Sacramento County
Biographies
MITCHELL J. BALLARD
MITCHELL
J. BALLARD.--A young man of much energy and business acumen, whose
activities have materially contributed to the general growth and public
welfare, is Mitchell J. Ballard. He was
born in Detroit, Mich.,
October 24, 1890, and while still a youth was deprived of the loving care of
his parents, being reared in the home of his uncle.
Mitchell
J Ballard attended the grammar and high schools in Detroit;
and after graduating from the latter he entered the Indiana
County Normal School
in Pennsylvania. After completing a course at that
institution, he traveled for a year throughout the South with his uncle. In 1911 he entered the employ of the Ford
Motor Company in Detroit, where he was engaged until his
removal to California in 1913.
Upon
his arrival in the Golden State, Mr. Ballard located at Los Angeles, the year
the Ford Motor Company opened their plant in that city, where he continued in
their sales department for a period of about three years. He became greatly interested in the state,
appreciating its climate and the productivity of the soil, so much so that he
determined to make it his future home.
Looking about for a suitable location in which to establish a Ford
agency, he selected Sacramento, and
on August 17, 1916, in partnership with H. F. Goodrich and W. P. Rouse, the
present business was established at the corner of Seventh and M Streets. Since then, Mr. Rouse’s interest was
purchased by his partners, and now the firm is Goodrich & Ballard. They are the largest Ford dealers in the
capital city, and their business is steadily increasing under the efficient
methods employed in its management.
Mr.
Ballard is also interested in other lines of business endeavor, being president
of the Lap Bit Machine Company, manufacturers of a reboring machine, a newly
patented device for reboring cylinder blocks, which effects a saving of time
and money. He owns the Courtland Motor
Company, operating the Ford agency and garage at Courtland, a growing and
successful business. He is president of
the H. J. Gelling Company of Sacramento,
engaged in automobile painting, enameling and trimming. Mr. Ballard is also particularly interested
in ranching, having a great liking for the country and for seeing things
grow. He owns a ranch of 140 acres in
Reclamation District No. 900, in Yolo
County, devoted to orchards and
alfalfa. He is a director in the
California Almond Packing Corporation.
The
marriage of Mr. Ballard occurred in Los Angeles, uniting
him with Miss Hazel Hilt, a native of Minneapolis,
Minn.
During the World War, Mr. Ballard expressed his patriotism by taking an
active part in the Liberty Loan drives of the county. He is a Republican in politics, and
fraternally is a member of Los Angeles Lodge, No. 99, B. P. O. Elks, and the
Rotary Club, Del Paso Country Club, and Sutter Club, of Sacramento.
Transcribed by Barbara Gaffney.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Page 522.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles,
CA. 1923.
© 2007 Barbara Gaffney.