Who is Thomas Ballard from --and Ladies of the Club and what is their importance?

Thomas Ballard is married to Mary. The couple has two daughters, Thomasina and Eliza. As a Supreme Court Judge, Thomas is a well respected and influential man in the community. Over the course of the novel, we see Thomas put his daughters' happiness before anything else when he steps in and supports Thomasina's choice in a husband. He loses a great deal of money in the economic crash following the Civil War, which forces him to reopen his law practice to support the family. Thomas later dies in his law office, leaving his property divided equally between his two daughters.