David W. Ballard

American politician

David Wesley Ballard (February 21, 1824 – September 18, 1883) was an American politician and physician who served as the third governor of Idaho Territory from 1866 to 1870. Unlike many territorial governors of the Reconstruction Era, Ballard resided in his jurisdiction during his tenure. A physician by trade, Ballard actively practiced medicine in Boise throughout his tenure as territorial governor.

Ballard was born in Bridgeport, Indiana. He studied medicine in his native town and graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Ballard soon grew a large medical practice in Monrovia, Indiana. He later relocated with his family to Linn County, six miles from Lebanon, Oregon Territory. Again his medical practice grew large and his neighbors developed a trust in his integrity. He was elected to the Oregon State Senate soon after Oregon's admission to statehood in 1859.

On the recommendation of Oregon Senator George Henry Williams, Ballard was appointed territorial governor by President Andrew Johnson in April 1866. When he arrived in Idaho Territory in June he found the government in serious disarray. The territory was still reeling from the mismanagement of Ballard's predecessor, Caleb Lyon, deeply divided over the controversial decision to move the capital from Lewiston to Boise, and nearly broke because former territorial secretary Horace C. Gilson had embezzled most of the territory's funds while serving as acting governor between Lyon and Ballard's administrations. A Republican who supported the Union during the Civil War, Ballard often clashed with the overwhelmingly Democratic and pro Confederate territorial legislature. At the time many of the top federally appointed officials in Idaho Territory hailed from Oregon, particularly from Yamhill County. These officials were strongly linked to Radical Republican policies, which were unpopular in Idaho Territory. Although Ballard was not from Yamhill County, as an Oregonian he was often associated with this group.

He married Jane Eliza Rooker (1831–1891) in 1848 in Morgan County, Indiana. They had nine children: Lonner L., Oscar, Frank Rooker, Florence E., Carrie, Maud M., Ora, and two daughters, Amanda D. and Mary J., who died in infancy. Ballard was a direct descendant of Thomas Ballard, Jr., the chief founder of Yorktown, Virginia in 1705; speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, beginning in 1692; and who granted his land in 1693 to trustees for the founding of William and Mary College. Ballard died on September 18, 1883, at age 59. He is interred at Lebanon Pioneer Cemetery in Lebanon, Oregon.