Ballington Booth (July 28, 1857 – October 5, 1940) was a British-born American

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

minister who co-founded

Volunteers of America Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

, a Christian

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, and became its first General (1896-1940). He was a former

officer in The Salvation Army An officer in The Salvation Army is a Salvationist who is an ordained minister of the Christian faith, but who fulfills many other roles not usually filled by clergy of other denominations. They do so having been trained, ordained and commissi ...

Early years

Born in

Brighouse Brighouse (, locally also ) is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder, West Y ...

, England, Ballington Booth was the second child of

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and

Catherine Booth Catherine Booth (''née'' Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Moth ...

, founders of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

in 1878. As a teenager, he began preaching at Salvation Army open-air meetings, where he would often end by singing and playing his

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

. He became a Colonel in The Salvation Army at the age of 23, when he was positioned as a Training Officer. He was later moved to

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, followed by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

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. In 1886, he married Maud Charlesworth, who changed her name to Maud Ballington Booth, and they were assigned to the United States in April of the following year. The two became American citizens in 1895. In 1891, during a great depression, Ballington Booth instituted men's shelters similar to one begun in

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Volunteers of America

Although Ballington and Maud Booth played a great part in organizing and structuring The Salvation Army in the United States, the couple left The Salvation Army when the organization reassigned them to positions outside the United States. In addition, Ballington Booth began to be in open conflict with his brother Bramwell, who served as Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army.Ballington Booth on 'The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre' website
They went on to form their own organization to reach out to the poor and the marginalized of American society. On March 8, 1896, they started God's American Volunteers, which was soon renamed

. When the Booths left The Salvation Army they took with them many of the Army's

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word ...

as well as many of the Army's wealthy American supporters. In fact, in the first year of the Volunteers of America's operation two-thirds of the Volunteer forces were former Salvationists. Many simply replaced the 'S' on their collars with the American flag. Salvation Army songs were adopted with Volunteer words. Their insignia and flag also were loosely based on that of The Salvation Army. As William Booth was called the 'General' of The Salvation Army, so Ballington Booth became the General of Volunteers of America. In this capacity, he spoke with

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

about the effect of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on society, but when Booth offered the services of the Volunteers of America to President Wilson, he was politely turned down. At the same time The Salvation Army was allowed to send its personnel with the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

. He also spoke with

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

about charity efforts throughout the Depression. Ballington Booth led Volunteers of America for 43 years, and on his death in 1940 he was replaced by his wife Maud Booth as General. ''The Cross Is Not Greater'' was written by Ballington Booth, both lyric and music, in 1892.The Cross Is Not Greater
/ref>

References

*''Current Biography'', 1940. New York:The H. W. Wilson Company, 1940, reissued 1971. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Ballington 1857 births 1940 deaths American activists 19th-century Protestant religious leaders 20th-century Protestant religious leaders Protestant writers English emigrants to the United States People from Brighouse American Salvationists English Salvationists Ballington Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery