Levi Ballou was born on 10 May 1806 in Halifax, Windham County, Vermont, the son of Asahel Ballou and Martha Starr. The Ballou family, of Huguenot descent, was central to the history of denominational Universalism in America. Theologically, the Universalists rejected the predestinarianism of Puritan Calvinism and held to the distinguishing principle of the ultimate salvation of all humanity. Organizationally, they were committed to what at times became an extreme form of congregational autonomy. In terms of denominational strength, the movement probably peaked in the late 1840s. Levi Ballou's great-uncle was Rev. Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), the most important American Universalist theolgian of the early nineteenth century; an older brother, Rev. Hosea Ballou II (1796-1861), was the first president of Tufts College, established by the Universalists in 1853. Many other family members (including a second brother, William Starr Ballou) served in the ministry, or otherwise contributed to the Universalist movement. Levi Ballou was a teacher and singing instructor before embarking on the study of theology, with his brother Hosea. He began preaching about 1836, itinerating mostly in the Connecticut River Valley, in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. In 1843 he settled at the First Congregational Parish and Society of Orange, Massachusetts—later known as the Second Universalist Society—in Frankin County, in the north-central part of the state. The parish had long been supportive of Universalist doctrine; Ballou would remain there as pastor for the rest of his life. Besides preaching at Orange and in surrounding parishes, Ballou served on the Orange public school board, and had an active interest in the establishment of Tufts. He married Mary Chase in July 1842, and following Chase's death in 1853, was remarried to Elvira Goodell. Ballou had three children with Chase, and four with Goodell. He died of pneumonia on 27 October 1865, ten days after his last sermon at Orange.