Thomas Balch (

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Lo ...

, July 23, 1821 —

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, March 29, 1877) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, best known for his work on the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

, originally written in French and later translated into English as ''The French in America during the War of Independence of the United States, 1777-1783''. He was married to Emily Swift Balch (1832-1917) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Balch was a member of the

Acorn Club The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera '' Quercus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and bor ...

of Philadelphia, and the

Colonial Dames of America The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor who lived in British America from 1607 to 1775, and was of service to the colonies by either holding public office, being in th ...

. Thomas Balch has been called the "father of international arbitration" for his work in popularizing this peaceful mechanism of international dispute resolution (se
Thomas Balch Library
. Thomas Balch died March 29, 1877 in Philadelphia, and was buried at the

Old Trinity Church Old Trinity Church, also known as Trinity Church, Oxford, is a historic Episcopal church established in 1696 located in Oxford Township, Pennsylvania, which is now part of Philadelphia. Building history Church of England services were first held ...

Thomas Balch Library The Thomas Balch Library is a history and genealogy library located in Leesburg, Virginia. The library, owned and operated by the town of Leesburg, serves as a designated Underground Railroad research site and has an active research program. Hist ...

In 1922, a library was constructed in

as a memorial to Thomas Balch, a Leesburg native, and was named
The Thomas Balch Library
" Thomas Willing Balch (1866-1927) and

Edwin Swift Balch The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

(1856-1927), sons of Thomas Balch, originally endowed the

subscription library A subscription library (also membership library or independent library) is a library that is financed by private funds either from membership fees or endowments. Unlike a public library, access is often restricted to members, but access rights c ...

Bibliography

* Balch, Thomas, and Thomas Willing Balch. International Courts of Arbitration. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane and Scott, 1915. * Balch, Thomas, Thomas Willing Balch, Edwin Swift Balch, and Elise Willing Balch. The French in America During the War of Independence of the United States, 1777-1783. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1891. * Balch, Thomas
Les Français en Amérique pendant la guerre de l'indépendance des États-Unis 1777-1783
This file was produced from images generously made available by gallica (Bibliothèque Nationale de France) at: http://gallica.bnf.fr. * Balch, Thomas, and Daniel McCurtin. Papers Relating Chiefly to the Maryland Line During the Revolution. Philadelphia: Seventy-Six Society, 1857. * Balch, Thomas, and Edward Shippen. Letters and Papers Relating Chiefly to the Provincial History of Pennsylvania: With Some Notices of the Writers. Philadelphia: Crissy and Markley, Printers, 1855. * Balch, Thomas, and Thomas Willing Balch. Free Coinage and a Self-Adjusting Ratio; A Paper Read Before the Philadelphia Social Science Association, February 23, 1877. Philadelphia: Press of Allen, Lane and Scott, 1908. * Balch, Thomas. Calvinism and American Independence. Richmond, Va: s.n, 1876. * Balch, Thomas. 1877. "Dr. William Shippen, the Elder". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 24: 212-216. * Balch, Thomas. The Alabama Arbitration. Philadelphia: Allen. Lanes Scott, 1900. * Thomas Balch Library. The Thomas Balch Chronicle. Leesburg, VA: Thomas Balch Library, 1996.

References

External links

* * * and a
Gallica
* Th
Balch Family Papers
including correspondence and writings to and from Thomas Balch, are available for research use at the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balch, Thomas 1821 births 1877 deaths 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers People from Leesburg, Virginia American male non-fiction writers Historians from Virginia