Mary Ball's first memories were probably of the fields and rivers at Cherry Point. It was a pleasant place to remember. The responsibility of the plantation soon fell on Mary's mother, for Captain Hewes died in 1713.
There were few toys then. Mary may have had one of those wooden dolls with stiff joints and staring eyes. She probably played out-of-doors and had animals for pets.
There were no childrens' books then. A Mother Goose book was published in Boston in 1719, but that was too late for Mary. She probably had only a horn-book from which to learn her A B C's. Perhaps there was an indentured servant who could teach her a little.
On Sundays the family probably attended church at Upper St. Stephen's Parish[8], where Captain Hewes had been one of the vestrymen. There may have been some sort of a road from the plantation to the church over which a coach could be pulled, but if so it certainly did not travel at the lively speed of King Carter's! More than likely they rode there on horseback—little Mary sitting up in front of some older person. She doubtless learned to ride at an early age.
Mary probably valued the feather bed left her by her father far more than she did the legacy of land. She had never even seen the land, but every night she could sink into the warmth and softness of the feather bed.
Mary's childhood days at Cherry Point ended in 1721. The child's half-brother, John Johnson, and her mother both died in that year.
Mary Ball was now an orphan, but her mother had planned it so that she would not be alone in the world. Mary Hewes had stipulated in her will that—"my said Daughter Mary Ball—be under Tutiledge and government of Captain George Eskridge during her minority." Colonel Eskridge was also named as executor of Mary's estate. She had received almost the whole of her mother's estate, consisting of lands, two horses and personal property. And she had received all of her half-brother's estate, consisting of land in Stafford County.
Mary Hewes had chosen wisely in selecting her "trusty and well beloved friend George Eskridge" as guardian of her youngest child. Colonel Eskridge was not only a lawyer of distinction, an experienced business man, a leading man in his community, but he was also a gentleman. And Colonel Eskridge was "connected by marriage" with Mary Ball's half-sister Elizabeth Johnson who had married Samuel Bonum. Mary was therefore equally welcome to make her home at her guardian's plantation or at the farm of the Bonum's.