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James W. Ballantine

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James W. Ballantine
Mayor of Bellevue, Idaho
In office
1905–1906
Member of the Idaho Senate
In office
January 4, 1897 – January 2, 1899
Preceded byWilliam H. Watt (as senator from Alturas County)
Succeeded byMichael Carey
ConstituencyBlaine County
In office
January 7, 1901 – January 2, 1905
Preceded byMichael Carey
Succeeded byFred W. Hastings
President Pro Tempore of the Idaho Senate
In office
1901–1903
Preceded byFrank R. Gooding
Succeeded byJohn W. Brigham
Member of the Idaho House of Representatives
In office
January 2, 1893 – January 7, 1895
Serving with George J. Lewis
Preceded byLyttleton Price
George E. Mills
Succeeded byAlbert Wolters
Ervin W. Johnson
ConstituencyAlturas County
Delegate to the Idaho Constitutional Convention
In office
July 4, 1889 – August 6, 1889
ConstituencyAlturas County
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office
1872–1873
ConstituencyAllegheny County
Personal details
Born(1839-02-15)February 15, 1839
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJanuary 5, 1907(1907-01-05) (aged 67)
Bellevue, Idaho, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (to 1892)
Populist (1892–c. 1903)
Democratic (from c. 1903)
Professionoil refiner
merchant
Signature

James W. Ballantine (February 15, 1839 – January 5, 1907) was an American politician and merchant in Pennsylvania and Idaho.

Biography

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Ballantine was born on February 15, 1839, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of Nathaniel and Sarah Wallace Ballantine, who had immigrated from Scotland in 1825. He assisted his merchant father in his business until he enlisted in the 9th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment in April 1861. After the 9th regiment mustered out in May 1864, he enlisted in the 193rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served with the Army of the Potomac for three years, received a gunshot wound to the thigh, and was captured at and held captive for two months following the Second Battle of Bull Run. After the end of the Civil War, he returned to Pennsylvania and engaged in the oil refining business near Pittsburgh until 1883. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Republican for the 1872 and 1873 terms, representing Allegheny County.[1][2]

As the Pennsylvania oil rush petered out and Standard Oil consolidated power in the industry, Ballantine followed the gold rush out of the Idaho Territory's Wood River Valley in 1883. After two years of managing the mining and smelting operations of a company, he turned his attention to mine investment and cattle ranching, becoming one of the most prominent merchants in the region. In 1889, he was selected to represent Alturas County at the Idaho Constitutional Convention, serving as a Republican, and he is a signatory of the state constitution.[3] In 1892, he switched his political allegiance to the Populist Party, and was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives to represent Alturas County. He retired from that body in 1894, having received the Populist nomination for governor. He came in second in that race, losing to incumbent William J. McConnell. In 1896, he was elected to the Idaho Senate to represent newly formed Blaine County.[1] In January 1897, as Populists and Democrats struggled to unite behind a candidate for U.S. Senate, Ballantine was the candidate of the Populists on the twelfth through fifteenth ballots. However, Democrats did not unite behind Ballantine, and ultimately his fellow Populist state senator Henry Heitfeld was elected.[4][5][6]

Ballantine did not stand for reelection in 1898, but was again elected as the state senator for Blaine County in 1900 and 1902. He served as president pro tempore of that body for the 1901–1902 session.[7] Ballantine was selected as a delegate to the national Populist convention in 1900[8] and he received the party's nomination for governor in July of that year,[9] but he withdrew from the election in order to fuse the Populists' ticket with the Democrats' ticket.[10][11] He was the Democratic candidate for mayor of Bellevue in 1904, losing by one vote,[12] and again in 1905, winning by one vote.[13] He was a delegate to his new party's national convention in 1904,[14] and he became a member of the Democratic state committee in 1906.[2] In 1906, he was the Democratic candidate to be senator from Blaine County, but he lost to Reginald F. Buller.[15][16]

He was appointed by Governor Frank W. Hunt to the board of directors of the Blackfoot Insane Asylum in 1901 for a term of two years.[2][17] In 1906, he was a delegate to the National Irrigation Congress,[18] and he was president of the Bellevue State Bank when it opened that December.[19]

Ballantine married Lena McIntyre in 1865, and they had one daughter, Carrie, who died before they came to Idaho.[1] He died of heart disease in Bellevue, Idaho, on January 5, 1907.[20]

Electoral history

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1892

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1892 Idaho House of Representatives election in Alturas County[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Populist George J. Lewis 439 24.6%
Populist James W. Ballantine 408 22.9%
Democratic John Condron 269 15.1%
Republican Presley M. Bruner 266 14.9%
Republican George E. Ferris 248 13.9%
Democratic Walter Scott Myers 153 8.6%
Total votes 1,783 100.0%

1894

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1894 Idaho gubernatorial election[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William J. McConnell (incumbent) 10,208 41.5%
Populist James W. Ballantine 7,121 29.0%
Democratic Edward A. Stevenson 7,057 28.7%
Prohibition Henry C. McFarland 205 0.8%
Total votes 24,591 100.0%

1896

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1896 Idaho Senate election in Blaine County[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Populist-Democratic James W. Ballantine %
Silver Republican Lyttleton Price %
Total votes 100.0%

1900

[edit]
1900 Idaho Senate election in Blaine County[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Populist-Democratic James W. Ballantine %
Republican Presley M. Bruner %
Total votes 100.0%

1902

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1902 Idaho Senate election in Blaine County[26][27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Populist-Democratic James W. Ballantine (incumbent) %
Republican James A. Lusk %
Total votes 100.0%

1906

[edit]
1906 Idaho Senate election in Blaine County[15][16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Reginald F. Buller %
Democratic James W. Ballantine %
Total votes 100.0%

References

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  1. ^ a b c An Illustrated History of the State of Idaho. The Lewis Publishing Company. 1899. pp. 413–414.
  2. ^ a b c "James W. Ballantine". Archives of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 2015.
  3. ^ "Delegates to the Constitutional Convention". Idaho Semi-Weekly World. July 12, 1889.
  4. ^ "Again Fail to Elect". Idaho Daily Statesman. January 21, 1897.
  5. ^ "Two Ballots Taken". Idaho Daily Statesman. January 22, 1897.
  6. ^ "Henry Heitfeld Elected". Idaho Daily Statesman. January 29, 1897.
  7. ^ Idaho Secretary of State (2023). Idaho Blue Book (PDF).
  8. ^ "Fusion a Certainty". Idaho County Free Press. March 30, 1900.
  9. ^ "Three Tickets in the Field". The Weiser Semi-Weekly Signal. July 26, 1900.
  10. ^ "Plan to Force Populist Hands". Idaho Daily Statesman. August 29, 1900.
  11. ^ "Patrie Rejects Filings of Pops". Idaho Daily Statesman. September 30, 1900.
  12. ^ "Colonel Ballantine Loses". Idaho Daily Statesman. April 6, 1904.
  13. ^ "Bellevue Election Settled". Idaho Daily Statesman. April 21, 1905.
  14. ^ "Idaho Democrats Indorse Hearst". The Silver Blade. June 10, 1904.
  15. ^ a b "Idaho's New Legislators". Lewiston Evening Teller. November 15, 1906.
  16. ^ a b "Blaine County Democrats". The Silver Messenger. October 9, 1906.
  17. ^ "Asylum Directors". BLackfoot News. March 9, 1901.
  18. ^ "Delegates to the Irrigation Congress From Many States". Idaho Daily Statesman. July 22, 1906.
  19. ^ "News From Idaho Towns". Idaho Daily Statesman. December 14, 1906.
  20. ^ "J. W. Ballantine Dies Suddenly". Idaho Daily Statesman. January 6, 1907.
  21. ^ "Returns of the Election Held in Alturas County Nov. 8th, 1892". Wood River Times. November 17, 1892.
  22. ^ Hawley, James H. (1920). History of Idaho. Vol. 1. p. 233.
  23. ^ "Election Returns". The Ketchum Keystone. November 7, 1896.
  24. ^ "Idaho Fusion Forces Triumph". The Emmett Index. November 9, 1900.
  25. ^ "A Grand Rally". Lewiston Daily Teller. September 13, 1900.
  26. ^ "Results of the Election". Idaho Daily Statesman. November 15, 1902.
  27. ^ "Blaine County Republican Ticket". Idaho Daily Statesman. September 18, 1902.
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