Cecil Stiles Ballou

     Cecil Stiles Ballou was born on 20 June 1896 at Wendell, Massachusetts.^1,2,3 He was the son of William Herbert Ballou and Maude Nellie Stiles.^1,2 Cecil Stiles Ballou was nick named Bug.¹ He graduated on 22 June 1916 at Orange, Massachusetts, from Orange High School.^1,3 He was in the Army during World War I, as a private in the 21^st Company, 6^thBattalian, 151^st Depot Brigade and volunteered in the Medical Corps during the influenza epidemic at the close do the war.¹ He went to Columbus, Ohio and worked on a large dairy farm there. He was later a crane operator in Chester, Pennsylvania. He later managed the Sheldegren Farm in Greenfield, Massachusetts, before returning to Orange in 1940.¹ On 28 June 1922 at the Leverett Congregational Church, Leverett, Massachusetts, Cecil married Mary Elizabeth Richards, daughter of George Elmer Richards and Mabel J. Proctor.^1,3 Cecil Stiles Ballou was employed by Sheldegren Farms as a farm manager between 1929 and 1940.³ He died on Thursday, 5 June 1952 at Orange, Massachusetts, at age 55 years, 11 months and 16 days. From the Athol Daily News, 6 June 1952, "Cecil Stiles Ballou, 55, owner of the dairy farm and registered Gurnsey herd at 383 East River St. Orange, was burned to death in a flash fire in his barn yesterday afternoon. Ballou was pitching hay from a loft to a tractor-powered bailer on the barn floor, which was bing operated by his son, Derrill. The hay toppled over, hurling Ballou onto the bailer and burying him under an estimated 2 tons of hay, which burst into flames from the exhaust and gasoline of the machine.^1,2,3,4" Cecil was buried at South Cemetery, Orange, Massachusetts.¹