Florence Ballard her suit. Angered, Gordy ordered her to return to Detroit, and Birdsong officially replaced her, abruptly ending her tenure with the Supremes. It had been decided as early as May that Birdsong would be Ballard's official replacement once Birdsong's contract with the Bluebelles was bought out. In August 1967, the "Detroit Free Press" reported that Ballard had taken a temporary leave of absence from the group due to "exhaustion". Ballard eventually married her boyfriend, Thomas Chapman, on February 29, 1968. A week earlier, on February 22, Ballard and Motown negotiated to have Ballard released from the label. Her attorney in
David W. Ballard Horace C. Gilson had embezzled most of the territory's funds while serving as acting governor between Lyon and Ballard's administrations. A Republican who supported the Union during the Civil War, Ballard often clashed bitterly with the overwhelmingly Democratic and pro-Confederate territorial legislature. At the time many of the top federally appointed officials in Idaho Territory hailed from Oregon, particularly from Yamhill County. These officials were strongly linked to Radical Republican policies, which were deeply unpopular in Idaho Territory. Although Ballard was not from Yamhill County, as an Oregonian he was often associated with this group. Upon his arrival, Ballard learned