Dyer Ball

Born in West Boylston, Massachusetts,[1] Dyer Ball studied at Phillips Academy and at Yale College for two years.

After being ordained in 1831, Dyer Ball became an agent of the American Home Missionary Society in 1833, and settled in Florida, where he taught, among other places, at St. Augustine High School there, and among the local African-American community.

[2] He was sent to Singapore by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions on 25 May 1838, and remained there until 1841, when he departed for Macao due to his wife's ailing health.

He then moved to Hong Kong in 1843, where his wife died, and to Guangdong (Canton Province) in 1845, where he settled permanently.

[3][4] Their son, James Dyer Ball, became Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court in Hong Kong.