Rhode Island Reading Room


History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical

NY: The American Historical Society, Inc. 1920



p. 454 - 456:

Barton A. BallouBARTON ALLAN BALLOU  --  In Providence, which is known as the jewelry center of this country, there is no one whose name is more widely known perhaps than the man with whom this story deals.  Barton Allan Ballou is one who can look back, with keen recollection, three score and ten years, when this industry was in its infancy.  It is a well known fact, however, that at that early date Providence and vicinity were well along on making jewelry, but from that time on the real growth took place, and Mr. Ballou to-day stands as a conspicuous figure and dean in the trade.  His identity is not only known in this field, for he has been active in other ways, and Rhode Island knows him as one of its prominent citizens. He has done much for the welfare of his home city and his State by helping to advance all good movements for the well-being of his fellow citizens.

The American Ballou families are of Norman-French descent.  Guinebond Ballou, their ancestor, was, it is supposed, a marshal in the army of William the Conqueror, and fought in the battle of Hastings in 1066.  His descendants lived in County Sussex, England, until late in the fourteenth century, where they were extensive landholders and held important government offices both in State and church.  Later many of them settled in other counties of England and Ireland, and held large baronial estates there. In England and Ireland they have preserved an unbroken line of descent of domains and titles for at least six hundred years, and in Devonshire they have long been distinguished.  The name has been variously spelled Belou, Ballowe, Belloue, Belleau, Bellew, etc., but at present it is usually written Ballou.

(I)  Maturin Ballou, the immigrant ancestor, was born in Devonshire, England, between 1610 and 1620, and came to America previous to 1645, the exact place and date unknown.  He is first mentioned as a copartner in the Providence Plantations, January 19, 1646-47, admitted a freeman here, May 18, 1658, together with Robert Pike, who became his father-in-law, and with whom he was intimately associated all his life.  Their home lots stood adjacent in the north part of Providence, as originally settled. Various parcels of land are recorded to have been assigned to him, but nothing more definite  is known.  He died February 24, 1661. His wife was Hannah, daughter of Robert and Catherine Pike, whom he married between 1646 and 1649, probably in Providence.  She died at the age of eighty-two years.  Children born in Providence:  John, 1650; James, mentioned below;  Peter, 1654;  Nathaniel, died in early manhood;  Samuel, born 1660, drowned June 10, 1669.

(II)  James Ballou, son of Maturin Ballou, was born in 1652, and lived in Providence and Smithfield, R. I.  He married Susanna Whitman, born February 28, 1658.  Children:  James, born Nov. 1, 1684; Nathaniel;  Obadiah, mentioned below;  Samuel, born Jan. 23, 1692;  Susanna, Jan. 3, 1695;  Bethsheba, Feb. 15, 1698; Nehemiah, Jan. 20, 1702.

(III)  Obadiah Ballou, son of James Ballou, was born September 6, 1689, in Providence, R. I.  He married (first) January 5, 1717-18, Damaris, daughter of John and Sarah (Aldrich) Bartlett.  He married (second) December 26, 1740, Mrs. Sarah (Whipple) Salisbury, born December 26, 1701, in Cumberland, widow of Jonathan Salisbury, and daughter of Israel Whipple.  Children, born in what became Cumberland, R. I., then Wrentham, Mass.:  Ezekiel, mentioned below;  Susanna, born Dec. 7, 1720; Daniel, Dec. 27, 1722;  Abner, Oct. 28, 1725;  Anna, Dec. 20, 1727;  Obadiah, Sept. 29, 1730;  Esther, Aug. 24, 1733;  Aaron, March 2, 1738.  Children by second wife:  Zerviah, born Jan. 4, 1742;  Joseph, May 15, 1746;  Benjamin, Feb. 7, 1749.

(IV)  Ezekiel Ballou, son of Obadiah Ballou, was born January 5, 1718-19, in Wrentham, Mass., and died June 5, 1789.  His homestead was three-quarters of a mile northeast of the Ballou meeting house.  He was a farmer.  He married, July 3, 1740, Joanna, daughter of Elder Josiah Cook, and she died January 16, 1797.  Children, born in Cumberland: Jesse, March 30, 1741;  Levi, mentioned below;  Amey, Nov. 24, 1745;  Reuben, Nov. 26, 1747;  Asa, March 2, 1750;  Mary, Aug. 12, 1752;  Anna, March 1, 1756;  Joanna, Sept. 27, 1759.

(V)  Levi Ballou, son of Ezekiel Ballou, was born in Cumberland, R. I., September 23, 1744, and died July 13, 1805.  He was conspicuous as a Revolutionary Patriot, shared largely in town offices of honor and responsibility, was long a popular justice of the peace, frequently represented his fellow citizens in the General Assembly of the State, and was a much trusted counsellor in the affairs of the neighborhood.  He married, at Cumberland, March 21, 1764, Comfort Thompson, who died October 28, 1826, aged eighty years.  Children, born in Cumberland:  Rachel, Sept. 11, 1765;  Philena, Oct. 6, 1766;  Rhoda, Dec. 15, 1768; Vienna, Jan. 29, 1771;  Welcome, March 1, 1773;  Joanna, Feb. 25, 1775;  Flavius J., Oct. 13, 1776;  Rachel and Emelia, twins, May 8, 1780;  Levi, Aug. 29, 1782;  Olney, Sept. 28, 1784; Barton, mentioned below.

(VI)  Rev. Barton Ballou, son of Levi and Comfort (Thompson) Ballou, was born in July, 1791, in Cumberland, R. I.  He graduated from Brown University, and studied for the ministry with Rev. Hosea Ballou, of Boston, Mass., the famous Universalist preacher.  He then went South and while there contracted yellow fever, from which he never entirely recovered, thus affecting his career as a minister.  After this he came North and preached for a short time, spending the remainder of his life teaching in the Bushee Academy, at the old bank near Woonsocket, R. I.  He married (first) Sarah Rathbone, and to this union five children were born. He married (second) Deborah Rathbone, and the following children were born: Barton Allan, mentioned below;  and Sarah Alice, who married John Fry, of East Greenwich, R. I.

(VII)  Barton Allan Ballou, son of the Rev. Baron and Deborah (Rathbone) Ballou, was born October 25, 1835, in Cumberland, R. I.  He received his education in the common schools of his native town.  When he was but nine years of age his father died.  Being thrown on his own resources, he secured employment in a cotton mill at the age of twelve, where he remained one year.  He then learned to manufacture boots, at which employment he remained until fifteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to a manufacturing jeweler in Providence.  Here  he learned the trade and worked for a time.  Owing to the great depression experienced by the jewelry trade during the time of the Civil War, he went to New Hampshire for a short period and there enlisted in the service of his country.  He recruited part of a company, filling the quota of the town of Ware, and was chosen lieutenant of Company G, Sixteenth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, which served in Southern Louisiana under General Banks in several important engagements.  At the expiration of his term of service he returned to New Hampshire so broken in health that he was unable to take command of the colored company which was offered him.  After a year's time he recovered his health and returned to Providence, where he resumed his trade in the manufacture of jewelry. In 1868 he bought out a part of the business of the company in which he learned his trade;  the firm name at that time was Rathbone & Richards, and subsequently it became B. A. Ballou.  Inside of a year he took as a partner his brother-in-law, John J. Fry, the firm name becoming B. A. Ballou & Company, which so continued until the death of Mr. Fry in 1895.  Soon after Mr. Fry's death Mr. Ballou's son, Frederick A., joined his father, under the same firm name.  The business was successfully conducted, and on May 1, 1906, was incorporated as B. A. Ballou & Company, Inc.  The officers were B. A. Ballou, president;  W. W. Middlebrook, of New York, vice-president; E. C. Lakey, secretary;  F. A. Ballou, treasurer, later general manager, and these men continue in the organization to the present.  The business built up by Mr. Ballou and associates grew rapidly and soon came to be one of the leading jewelry industries of the State, its success resting largely upon his remarkable executive ability, business foresight and mastery of the details of the actual manufacturing process.  He has done much to revolutionize the manufacture of jewelry, and has taken out many patents on inventions.  He became a conspicuous figure in the jewelry world, and was one of the directors of the Manufacturing Jewelers' Board of Trade, and a member of the Manufacturing Jewelers' Association.  Mr. Ballou still continues an active interest in his company, but has given up to his son the practical management of affairs.

Mr. Ballou is president of the Dyer Street Land Company; member of the board of directors of the Home for Aged Men and Aged Couples; trustee and president of the board of trustees of Bell Street Chapel Fund, created by James Eddy;  member of Providence Chamber of Commerce, Rhode Island Country Club, Rhode Island Historical Society, Pilgrims' Society, Loyal Legion, School of Design, and various other organizations.  In politics Mr. Ballou is a Republican, Independent in his support of men and measures. He and his wife are of liberal religious belief and attend the Bell Street Chapel services.

Barton Allan Ballou married (first) May 7, 1858, at Providence, Delia A. Wesley, who died shortly after without leaving issue.  He married (second) November 28, 1867, at Blackstone, Mass., Mary Rathbone, daughter of Eli and Lydia (Rathbone) Kelly.  They are the parents of three children:  Frederick Allan, whose sketch follows;  Charles Rathbone, and Alice May.



p. 456:

FREDERICK ALLAN BALLOU, who succeeded in the management of B. A. Ballou & Company, Inc., is one of the leading manufacturers of jewelry in Rhode Island.  Besides his interests in the jewelry trade, Mr. Ballou is active in various other movements which are essential in Rhode Island's industrial, financial and social welfare.

(VIII)  Frederick Allan Ballou, son of Barton Allan and Mary Rathbone (Kelly) Ballou, was born in Providence, February 16, 1869.  He was educated in the public and high schools of his native city, and prepared for business in a commercial college.  Upon completing his education, he became connected with his father's firm, B. A. Ballou & Company, in the capacity of bookkeeper.  Being of a mechanical turn of mind he later went into the factory and learned the manufacturing part of the business from its beginning.  Here he remained for a number of years, later going into the sales department.  The ensuing period he spent partially in New York and partially in traveling throughout the country making himself personally acquainted with the customers of the firm. Soon after the death of John J. Fry, member of the firm of B. A. Ballou Company, in 1895, Mr. F. A. Ballou was taken into partnership, and has since been identified with the business.  Its rapid growth in recent years has been in large measure due to his ability as an executive and general manager.  On May 1, 1906, at the incorporation of B. A. Ballou & Company, he became treasurer and general manager of the firm, which position he now occupies.  As shown in the foregoing lines of this narrative, Mr. Ballou began by learning the business and its various details, thus thoroughly familiarizing himself with its different phases.  He has been practical and progressive and has advanced many movements which have resulted beneficially to both employer and employee.  B. A. Ballou & Company now stands among the foremost in the jewelry trade for its modern methods and ideas.

Mr. Ballou is also active in various commercial and financial circles. He is director of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, and has held directorships in other banking institutions.  He is a director of the Rhode Island Insurance Company, vice-president of the Manufacturing Jewelers' Export Company of New York, secretary of the Manufacturers' Refining Company, treasurer of Yale Jewelry Manufacturing Company, both of Providence. Mr. Ballou is president of the Manufacturing Jewelry Board of Trade, member of the Providence Chamber of Commerce, member of the Republican party, for three years served on the Barrington Town Council, and was its president during his last term; represented Barrington in the Rhode Island Legislature, and was a member of the finance committee of the House.  His clubs are the Squantum, Turk's Head, Hope, and Rhode Island Country.  He is a member of the Rhode Island School of Design, and vice-president of the Providence Boys' Club.  Like his father he is of liberal religious belief.

Mr. Ballou's son, Frederick Allan Ballou, Jr., is a graduate of Brown University, and during the great World War was a lieutenant in the One Hundred Third Field Artillery, of the famous Yankee Division; is now active in the business of his father, and will no doubt some day stand out in the jewelry trade like his grandfather and father, who have been most prominent here.


Continued


Transcription and pictures 2001-2 by Beth Hurd


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