Everyone always thinks French because of the name, but it was actually spelled Ballew up until just a few generations ago, or so it has been told. On some accounts, "my immigrant ancestor, Maturin Ballou, a French Protestant, as tradition says, fled first to England , remained there till he had formed a marriage connection, then came to Massachusetts Bay , and thence removed to the Providence Plantations. There, about 1640, he joined the co-proprietors of Roger Williams.
Belief in the family’s Huguenot origin was apparently unchallenged until 1884. At that time Frederick M. Ballou, a retired manufacturer and banker, traveled to England and France to research the family’s European roots in connection with the family history and genealogy then being prepared. F. M. Ballou came to believe that the Ballous were not of Huguenot origin at all, but were a branch of the Bellew family of England , with Norman roots going back to the time of the Conquest. Adin Ballou accept*ed this version and incorporated it into the Genealogy."
Not that you give a damn or really wanted to know, but there you go. I've been enamored over the years with both branches of the name and I own several books and magazines written by Maturin and Hosea Ballou, both very famous for their time. If you're REALLY bored:
https://www.ballewassn.org/ballou_origins.htm
