Howard's Second Great-Grandparents
John R. Balch and Sophia Stone
John R. Balch/Baulch was born October 11, 1810, probably in Tennessee (1850, 1860 and 1880 Census reports TN; 1870 Census reports KY; 1880 Census reports TN, KY and OH by his children; 1900 Census reports AL by his sons) and died July 30, 1892 in Gallatin, Sumner County, TN. He married Sophia Stone January 17, 1833 in Sumner County, TN, daughter of Nicholas Stone and Elizabeth Loving. She was born August 06, 1814 in Gallatin, TN, and died September 05, 1885 in Gallatin, TN. Both are buried in the Stone-Baulch Cemetery, Sumner County, Tennessee.
Nothing is known about John R. Balch's parents. He is my most frustrating "brick wall." The only documented clue we have is from the 1880 Census where he reported that his father was from Scotland and his mother was from Ireland. Yet, we do not really know if John's family came from Scotland and Ireland. My father and uncles (James H. Baulch, Ernest F. Baulch, and Nelson H. Baulch) told us that the Baulch family came from Germany originally and that John dropped the "u" to Americanize the name. It is possible that the family could have migrated from Germany to Scotland and later to the States, but we can find no evidence to support that. In fact, recent DNA discoveries have proven that we are connected with the Balch family in England.
Gene Edward Balch, a 12th generation descendant of John Balch (1631-1690) who settled in Lord Baltimore's Maryland Colony in 1658, has researched the Balch family for over thirty years. He postulates "that John R. Balch may be one and the same as young John Balch, son of William & Rebecca, of Sparta, White County, Tennessee. This John Balch was born in 1805 and disappeared from the campsite during a trip with his two brothers William and Hezekiah and his mother in about 1829." He could be correct, but I have not yet supported this assertion, because William & Rebecca Balch of Sparta, White County, TN were born in Maryland and North Carolina, not in Scotland and Ireland as John R. Balch reported for the 1880 Census. You may see Gene's work on the Balch family by clicking here.
The following sources were useful in providing valuable information for John R. Balch and his wife, Sophia Stone:
Free White Males: one under age 5, one age 5-10, one age 30-40 (this would be John and sons William Nicholas and Alfred Nelson, although both sons were under the age of five at the time of the census)
Free While Females: one under age 5, one age 5-10, one age 10-15, one age 30-40 (this would be Sophia and daughters Mary Catherine and Elizabeth F., although both daughters were between 5-10 at the time of the census; it is not known who the person age 10-15 might have been)
No Free Colored Persons recorded; No Slaves recorded.
District 11, Page 280 lists John as the head of household number 44. The ages for Susan Eliza, Martha, and Nancy appear incorrect in this census. According to later census data and the John R. Baulch Family Bible, at this point in time, they were 5, 3, and 2, respectively.
District 11 lists John as the head of household number 99.
District 11, page 728 lists John as head of household number 106.
The age for Susan appears incorrect in this census. She would have been 25 at this time.
Robert Higgason (misspelled as Hickison in this census) came to live with the Baulch family some time after his father, John W. Higgason, was killed in the Civil War in 1864. Siblings Sarah and Fountain were taken in by the William Nicholas Baulch family (household 108).
Son Alfred is recorded in household 107.
District 9, page 133D lists John as head of household number 104.
John Balch listed his birthplace as Tennessee; in the prior listed household, Alfred Balch listed his father, John's, birthplace as Kentucky.
Suffia Balch is Sophia Stone Balch.
Susus E. Balch is Susan E. Balch. In this census her health condition is listed as "paralized."
Jane Lindsay is Matilda Jane Balch Lindsay. Her husband, William H. Lindsay, is not listed in the 1880 Census for Sumner County, but Jane Lindsay listed her marital status as "Married" and not "Widowed" or "Divorced".
The ages of Susan and Matilda Jane are reversed.
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