illiam Charles Ball, one of the members of the Ball Brother's Company of Muncie, who died in the spring of 1921, had for a quarter of a century been a diligent and very energetic factor in the development of Muncie's industrial interests, an inspiring unit in that notable union of brothers whose activities in the glass industry have carried far the name of Ball and the fame of a Muncie product, as is set out elsewhere in this work, together with much interesting detail regarding the Ball family and the development of the Ball interests. The late William Charles Ball was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, August 13, 1852, and was fifteen years old when his parents moved with their family to Canandaigua, New York, where he received his schooling in the public schools and the Canandaigua Academy and began his commercial career. They were five Ball brothers and they have held together in all their commercial and industrial enterprises. After their father's death they located at Buffalo, where they became engaged in the manufacture of sheet metal specialties, to which industry they added the manufacture of glass. It was the development of this latter department of their industry, which later brought them to Muncie. When the value of natural gas became apparent in the late '80s Ball Brothers were attracted to the possibilities of this important fuel for glass making and in 1887 they located a glass plant in Muncie which through the years since then has been developed into the greatest manufactory of glass jars in the world. While the interests of Ball Brothers were gradually being withdrawn from Buffalo and established at Muncie, William C. Ball remained in Buffalo to close out the affairs of the Company there, and in 1897 he moved with his family to Muncie to take his part in the local operation with whose interests he had been identified from its inception. Here he spent the remainder of his life, a valued factor in the promotion of the best phases of communal civic development, his death occurring, after a brief illness, on April 30, 1921, and at his passing Muncie lost a highly esteemed citizen and he left a good memory and a host of friends. Mr. Ball is survived by his widow, Mrs. Emma Wood Ball, and by his son, William H. Ball, both of whom are still living here, the former continuing to make her home on beautiful Minnetrista Boulevard. William H. Ball, a veteran of the World War, is connected with the operations of the Ball Brother's Company, as is set out elsewhere. William C. Ball was secretary of Ball Brother's Company and was a director of the Muncie and Portland Traction Company, the Indianapolis, New Castle & Eastern Traction Company, the Merchants National Bank and Hillsdale College. He was a past eminent commander, Knights Templar, a 32nd degree (Scottish Rite) Mason, a member of the Universalist Church and superintendent of the Sunday school.