Bland Williams Ballard was born on October 16, 1761, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, the eldest son of Bland Ballard. In 1779, he moved with his father to Kentucky, where the younger Ballard served in the militia. In 1788, Ballard's father and family were killed by Delaware Indians in what is now Shelby County, Kentucky. Later in life, Ballard said he had killed thirty to forty Indians in battle to avenge his family and punish Indians for horse theft.
