George Thatcher Balch was born around 1828 in Biddeford, Maine. The family moved to Ohio around 1840, and he grew up and attended school there. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1851, and he received a commission in the Regular Army. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant in February 1853 and then to 1st lieutenant in July 1854. By 1860, he was living in Troy, New York, and he owned $3,000 of real estate and $3,000 of personal property. He married Harriet Cushman, and the couple apparently had no children.
He remained in the army during the Civil War, and he received a promotion to captain in November 1861. In 1863, army officials assigned him to the Ordnance Bureau as principal assistant to the Chief of Ordnance. He resigned in December 1865 and settled in Troy.
He worked for the Erie Railroad Company, and he moved to Saratoga, New York, in the 1870s. He later served as auditor of the New York Board of Education, and he proposed a pledge of allegiance to the American flag: “We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!” In 1890, he published Methods of Teaching Patriotism in the Public Schools. He died on April 15, 1894, in New York City.
Image: George T. Balch (courtesy Wikicommons)