Paulus Balliet (1717-1777)
Early Life
Paulus Balliet, who was born in Alsace, France, was the first Balliet to come to the Lehigh Valley[1], arriving in Pennsylvania on September 10, 1738[2]. Paulus Balliet left France to escape the religious persecution of French Protestants, Huguenots, which had begun following the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685[3].
Family
Paulus Balliet married Maria Magdalena Wotring (1727-1802), a woman originally from Lorraine, France[4]. Together they had nine children: Jacob, John, Nicholas, Paul, Stephen Balliet (1753-1821), Catharine, Eva, Magdalena, and Susan[5].
Both Paulus Balliet and his wife are buried in Whitehall, PA[6].
Business
On April 12, 1749 Paulus Balliet applied to purchase 97 acres 100 perches of land (officially deeded in 1761) that would become the “old Balliet farm”[7]. A warrant for the surveying of this land was granted to Paulus Balliet on October 9, 1759[8]. Between the years 1749 and 1774, Paulus Balliet purchased an additional 713 acres 131 perches[9]. On this land, Paulus Balliet built a log hotel that became known as the Whitehall Hotel[10] on the old Mauch Chunk road[11]. The hotel was also the site of a post station for several years[12]. The hotel was eventually torn down by Stephen Balliet (1781-1854) in 1840[13]. The land owned by Paulus Balliet is now the village of Ballietsville[14].
Paulus Balliet gained the nickname of "Bowl" Balliet which he reportedly received from Native Americans because that was what he used to distribute food to them[15]. Despite this idyllic story, he fought with Native Americans and armed militias against them[16].
Notes
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 511
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 538
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 538
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 538
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 511
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 538
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 511
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 511
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 511
- ↑ Roberts et al. 1914, 862
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 525
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 525
- ↑ Roberts et al. 1914, 862
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 538
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 511
- ↑ Mathews and Hungerford 1884, 519
References
- Mathews, Alfred, and Austin N Hungerford. 1884. History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Everts & Richards.
- Roberts, Charles Rhoads, John Baer Stoudt, Thomas H. Krick, and William J. Dietrich. 1914. History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Its Families. Vol. I, Allentown, PA: Lehigh Valley Publishing Company, Limited.