USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume III > Part 42
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In 1820 he came to America, and soon after landing found himself in Albany, where he obtained work in an ale brewery. Thrifty and canny, like all his fellow-countrymen, he soon began to save his pennies, and after awhile found himself with sufficient capital to start his own brewing plant and to settle down with his bride in a home of his own. This occurred
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about 1830, and for the next ten years he pros- pered ; his three sons were born; and the ex- cellence of his product brought him an ever- increasing custom and a constantly enlarging income and credit. In 1840 Peter Ballantine removed himself and his family to Newark, New Jersey, where he began laying the perma- nent foundations of the enormous business ever since associated with his name, by tak- ing a partner, and under the firm name of Pat- terson & Ballantine brewing ale in the old Morton plant in High street, near Orange. Here also success awaited his efforts, and in a little while he found himself able to enlarge his plant and to become sole owner and manager of the business. This was about 1850, in which year he bought the property on the Pas- saic river and Front street, where he erected his new ale brewery with all the modern ap- pliances of those days. In this brewery the family took great pride, it became a family affair, rapidly assumed large proportions ; and in accordance with the then almost universal idea of living almost in one's shop, the home- stead of the Ballantine family was here, on Front street, near the Center street bridge. Nowadays, a business man lives as far away from shop and office as his wife considers suitable to the family station; and it seems to be the rule that, the wealthier people are, the correspondingly distant are they from the source of their wealth. In the old days it was different. Then the pioneer manufacturer, more often than not, had his residence as close as possible to his shop or factory, in order that he might keep in personal touch with his busi- ness, for neither telephone, telegraph nor good cheap transit service had yet been applied pub- licly, and it was through the use of these con- veniences that people gradually were released from dwelling in the immediate vicinity of their work, sometimes in very undesirable quarters. The quaint old Ballantine home- stead is still standing in Front street, and is one of the conspicuous landmarks of the neigh- borhood. Peter Ballantine built it and took up his residence in it when he began brewing ale in his new plant, and there remained until his death, by which time the huge factory build- ings had begun to close in on the little house and to spread over the grassy lawns around it. Then for many years more it was occupied by the superintendent of the factory, it being necessary to have a watchful eye and ready counsel always close at hand. At present the picturesque old cottage is untenanted and de- serted except for the companionship of the malt-
houses and brewery buildings ; and eventually it will probably give way before the encroach- ments of the business, for the ground upon which it stands is infinitely more valuable to- day than it was in 1846. As Peter Ballantine's three sons grew up they took their places in their father's factory, and in 1857, when the youngest had reached his majority, the father organized the firm of P. Ballantine & Sons, maltsters and brewers of ales; and when he acquired the old Schalk lager beer brewery in Freeman street he formed the new company of Ballantine & Company for the purpose of making beer. As time went on, Peter Ballan- tine became to be recognized as the wealthiest man in Newark, the valuation of his personal property alone being estimated at $5,000,000, and we must remember that this was in the days when the present day paper fortunes were almost if not altogether unknown, and that his wealth was practically all of it real and tangi- ble. Peter Ballantine was for a long time prominent in many enterprises in Newark, but some years before his death, owing to advanc- ing years, he retired from active work, al- though he always retained his interests in the business, and in his will directed that his exec- utors were to continue that interest and repre- sent him for ten years after his decease, un- Jess, upon mature consideration, his three sons should unanimously agree that it were better for the business and for their own interests that this arrangement should cease. In one of the codicils to this will, dated about eight years later, he authorizes his executors at their discretion to turn one or both of the brewing firms into a joint stock company, reimbursing his sons for their shares and interests, in one or more ways at their option.
For more than two years before his death, Peter Ballantine was confined to his house for most of the time except when he rode out. About Christmas, 1882, he caught a severe cold which turned into bronchitis, which, coupled with his age (he had then attained ninety-one years) and an attendant weakness of the heart, caused his death, January 23, 1883. He was buried from his home, 74 Front street, Friday, January 26, 1883, at II o'clock in the morning, and was interred at Mount Pleasant cemetery. For many years he had been a member of the First Dutch Re- formed Church of Newark, and shortly before his death, he had become connected with the North Reformed Church. The week after his death, the Sentinel of Freedom, January 30, 1883, published a long obituary and encomium
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of him. His will, dated October 24, 1874, and containing six codicils of various dates, was proved in the prerogative court of New Jer- sey at Trenton, February 17, 1883, and Janu- ary 24, 1906, when his son's son-in-law, George Griswold Frelinghuysen, was appointed a new tristee under the terms of one of the trusts in the will, a certified copy was filed with the Essex county surrogate. He left large legacies to the American Bible Society, the Foreign and Home Missions of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Newark Orphan Asylum, the American Sunday-school Union, the trustees of Rutgers College, New Brunswick, "for the support and education of indigent young men for the ministry in connection with the Re- formed Church in America;" to the Society for the Relief of Respectable Aged Women, and to the Society of the Home of the Friend- less. Besides a couple of annuities and a couple of lagacies to "faithful servants," he left to his granddaughter, Julia E., daughter of his youngest son, Robert F., "her grand- mother's watch and chain, her bureau, her silver spoons marked 'I. W.,' and her brown satin dress she wore at the wedding of the said Robert F. Ballantine." His executors were his three sons and Abner S. Reeve.
Peter Ballantine married about 1830, Julia, sister to Alexander Wilson, born May 19, 1796, who died in Newark, of remittent fever, June 7, 1868, aged seventy-two years, and left her husband three sons: Peter Hood, John Holme, and Robert F. Ballantine, all referred to below.
(II) Peter Hood, eldest son of Peter and Julia (Wilson) Ballantine, was born in Al- bany, New York, December 16, 1831, and died at Morris Plains, Morris county, New Jersey, September 16, 1882, about four months before his father's death. During the whole of his life he was connected with his father's brew- ing business, although he became likewise interested and identified with many other financial and industrial institutions of New- ark. He was a director in the Newark City National Bank, of the American Insurance Company, of the Newark and Bloomfield Horse Car Railway, and the Newark City Ice Com- pany. His Newark residence was 3 West Park street, and his country home, "Springside," was near Littleton and Morris Plains. Short- ly before his death he went to Europe, appear- ing at his departure to be in very robust health, but when he returned soon afterwards, August 30, 1882, his constitution seemed to be con-
siderably undermined and broken. He hoped however that a few weeks rest in the country would restore him, and he accordingly went at once to "Springside," where the trouble soon developed into typhoid pneumonia which ended fatally, and he was buried in Mount Pleasant cemetery September 19, 1882. On the day of his death, the Newark Daily Journal published in a long obituary the following testimonial from one of Mr. Ballantine's intimate friends : "The death of Mr. Peter Hood Ballantine is a great loss to this community. He was well known as a very influential, if not the controll- ing member of the prosperous and wealthy firm of P. Ballantine & Sons, long engaged in the brewing business in this city. He was re- garded as one of the best business men among us-a 'solid' man, quick and sagacious in ap- prehension, resolute in conduct, firm in his views, and of unimpeached and unimpeachable integrity. He was not a talking man. Indeed, reticence distinguished him. Yet he was genial, kindly, charitable to others, just and generous. Newark has never had a better man. Origin- ally an attendant of the First Reformed Church, he has for several years, beginning when Dr. Eccleston ( Rev. John Houston Eccleston, D. D., since 1884 rector of Emman- uel Church, Baltimore) came here or shortly before, been a regular worshipper in Trinity Church, of which a year ago last Easter he was elected a vestryman. He had the entire confidence of his rector, who we are sure will greatly mourn his loss, as will the whole con- gregation, among whom he was conspicuous in every good word and work."
Peter Hood Ballantine married Isabella Linen, who was born in England, and who with his children survived him. Children : Sara Linen Ballantine, referred to below ; George Alexander Ballantine, born October 14, 1866; Isabel Abbie Ballantine, January 23, 1864; and Mary Cartwright Ballantine, re- ferred to below.
(III) Sara Linen, eldest child of Peter Hood and Isabella (Linen) Ballantine, was born in Newark, March 5, 1858, and married, April 26, 1881, George Griswold, son of Hon. Frederick Theodore and Matilda E. (Gris- wold) Frelinghuysen, the marriage being per- formed by Rev. John Houston Eccleston, D. D., rector of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Newark. (See Frelinghuysen ).
(III) Mary Cartwright, youngest child of l'eter Hood and Isabella (Linen) Ballantine, was born in Newark, October 14, 1866, and
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married, April 12, 1893, Robert William, son of Robert and Elizabeth Aiken (Millar ) Cum- ming, whose sketch see.
(II) John Holme, second son of Peter and Julia (Wilson) Ballantine, was born in Al- bany, February 28, 1834, and died at his home, 43 Washington street, Newark, April 27, 1895. Like his brothers he entered his father's fac- tory and became one of the partners in the firm. When the firm was incorporated he became president of the company, which posi- tion he held up to the time of his death in 1895. He also purchased much real estate in Newark and around Bernardsville, Somerset county, and was interested in and identified with many of the large financial interests and institutions of Newark. He was a director in the American Insurance Company; was interested in the management of the Celluloid Company, and was also a director of the Essex County National Bank, the Newark Electric Light and Power Company, and was a member of the Essex Club. About six weeks before his death, while travelling in the South, he learn- ed that he was suffering from a cancer in his throat. Returning home, at once he put him- self under the care of Dr. Joseph Fewsmith, but without avail. He was buried in Mount Pleasant cemetery, from his home, Tuesday, April 30, 1895, leaving his widow and four out of his eight children surviving him. His will, dated April 15, 1887, proved May 8, 1895, names as his executors his wife, his brother Robert F. Ballantine, and his two sons, John Herbert and Robert Dickson Ballantine, and makes his wife the guardian of his minor chil- dren. He left large legacies to the American Bible Society, the Boards of Foreign and Home Missions of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Newark Orphan Asylum, the Society for the Relief of Respectable Aged Women, the Soci- ety of the Home of the Friendless of Newark, the Newark Charitable Society, and to Foster Home Society. To his wife he left the home house and lot 43, Washington street, together with all furniture, horses, carriages, etc., and the country place which he had bought in 1890 near Bernardsville, and named "Cowndale." lo his son, John Herbert, he left $5,000 and his dwelling house on the corner of Wash- ington Place and Halsey street, Newark, and to his remaining surviving children, when they attained the age of twenty-five, $50,000. The remainder of his estate he put in trust, the income to be divided, one-third to his wife, and the remaining two-thirds to be equally divided among his children.
John Holme Ballantine married Jeannette Boyd of Baltimore, Maryland; children : I. Margaret, born October 9, 1857; died Janu- ary 15, 1865. 2. Peter Wilson, born May 12, 1860, died January 20, 1865. 3. Jeannete Wil- son, born November 4, 1864, died in 1872 or 1873. 4. John Herbert, referred to below. 5. Robert Dickson, referred to below. 6. Edith, died in infancy. 7. Alice Isabel, referred to below. 8. Percy, married Elizabeth Parker ; children : Peter, Robert and Percy.
(III) John Herbert, fourth child and sec- cnd son, eldest child to reach maturity, of John Holme and Jeannette ( Boyd) Ballantine, was born in Newark, February 16, 1867, and is now living at his home, 18 Washington Place. Newark, which he inherited from his father. For his early education he went to the Newark Academy and to the private school of Dr. Pingry at Elizabeth, afterwards completing his preparatory education at St. John's Mili- tary Academy, Ossining, New York, and the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, after which he spent two years at Cornell Uni- versity, graduating in 1889. He became a member of the firm of P. Ballantine & Sons, and here remained until 1902, when he severed his connection with the brewing business in order to become vice-president and treasurer of the Neptune Meter Company, of which he is now president and treasurer. He is also president of the American Pastry and Manufacturing Company of New York. Mr. Ballantine is a Republican, and a member of the college Greek letter fraternity of Chi Phi, also of many clubs, among which are the Essex, the Essex County Country, the Union Club, the Union League, the New York Yacht, the Lawyers', the Cornell University, and the Robins Island Clubs. All his life he has been a member of the North Reformed Church.
September 24, 1890, John Herbert Ballan- tine married Lois Naomi, daughter of John and Margaret (Standart) Wilgus, of Cleve- land, Ohio. Children: John Holme Ballan- tine, born August 27, 1892; Herbert Wilgus Ballantine, December 5, 1893; Jeannete Boyd Ballantine, August, 1897, died April 25, 1899.
(III) Robert Dickson, fifth child and third son of John Holme and Jeannette (Boyd) Ballantine, was born in Newark, July, 1870, and died unmarried, at the home of his mother, 43 Washington street, December 9, 1905, about eighteen hours before his uncle Robert F. Bal- lantine, his last surviving member of the sec- ond generation of the family. He was a grad- uate of the law and medical schools of the Uni-
Respectfully your Dr. Friday Kalisch
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versity of Virginia, and made his home on the famous Edge Hill estate, near Monticello, the home of Jefferson, in Albermarle county, Vir- ginia, which he purchased. Here he enter- tained lavishly, being particularly hospitable to students of the University of Virginia, many of whom were aided by him in material ways. He also made liberal gifts to the Uni- versity, and was a most liberal patron of its athletic teams. He is buried in Mount Pleas- ant cemetery, Newark.
(III) Alice Isabel, only daughter of John Holme and Jeannette (Boyd) Ballantine to reach maturity, was born in Newark, and mar- ried, February 18, 1899, Henry, eldest son and child of Henry and Margaret (Hitchcock) Young (see Young).
(II) Robert F., youngest and last surviving child of Peter and Julia (Wilson) Ballantine, was born in Albany, New York, January 3, 1836, and died at his country home, "Linden Neuk," near Madison, New Jersey, of pleuro- pneumonia, the indirect result of a fall from his horse, at five o'clock in the afternoon of December 10, 1905. At the time of his death he was not only the head of the two brewing firms of P. Ballantine & Sons and Ballantine & Company, but he was the only member of the family still having any connection with those firms, his two brothers being dead, and his three surviving nephews, George Alexander, son of Peter Hood Ballantine, and John Herbert and Percy, the sons of John Holme Ballantine, having severed their connection some time be- fore. At seventeen years of age Robert F. Ballantine entered his father's brewery, and four years later, when his father formed the first of the two firms he was to make so fam- ous, he became one of the partners. In 1895, when his brother John Holme died, he became the president of the firm, a position he retained until his death. As a philanthropist, Robert F. Ballantine used his wealth for the benefit of the city and county in diverse ways. Almost his last benefaction was the gift of a new building to the Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, which was built on Central avenue, and com- pleted shortly before the donor's death. When the park system of the county was being start- ed, Mr. Ballantine, with the members of his two brothers' families, made a grant of thirty- nine acres to the Essex county park commis- sion, and the tract is now included in the upper section of Branch Brook park. In 1900 he built and presented to the city park board the imposing gateway at the foot of the parkway, which was erected at a cost of $27,000. To
Rutgers College he gave a new gymnasium, and to the North Reformed Church, of which he was a member, he donated a new parsonage. When ex-Governor Franklin Murphy resign- ed his position as a member of the park com- mission in the winter of 1901, Mr. Ballantine was appointed to take his place, and held that office until his death. He was also president of the Newark Sinking Fund Commission. In the financial world of both Newark and New York Mr. Ballantine was also very prominent. He was vice-president of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, and of the Howard Savings Institution. He was a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and a di- rector of the Farmers Loan and Trust Com- pany of New York.
He was also a trustee of Rutgers College, a member of the Union League Club, and the Downtown Association of New York, besides being a member of the Essex Club, the Essex County Country Club, the Morristown Club, and the Morris County Golf Club. His long residence in Madison during the summer months had made him a well known person- age there and he became interested in many of the charitable institutions of the place. In No- vember, 1905, while out riding, his horse shied and ran into a tree, unseating and throwing his rider. When he was brought home it was discovered that besides being severely bruised, Mr. Ballantine had sustained the fracture of a rib. A few days later an abcess formed on the lungs and pleurisy set in which afterwards developed into pneumonia, to which disease Mr. Ballantine succumbed. His body was re- moved to his Newark home, 37 Washington street, Tuesday, December 12, and the funeral was from there, the officiant being Rev. James I. Vance, of the North Reformed Church, and the burial being in Mount Pleasant cemetery.
In 1857 Robert F. Ballantine married Annie Elizabeth Brown, of Charleston, South Caro- lina, by whom he had one son, Lawrence Bal- lantine, who died in infancy, and two daugh- ters: Julia Elizabeth, born September 18, 1859, who married April 12, 1882, Charles Bradley ; and Roberta Augusta, wife of John Oliver Halstead Pitney.
Isidor Kalisch, D. D., one of
KALISCH the most distinguished rabbis of his time, was born in Kro- toschin, Dutchy of Posen, Prussia, November 5, 1816, and died in Newark, New Jersey, May 9, 1886. The Rev. Burnham Kalisch, of Kro- toschin, his father, was "widely known
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throughout the Dutchy as a man of learning, piety, and benevolence" and was "deeply versed in Hebraic lore." He died in Kro- toschin, September 1, 1856. His wife was a woman of strong intellect and great force of character. Of their seven children the eldest was the Rev. Isidor Kalisch, D. D.
Dr. Kalisch was even more illustrious than his father, receiving international recognition through his public labors and his published works. From early childhood he evinced de- cidedly scholarly predilection, and "in his ninth year was remarkably proficient in Tal- mudical and Hebrew learning." After finish- ing the curriculum of the gymnasium (on a par with our American colleges) he studied in the Universities of Berlin, Breslau, and Prague, obtaining testimonials from the most eminent professors. During this time he was a con- tributor to leading German periodicals, not- ably the Breslauer, Beobachter, the Figaro, and Dr. Julius Fuerst's Orient. He was the author of one of the most popular songs of that war- like period in Germany, "War Songs of the Germans" ("Schlacht Gesang der Deutschen"), which was dedicated to the Prince of Prussia, December 31, 1842, and was accepted by the Prince (afterward Emperor) William in a note to Dr. Kalisch, January 12, 1843. The song was set to music by Music Director Mueller, of Breslau, and at once became the fashion. His attitude has thus been character- ized :
"Imbued with the love of liberty, and wit- nessing the oppression of his fellowmen under the forms of government and law, his generous nature decried these things; he wrote poems breathing the true spirit of liberty; contrib- uted articles to newspapers which were con- demned as seditious by tyrannical censors ; and thus, when in 1848 the revolutionary fever had reached a crisis, he became one of the many obnoxious citizens who were inimical to the welfare of Prussia because they were stum- bling blocks to the progress of tyranny and oppression. He was compelled to leave Ger- many. He made his way to London, England, and after a sojourn there of several months he left for New York City."
Dr. Kalisch delivered in Krotoschin, in 1843, the "first German sermon ever preached in his native town." He arrived in New York, on August 28, 1849, and the following July was called as minister of the congregation Tifireth Israel, of Cleveland, Ohio. Here he began the distinctive work which was afterward to char- acterize his labors as a rabbi and carry his
name to every section of the country. Finding his charge at Cleveland strictly "orthodox (hermetically attached to all the useless and meaningless Jewish religious rites and cere- monies of bygone ages,)" Dr. Kalisch "un- hesitatingly and boldly planted the banner of reformed Judaism" among them, and by means of his sound reasoning disarmed opposition, and presently saw the congregation "thorough- ly infected" with his own spirit of reform. His work in Cleveland has been well character- ized as a "sudden revolution in the affairs of the Jewish Church." It inaugurated a move- ment which spread in every direction. The immediate effect is best described in the words of the memoir previously cited: "The preach- er's course, while it received the sanction of his congregation, drew him into heated news- paper controversies with the orthodox Jewish ministers in various cities. They were, how- ever, silenced by his trenchant and facile pen."
The result of his vigorous onslaught on the worthless ceremonies, customs and rites prac- ticed by orthodox Jews was the assembling of the first conference of rabbis at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1855. The object of this conference was to better the spiritual condition of the Jews in America; to strip the Jewish divine services from heathenish and idolatrous cus- toms ; to weed out senseless and useless pray- ers : and to establish a uniform divine service throughout the land. Dr. Kalisch's removals from one city to another were largely induced by his zeal to spread and perfect the movement begun at Cleveland. Moreover, he devoted several years between pastvrates to lecturing and preaching in all the large cities in the Union, carrying on the same propaganda. Yet in no instance did he fail to devote himself with equal zeal to the material condition of his congregation. In Cleveland, through his exertions, a new synagogue and school were erected. In Milwaukee he accomplished a similar achievement after having reunited a . congregation which had divided into two fac- tions. worshipping in separate synagogues. Through his efforts was also organized in Mil- waukee the "Die Treue Schwester," a benev- olent society among the Jewish ladies.
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