Editing Webb C. Ball

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[[File:Webster Clay Ball Clockmaker.jpg|thumbnail|Webster Clay Ball]]
'''Webster Clay Ball''' (October 6, 1848 – March 6, 1922) was a jeweler and watchmaker born in [[Fredericktown, Ohio]], who founded the [[Ball Watch Company]].  When [[Standard Time]] was adopted in 1883, he was the first jeweler to use [[time signal]]s from the [[United States Naval Observatory]], bringing accurate time to Cleveland.

==Personal life==
Born on a farm in [[Knox County, Ohio]], Webb C. Ball was married in 1879 to Florence I. Young, of [[Kenton, Ohio]].  They had one son, Sidney Y. Ball (born September 19, 1880), and three daughters, Wilma Ball, Florence Ball, and Alice Ball Andrews.  He was the son of Aaron Taylor Ball (born December 19, 1820, in Fredericktown, Ohio) and Sidney Ann Clay (born April 2, 1820, in [[Frederick, Maryland]]).  His grandparents were Zenas Ball (November 15, 1792, in [[South Orange, New Jersey]] – October 3, 1860) and Sarah Taylor (May 24, 1796 – March 30, 1860).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://altlaw.com/edball/html/d0074/i09217.htm |title=Descendants of Edward Ball of New Jersey |publisher=|year=1997 |accessdate=2011-12-13}}</ref>  He died at his home in [[Cleveland Heights, Ohio]], survived by his wife and children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=BWC1 |title=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History |publisher = Case Western Reserve University |date=July 11, 1997 |accessdate=2011-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usbiographies.org/ohio/bios/cuyahoga/ballw.txt |title=Cleveland Special Limited Edition|publisher = The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York |year=1918 |accessdate=2011-12-13}}</ref> His grandchildren included [[Isabel Burgess | Isabel Andrews Burgess]], a [[Nixon]] appointee to the [[National Transportation Safety Board]].

==Watchmaker history==
After a two-year apprenticeship to a jeweler, Ball settled in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], to join a jewelry store.

In 1891 there was a collision between [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway]] trains at [[Kipton, Ohio]], which occurred because an [[railroad engineer|engineer]]'s watch had stopped. The railroad officials commissioned Webb C. Ball as their Chief Time Inspector, in order to establish precision standards and a reliable timepiece inspection system for [[railroad chronometers]].

He established strict guidelines for the manufacturing of sturdy, reliable precision timepieces, including resistance to magnetism, reliability of time keeping in 5 positions, [[isochronism]], [[power reserve]] and dial arrangement, accompanied with record keeping of the reliability of the watch on each regular inspection. 

His original jewelry business in Cleveland grew into the Ball Watch Company (currently headquartered in [[La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland]]), which used other watch companies' movements, perfecting them and then reselling them. Ball Watch Company also ordered watches complete from other watch companies. Ball used movements from the top American manufacturers, Elgin, Hamilton, and Waltham. The company switched to Swiss Avia movements as early as the 1940s. The [[Waltham Watch Company]] complied immediately with the requirements of Ball's guidelines, later followed by [[Elgin National Watch Company]] and most of the other American manufacturers: [[Aurora Watch Company|Aurora]], [[Hamilton Watch Company|Hamilton]], [[Hampden Watch Company|Hampden]], [[E. Howard & Co.]], [[Illinois Watch Company|Illinois]], [[Seth Thomas (clockmaker)|Seth Thomas]], later on joined by some Swiss watch manufacturers: [[Audemars Piguet]], [[Gallet & Co.|Gallet]], [[Longines]], [[Record Watch]], [[Vacheron Constantin]].

Webb C. Ball became the vice president of the [[Hamilton Watch Company]] and focused his efforts on developing watches for the railroads. Minutes of Proceedings of Third Triennial Convention of the [[Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers|Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen]] held in the B of LE Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio on May 31, 1921, at 2&nbsp;pm the convention was called to order by Grand Chief Engineer W.S. Stone, at this afternoon session Webb C. Ball was introduced, he made a speech, and a resolution was passed unanimously, and he was made an Honorary Member of the Brotherhood.

They were the first wrist watch allowed to be used on the railroads, (using a Swiss manual-winding movement) followed quickly by the first American-made wrist watch on "the roads", Elgin.

The firm was family owned by direct descendants until the 1990s when the right to use the name was sold. The new firm continues the tradition, using Swiss-made (primarily [[ETA SA|ETA]]) movements and making watches for sportsmen and even for some small railroads.

At the end of his career, Webb C. Ball was overseeing over {{convert|125,000|mi|km}} of rail tracks in the United States, Mexico & Canada, having greatly contributed to the safety of all railroad systems. The Horological Institute of America celebrated his efforts on October 20, 1921.<ref>In 1960, the Horological Institute of America merged into [[American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute]]. [http://www.awci.com/about-us/our-history/ AWCI.com].</ref>

==See also==
*[[Owney (dog)]]
*[[Railway signalling]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ballwatch.com Official website]
* [http://www.ballwatch.com/index.php?option=com_company History of Ball Watch Company and Online Museum]
* [http://www.ballwatchusa.com North American Distributor]
* [http://elginwatches.org/databases/pw_elgin.html Elgin Serial Numbers]
* [http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/walsernum.htm Waltham Serial Numbers]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Webb C.}}
[[Category:American people in rail transportation]]
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:American watchmakers (people)]]
[[Category:19th-century American jewellers]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Fredericktown, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio]]