John Goff Ballentine (May 20, 1825 – November 23, 1915) was an American slave owner,[1] politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 7th congressional district and a colonel in the Confederate army.

John Goff Ballentine
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887
Preceded byWashington C. Whitthorne
Succeeded byWashington Whitthorne
Personal details
BornMay 20, 1825 (1825-05-20)
Pulaski, Tennessee, US
DiedNovember 23, 1915 (1915-11-24) (aged 90)
Pulaski, Tennessee, US
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMary Elizabeth Laird Ballentine
ChildrenSallie Leverette Ballentine
John Goff Ballentine
Adelaide Ballentine
Margaret Palmer Ballentine
Alma materUniversity of Nashville
Harvard University
Profession
Military service
AllegianceConfederate States of America Confederate States of America
Branch/serviceConfederate States Army
Years of service1861–1865
Rank Colonel
Unit7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
Commands2nd Mississippi Partisan Rangers
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Biography

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Ballentine was born on May 20, 1825, in Pulaski, Tennessee in Giles County son of Andrew Mitchell and Mary Tuttle Goff Ballentine. He graduated from Wurtemberg Academy in 1841, from the University of Nashville in 1845, and from the law department of Harvard University in 1848. He was a member of the faculty of Livingston Law School in New York. He commenced the practice of law in Pulaski.[2]

Career

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Ballentine moved to Panola County, Mississippi about 1854, continued the practice of law, and engaged in the extensive family agricultural pursuits. There he met and married Miss Mary E. Laird, daughter of Dr. Henry Laird of Belmont. The couple had four children.[3] He settled in Memphis, Tennessee in 1860. He served as a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war, he returned to Pulaski, Tennessee.

Elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, Ballentine served from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1887.[4] He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1886 and retired from active pursuits.

Death

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Ballentine died in Pulaski, Tennessee on November 23, 1915 (age 90 years, 187 days). He is interred at the New Pulaski Cemetery.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-01-24
  2. ^ "John Goff Ballentine". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  3. ^ "John Goff Ballentine". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  4. ^ "John Goff Ballentine". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  5. ^ "John Goff Ballentine". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 7th congressional district

1883-1887
Succeeded by
Washington Whitthorne