He was born on November 16, 1791, in Dundee, Scotland. He decided to leave Scotland due to the "pressure of poverty and the call to great achievement."[1]
Career
In 1820, Ballantine emigrated to Albany, New York where he learned brewing. By 1830, he had established his own brewery there. In 1840, he moved to Newark, New Jersey, and partnered with Erastus Patterson to form P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company, and leased the old High Street Brewery that had been built in 1805 by John R. Cumming.[1]
In 1845, Ballantine pulled out of the partnership, and, five years later, built his own brewery on the Passaic River, known as P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company. In 1857, he took his sons as partners,[2] and he became the wealthiest man in Newark.[1]
Personal life
In 1830, Ballantine married Julia Wilson (1796–1868), daughter of David Wilson and Abigail Gillespie, of Troy, New York. Together, Peter and Julia were the parents of the following children, all of whom were born in Albany:[1]
Peter Hood Ballantine (1831–1882), who married the English-born Isabella Linen (1835–1911).[1]
Robert Francis Ballantine (1836–1905), who married Anna Elizabeth Brown (1838–1926) of New Jersey.[4]
His wife died in Newark on June 7, 1868 of "remittent fever".[1] Peter Ballantine died at his home in Newark, New Jersey, aged 91 after three weeks of bronchitis, on January 23, 1883. He was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark.[2]
He was a great-grandfather to Peter Hood Ballantine Cumming (1910–1988), who held political office (Mayor of Rumson, New Jersey, 1950–51) and was a noted business executive (Textile Banking Company, Iselin-Jefferson Financial Company, H.A. Caesar & Company).[7]
^ ab"Peter Ballantine"(PDF). New York Times. January 24, 1883. Retrieved 2008-06-29. Peter Ballantine, of the firm of Ballantine Sons, one of the best-known brewers and maltsters in the country, died yesterday morning at his home in Newark, New Jersey...
^"Ballantine Frelinghuysen"(PDF). New York Times. April 27, 1881. Retrieved 2008-07-01. Trinity Church, in Newark, was crowded yesterday by one of the most brilliant wedding parties ever seen in that city. Many persons were present from New-York, and nearly every section of New-Jersey was represented in the audience of 1,200 persons.
^"Peter H. B. Cumming, 78, Retired Executive". New York Times. November 18, 1988. Retrieved 2008-06-29. Peter Hood Ballantine Cumming, a retired executive and former mayor of Rumson, N.J., died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Little Silver, N.J. He was 78 years old.