Hezekiah J. Balch

Hezekiah J. Balch (sometimes middle initial I. or I. J.) was a 19th-century American politician of Mississippi. According to the Works Progress Administration's History of Jefferson County, Mississippi, he was "lawyer from North Carolina, [who] came to Tennessee, then removed to Jefferson County, settling near Greenville, where he figured prominently."[1] In J. F. H. Claiborne's telling, "H. I. Balch was a lawyer from North Carolina, to Tennessee, thence to this Territory. Some of his family figured in the State of Franklin, and afterwards in Nashville."[2]

There was a letter waiting for him at the Greenville, Mississippi Territory post office in October 1805.[3] He was executor for a Mississippi estate in 1806.[4] He married Betsy West in Jefferson County, Mississippi on January 4, 1806.[5] His wife Elizabeth Balch died at Greenville in January 1807.[6] He remarried, to Maria West, in January 1808.[7]

In May 1813 he placed second behind Thomas Hinds in an election for a seat in the Mississippi Territorial Assembly.[8] In December 1813 he was seated as the representative from Jefferson County in the territorial legislature.[9] According to the WPA history, Balch was the representative to the territorial assembly from Jefferson County from 1811 to 1813.[10]

Balch's second wife, Maria West Balch, died in 1816 at age 24.[11]

He was a signer of the 1817 Constitution of Mississippi.[12] He served as a Mississippi state senator representing Jefferson County to the 1st Mississippi Legislature of 1817–1818.[13] Under the state constitution his term of service was to be one year.[14] He died sometime prior to May 1818.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Powell (1938), p. 19.
  2. ^ Claiborne, J. F. H.; Lagrone, C. M. (1880). Mississippi, as a province, territory and state, with biographical notices of eminent citizens... V. I. Jackson, Miss.: Power & Barksdale. p. 355.
  3. ^ "List of Letters". The Mississippi Messenger. October 8, 1805. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  4. ^ "Notice". The Mississippi Messenger. March 11, 1806. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  5. ^ "Jefferson County Mississippi Marriage Project-WA-WH". msgw.org. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  6. ^ "Died". The Mississippi Messenger. January 27, 1807. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  7. ^ "Hezekiah L. J. Balch, 1808". Mississippi Marriages, 1800–1911. FamilySearch.
  8. ^ "The Election". Natchez Gazette. May 25, 1813. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  9. ^ "Legislature of the Territory". Natchez Gazette. December 8, 1813. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  10. ^ Powell (1938), 415.
  11. ^ "Died at Greenville". Natchez Gazette. May 15, 1816 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "The Mississippi Constitution of 1817 -". www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  13. ^ "Article clipped from Mississippi Free Trader". Mississippi Free Trader. August 17, 1817. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  14. ^ "Classification". Natchez Gazette. December 20, 1817. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  15. ^ "Notice Is Hereby Given". Natchez Gazette. May 30, 1818. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-08-16.

Sources

  • Powell, Susie V., ed. (1938). Jefferson County (PDF). Source Material for Mississippi History, Volume XXXII, Part I. WPA Statewide Historical Research Project – via Mississippi Library Commission (mlc.lib.ms.us). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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