Where it all started - 1981
On August 16, 1981 at the annual Ballew Reunion at Yahoo Campgrounds, Clarksville, GA, Will A. (Bill) Ballew told about plans to start the Ballew Association. Interested people in attendance were enrolled. "Who Am I" forms, the Association By-Laws and genealogy charts were distributed. Bill was very generous in sharing his information agout the Ballew Family tree which he had researched.
In that first meeting
Association officers were appointed. Thomas (Tom) Ballew was appointed President. Bill Ballew is Vice-President and in charge of Membership. Paul Ballew is Treasurer and Harold Ballew is Secretary. Also Ms. Sandra (Ballew) McMillan was elected Editor of the Ballew Journal
In it's Great History
The Ballew Family Association of America was founded in 1981 by four Ballew cousins who were in search of their ancestors. They were all residing in Atlanta, Georgia and had talked together about sharing and researching Ballew Family information. From these discussions an idea was born, why not establish a formal group, made up of Ballew, Balliew, Ballou, Bellew, Balleau, Belue, or any variations of the name, that could work together in the search for Ballew ancestors.
"The purpose of this organization is to bring into contact all those persons who are genealogically or historically researching Ballews and allied families." The ultimate purpose of this organization is to publish a Ballew family history containing as many branches of the Ballew family as can be documented. To this purpose, the Ballew Family Association of America will accept, evaluate, file, preserve and possibly publish records as they are received."
The four founders had succeeded, their dream for a Ballew group had become reality. During the years that have elapsed since the founding fathers had that dream of a Ballew Family Association, many great things happened; growth, expansion; and most importantly the collection of massive amounts of Ballew family information.
The Ballew Association of America was registered on April 27, 1982 and officially dissolved on August 26, 2019, but in those 37 years there were many great accomplishments.
Boasting over 500 members, 349 families from 31 states and 4 foreign countries, at its peek, The Ballew Association of America, Inc. served it's membership well. Collecting family histories is only part of its many goal. Organizing and disseminating that info to it's membership in an organized fashion was a huge task and can been seen in the 34 years of "The Ballew Family Journal" it created and maintained.
The many meetings and reunions that were held, all over the country, collected the personal pictures and stories of many Ballew generations and were archived for future generations to come.