-1930s. The series includes one original scrapbook, created by Hortense
Boomer Swain in the 1940s to document World War II's effects on Hyde County and the
surrounding area, including clippings and photographs of numerous local men who served
in the war.
Amity Church [includes photocopies dated 1812-1849], 1976-1995
Box 1
Amity Church Cemetery, 1989-1997 and undated
Box 1
Bible Records [includes photocopies dated 1829, 1844], 1839 and undated
Box 1
Bond [original dated 1869-1871], undated
Box 1
Books [unidentified ledgers], 1870-1894
Box 1
Business Directory (1866-1906) Transcripts, undated
Box 1
Carawan Trial (1854), undated
Box 1
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit, 1883
Box 1
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit, 1889-1893
Box 2
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit/Amity, 1906-1929
Box 2
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit, 1918-1921
Box 2
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit, 1929-1933
Box 2
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit, 1929-1941
Box 2
Church Register, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Mattamuskeet Circuit, 1937-1954
Box 2
Civil and Criminal Papers [originals dated 1818-1835], undated
Box 2
Coastal Historyland Association, 1966
Box 2
Court Proceedings, R.L. and Myria Jeanette vs. Mann et. al, Sep-23
Box 3
Deeds [photocopies and originals, 6 folders], 1753-1988
Box 3
Deeds and Wills, Hyde and Beaufort Counties, 1783-1858
Box 3
Deeds: Leon Ballance Home, 1970-1977
Box 4
Ephemera [2 folders], 1937-1992
Box 4
Estate of Thomas Gibbs [originals dated 1807], undated
Box 4
Far Creek Church [originals dated 1870-1879], undated
Box 4
Files of Leon Balance, undated
Box 4
Gas Boat Hyde Records, 1912-1928
Box 4
Hyde County History, 1981 and undated
Box 4
Hyde County Records [originals dated 1836 and 1879], undated
Box 4
Inquisitions [originals dated 1824-1883], undated
Box 4
Interview with Hannah Gibbs, undated
Box 4
Interview with Will R. Gibbs [original dated 1967], undated
Box 4
Interview with Willie Pugh, 1983
Box 4
Lake Landing Graded School: Account Book of J.G. Young, 1905-1912
Box 5
Lake Landing High School, 1915-1988
Box 5
Lake Landing High School Parent-Teacher Association Records, 1923-1934
Box 5
Lake Landing Historic District, 1980-1988
Box 5
Lake Landing-Nebraska Canal & Transportation Company, 1920-1921 and undated
Box 5
Lake Landing Township Trustees [originals dated 1869-1874], undated
Box 5
Lake Mattamuskeet, 1966 and undated
Box 5
Land: Ballance Family, undated
Box 5
Lands, Submerged [originals dated 1969], undated
Box 5
Licenses, Hyde County [3 folders], 1929-1931
Box 6
Life Saving Stations [original dated 1910], undated
Box 6
Maps, 1951-1986 and undated
Box 6
C.B. McKinney Freight Book, 1907-1909
Box 6
McKinney, J.R. [2 folders], 1901-1906
Box 6
Merchant's Accounts, 1855-1859, and Amity Sunday School Records, 1870-1887, 1855-1859, 1870-1887
Box 14
Methodism [includes photocopies dated 1825-1892, 2 folders], 1886-1998 and undated
Box 7
Middle Creek, 2001 and undated
Box 7
Miscellaneous Hyde, 1859-1908 and undated
Box 7
Nebraska-Lake Landing Community Development, 1976-1994
Box 7
Newspaper Clippings, undated
Box 7
Newspapers [includes photocopy dated 1880], 1958-1967
Box 7
Ocracoke, circa 1960s-1985
Box 7
Pamlico County [includes photocopy dated 1898], undated
Box 7
Payne, William, Armed Robbery Case, undated
Box 7
Photographs [originals and reproductions, 3 folders], circa 1870s-1960s
Box 8
Piney Woods, 1945-1985 and undated
Box 8
Post Offices [includes photocopies dated 1898], undated
Box 8
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Mattamuskeet Charge
[3 folders], 1883-1893
Box 8
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Mattamuskeet Charge
[4 folders], 1894-1909
Box 9
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Amity Church, 1909, 1934
Box 9
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Mattamuskeet Charge
[3 folders], 1910-1922
Box 9
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Mattamuskeet Charge, 1923-1926
Box 10
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Amity Church, 1924-1928
Box 10
Quarterly Conference Record, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Mattamuskeet Charge
[4 folders], 1926-1940
Box 10
Rush Academy [includes photocopies dated 1811-1841], undated
Box 10
Soil Survey: Lake Mattamuskeet, 1910
Box 10
Surveys, 1956-1989 and undated
Box 10
Swain, Hortense Boomer, Scrapbook, 1941-1945
Box 14
Topography of Hyde County, undated [original dated 1886], undated
Box 11
Union Academy [original dated 1839], undated
Box 11
Watson's Chapel Church [2 folders], 1891-1949
Box 11
Weston Scrapbook [original dated 1883-1972], undated
Box 11
Wills, 1868-1971 and undated
Box 11
World War I Letters from Tom Balance, 1917
Box 11
Yankee Tutor in the Old South, 1970
Box 11
2. Hyde County Genealogy, 1876-2002 and undated
Scope and Content:
This series comprises Ballance's research files on the families that have historically
inhabited mainland Hyde County and the surrounding area. Most folders consist of Ballance's
own handwritten notes on a certain family, usually including birth and death dates
of individual family members, places of residence, and other genealogical information
gleaned from vital records and census data. Usually, Ballance cites the sources of
his information somewhere within his notes. Some folders also include photocopies
of vital records, family histories, or other family information, in addition to Ballance's
notes. Occasionally, folders may contain original historical family papers.
Ballance Family, 1980-1983 and undated
Box 12
Ballance, David Benjamin, undated
Box 12
Ballance, Leban, 1976-2000 and undated
Box 12
Ballance, Leon, 1976-1977 and undated
Box 12
Ballance, O.C., 1907-1976 and undated
Box 12
Benson Family Letters, 1876-1915
Box 12
Black Families, 1993 and undated
Box 12
Boomer Family, 1998 and undated
Box 12
Cahoon Family, 1989 and undated
Box 12
Credle Family, 2002 and undated
Box 12
Dudley Family, 1973 and undated
Box 12
Early Families, 1980-1984
Box 12
Fulford Family, 1883-1888
Box 12
Gibbs (James M.) Family, 1977-2000 and undated
Box 12
Gibbs (Lockhart) Family, undated
Box 12
Gibbs (Washington) Family, undated
Box 12
Hill, William Wallace, 1991-1997 and undated
Box 13
Knickerbocker Family, undated
Box 13
Litchfield Family, 1997 and undated
Box 13
McKinney Family, 1953-1994 and undated
Box 13
Mann, Joseph Spencer, undated
Box 13
Masters Family, 1981 and undated
Box 13
Midyette Family, 1978 and undated
Box 13
Overton Family, 1994 and undated
Box 13
Roper Family, 1976 and undated
Box 13
Sparrow Family, 1994 and undated
Box 13
Weston Family, 2000 and undated
Box 13
Subject Headings
Ballance Family
Gibbs Family
Amity United Methodist Church (Engelhard, N.C.)
Lake Landing High School (Lake Landing, N.C.)
Methodist Episcopal Church, South--North Carolina Conference
Deeds--North Carolina--Hyde County
Deeds--North Carolina--Beaufort County
World War, 1914-1918--North Carolina--Hyde County
World War, 1939-1945--North Carolina--Hyde County
Engelhard (N.C.)--History
Hyde County (N.C.)--History
Hyde County (N.C.)--Genealogy
Hyde County (N.C.)--Maps
Lake Landing (N.C.)--History
Mattamuskeet, Lake (N.C.)
Nebraska (N.C.)--History
New Holland (N.C.)--History
Swanquarter (N.C.)--History
Acquisitions Information
Donated by R.S. Spencer, Jr., March 2013.
Processing Information
Processed by Samantha Crisp, July 2018.