{{Short description|German-born American settler, civic leader (1820–1896)}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} thumb|alt=John Balbach, c. 1888|John Balbach, c. 1888
'''John Balbach''' (February 13, 1820 – August 4, 1896) was a German-born American pioneering settler and prominent citizen of San Jose, California. As a blacksmith, he made the first commercially available metal plow on the West Coast, in 1852. Balbach was a founder of the San Jose Volunteer Fire Department, he served on the San Jose City Council, and was a member of the Board of School Trustees.
The Downtown "Balbach Street", that adjuncts Woz Way named for Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite book |title=Signposts II |publisher=San Jose Historical Museum Association |first=Patricis |last=Loomis |year=1985 |isbn=9780914139027 }}</ref> Balbach has two commemorative plaques in the city, one installed by the Germania Verein (Club) on its 150th anniversary in 2006; and one by the larger German-American community, on Market South Street where his blacksmith shop was once located.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdq8CJuPyzEC&pg=PA108 |title=From the Land of Westphalia to the Shores of the Pacific |first=Maria |last=Brand |date=28 May 2010 |page=108 |isbn=9781452013954 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://hamiltonhistoricalrecords.com/2019/05/16/john-balbach-a-german-american-in-san-jose-california/ |title=John Balbach – A German American In San Jose, California |work=Hamilton Historical Records |access-date=December 2, 2020}}</ref>
==Biography== Balbach was born on February 13, 1820, in Mergentheim, Baden-Württemberg, Kingdom of Württemberg (now Germany), a few miles south of the village of Unterbalbach.<ref name="Foote" />
He arrived in New York in 1848, part of the wave of immigrants caught up in the California Gold Rush.<ref name="Foote" /> He went to Harrisburg, Owen County, Kentucky, where he obtained employment in a carriage factory.<ref name="Foote" /><ref name="Feroben" /> On March 28, 1849, he and nine others set out from Kentucky across the plains to California and the gold fields.<ref name="Feroben">{{cite journal |title=San Jose Pioneer Dead |journal=San Francisco Call |first=C. |last=Feroben |date=August 4, 1896 |volume=80 |number=65 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18960804.2.42&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |access-date=December 2, 2020}}</ref> They encountered many hardships on the trail and finally reached Los Angeles August 10, 1849.<ref name="Chavnar-1881">{{cite web |url=https://www.mariposaresearch.net/santaclararesearch/SCBIOS/jbalbach.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228142839/https://www.mariposaresearch.net/santaclararesearch/SCBIOS/jbalbach.html |archive-date=2007-12-28 |first=J. |last=Chavnar |title=John Balbach a '49er - a Prominent Citizen of this City |location=San Jose |work=The Pioneer |date=December 17, 1881 |access-date=December 2, 2020}}</ref> After recouping several months in Los Angeles, Balbach and two companions started northward following the coast.<ref name="Feroben" /> They reached San Jose in the early part of December, and went into camp for a few days.<ref name="Feroben" /> During the first night of their stay, Balbach's horse was stolen and he was compelled to abandon his trip and seek employment.<ref name="Feroben" /> After working a short time, he opened a blacksmith shop. In the spring of 1852 Balbach manufactured the first plow made on the Pacific Coast, and the following year he made over fifty plows.<ref name="Foote" /> He established the Pioneer Carriage Manufactory, the first shop in San Jose where a carriage could be repaired or a new one built. It was on the corner of Second and Fountain Streets, and managed partly by three of his sons.<ref name="Foote" />
Balbach, on November 15, 1854, married Wenna Benner (1826–1905), a native of Germany, with whom he had six sons and three daughters.<ref name="Foote" /> His children included John Theodore Balbach (1860–1899), George L. Balbach (1865–1929) and Louis Augusta Balbach (1868-1908). His grandson Louis James Balbach (1896–1943) was an American diver who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51258 |title=Louis Balbach |work=Olympedia |access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref>
Balbach served two years on the San Jose City Council and five years as a member of the Board of School Trustees.<ref name="Foote">{{cite book |chapter=John Balbach |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030999456/page/n701/mode/2up |title=Pen Pictures from the Garden of the World, or, Santa Clara County, California |location=Chicago |publisher=The Lewis Pub. Co. |editor-last=Foote |editor-first=Horace S. |year=1888 |pages=569–570 }}</ref>
He died on August 4, 1896, at home at 523 South Market Street in San Jose. He had been ill for several months with heart affection and asthma.<ref name="Feroben"/>
==References== {{Commons}} {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Balbach, John}} Category:1820 births Category:1896 deaths Category:American blacksmiths Category:German emigrants to the United States Category:People from Baden-Württemberg Category:People from San Jose, California Category:19th-century American artisans