Balthazar P. Melick (also known as Baltus) (October 26, 1770 – November 20, 1835), an American merchant and banker, was the founder of
Chemical Bank
Chemical Bank, headquartered in New York City, was the principal operating subsidiary of Chemical Banking Corporation, a bank holding company. In 1996, it acquired Chase Bank, adopted the Chase name, and became the largest bank in the United Stat ...
in 1823. Melick served as the first president of Chemical from 1823 to 1831.
Biography
Melick who was born in
Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Lebanon Township (pronounced "LEB-uh-nin") is the northernmost township in Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 6,195, a decrease of 393 (−6.0%) from the 2010 ...
in 1770, started as an apprentice at a mercantile house at the age of thirteen.
[Life in New Jersey in the eighteenth century]
Unionist-Gazette, 1889 In 1792, at the age of twenty-one he was admitted to a partnership and for many years he was a prosperous merchant in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In 1795, he was listed as a "grocer" doing business at 183 Washington Street.
Melick founded the commercial house of Melick & Burger, which owned trade vessels sailing in the Caribbean, doing much of its business with the island of
St. Croix.
The firm, which had its offices at 76
Washington Street, owned a ship known as "Chase" which afterwards was prominent in the sugar trade.
He became a Director in the
Equitable Fire Insurance Company, the Greenwich Fire Insurance and the Union Marine and Life Insurance Company.
Melick was also a noted member and secretary of the Black Friars Society, also known as the Friary, a music and social club.
[The Old Merchants of New York City]
Thomas R. Knox & Co., 1885
Founder of Chemical Bank
Melick founded the New York Chemical Manufacturing Company, the predecessor of
Chemical Bank
Chemical Bank, headquartered in New York City, was the principal operating subsidiary of Chemical Banking Corporation, a bank holding company. In 1996, it acquired Chase Bank, adopted the Chase name, and became the largest bank in the United Stat ...
in 1823 together with John C. Morrison, Mark Spenser, Gerardus Post, James Jenkins, William A. Seely and William Stebbins.
[History of the Chemical Bank 1823-1913]
Privately Published by The Chemical National Bank, 1913 Melick and his partners used the manufacturing company, which produced
chemical
A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...
s such as
blue vitriol
Copper(II) sulfate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' can range from 1 to 7. The pentahydrate (''n'' = 5), a bright blue crystal, is the most commonly encountered hydrate of copper(II) sulfate, whi ...
,
alum
An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...
,
nitric acid
Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...
,
camphor
Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (''Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapu ...
and
saltpeter
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...
, as well as medicines, paints, and
dye
Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
s as a means to securing a
bank charter from the New York State legislature.
scripophily.net - Retrieved November 8, 2007
During the 1820s, prospective bankers found that they were more likely to be able to successfully secure a charter if the bank were part of a larger business. The following year, in April 1824, the company successfully amended its charter to allow Chemical to begin its banking practice.
Melick retired as president of the bank in 1831 in favor of John Mason, one of the richest merchants of his day in New York, and an early shareholder in the bank.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melick, Balthazar P.
1770 births
1835 deaths
American bankers
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
18th-century American merchants
JPMorgan Chase people
19th-century American merchants