Hon. Henry Gordon Balch was recognized as one of the foremost men of Wyoming of his day. He had much to do with the upbuilding and development of the state, where for a quarter of a century his enterprise, his progressiveness and his energy contributed largely to the material advancement of the state. He was born September 15, 1853, in Dedham, Massachusetts, a descendant of one of the prominent old New England families whose identification with that section of the country dates back to early colonial days. His parents were Joseph and Maria (Hallet) Balch. The father was for years the president of the Boylston Insurance Company and was well known in financial and business circles in Boston. He reared an excellent family, among his sons being Dr. Franklin Balch, an eminent member of the medical profession; George Hallet, who succeeded his father as the president of the Boylston Insurance Company and so remained until the company liquidated; Joseph, a prominent broker of Boston ; and Henry Gordon.
    The last named was educated at Roxbury Latin School, and owing to bronchial trouble, from which he suffered in young manhood, he came west on the advice of the family physician, who believed that a higher altitude would prove beneficial, as the result proved. In 1876 Mr. Balch arrived in Albany county and the following year was joined by his boyhood companion, D. C. Bacon. They entered into business relations together with J. M. Carey, later governor of Wyoming. They embarked in the cattle business on the ranch long known as the Riverside, and being independent and full of energy, the two young men bought out Mr. Carey's interest and continued their operations in stock alone. They readily adapted themselves to the business and with genuine Yankee shrewdness introduced new methods of management that proved highly successful. From the beginning they prospered and extended their interests as the large means which were available to them readily permitted. They acquired other ranches and herds of cattle in Montana. In 1888 they divided their ranch and stock interests, Mr. Bacon taking the Riverside ranch and Mr. Balch the Montana property. The latter went to Billings. Montana, and remained there for a time and later removed to Salt Lake, where he lived for about one year. He and his friend, Mr. Bacon, were the prime movers in the organization of the Laramie National Bank in 1881, Mr. Balch becoming the president of the bank upon its organization. In 1895 this institution was consolidated with the Wyoming National Bank, the combination becoming the First National Bank of Laramie, of which Mr. Balch became the first president and continued its executive head to the time of his death. He had also become interested in banking in Salt Lake, where he established the Commercial National Bank, now the Continental National Bank of that city. He was extensively interested likewise in the First National Bank of Rock Springs, Wyoming, and at one time was president of all three of these associated banks. As he became absorbed in the banking business he gradually ceased his active operations in the stock industry, although to the last he had many interests in that line, as he had in various other business enterprises. In fact, Mr. Balch at the time of his death was so extensively interested in many business projects that his sudden demise distinctly disturbed the business affairs of the city and county more than had ever previously been felt in Laramie by the death of an individual. Among his varied interests, he was president of the Rock Springs Coal Company, with which he had been connected from its inception.
    Mr. Balch died at his residence on Thornburg street in Laramie, February 3, 1901. For several months he had not been feeling well but he never complained, for it was not his nature to do so. The labors of the legislative session, following upon the many days of work on the board of county commissioners closing up his term of office as chairman of the board, an arduous trip to the state institutions and to Salt Lake, with its legislative excursions, and finally a severe cold contracted in Cheyenne, these were the conditions that led up to the fatal illness of Mr. Balch. On the day of his burial all the business houses and public schools of the city were closed in respect to his memory. It was a public funeral because Mr. Balch was a public man, and there was so great a desire among all the people to express their sorrow through attendance at the funeral that the preference of the family for privacy at this moment was put aside. Both houses of the state legislature adjourned on that day and, with Governor De Forest Richard, came to Laramie in a body to pay their respect for the last time to an honored fellow member.
    Although Mr. Balch disliked political activity, he nevertheless answered the call of the people when it came and he served with honor and distinction in every position in which the voice of the people placed him. He served as county commissioner for two terms in the '80s and again was chosen to that position in 1898. As chairman of the board he was fearless and energetic to a degree that was realized by only such persons as came in contact with him in his official capacity. He felt that it was his duty to give his county the best service that he was capable of doing and to administer public affairs with the same carefulness that he managed his own interests. He was never afraid to do what he thought was right and even felt a pride in the momentary antagonism he sometimes created by his firmness in dealing with matters of taxation and other things of vital importance to the community. He had the courage of his convictions, and it was said of him by an intimate friend of twenty-five years' acquaintance, "You always know exactly where to find H. G. Balch."
    In the old territorial legislature Mr. Balch served for one term with credit. He was elected to the state senate in the fall of 1900. He did not want the office but consented to become a candidate because he thought it was his duty. In the senate he was regarded as an authority on finance and county affairs and was looked upon with respect and admiration and personal liking by all his associates in the legislature. In politics he was ever a stanch republican. Notwithstanding his very retiring nature, Mr. Balch made hosts of friends and these he had "grappled to his heart with hoops of steel." In his friendship and even in his acquaintance he was, as in his business, faithful, honest and true. Probably no man of his time had more personal friends than Mr. Balch. His kindness of heart was often in evidence by acts of generosity that were known only by the recipient. His fine rearing was ever in evidence. He never paraded it, but he could not hide it. He was the same wherever you found him, and respect was instinctively given him. He was fond of whist and at the time of his death was president of the Laramie Whist Club.
    Bishop Talbot said of Mr. Balch, that while he was not a church man, yet he was as much of a Christian man as it was possible to be. At the time of his death the Laramie Republican said of him editorially: "One of the foremost men of the state has been removed. For twenty-five years the life of Henry G. Balch was devoted to the material progress of Wyoming. As a ranchman he studied improved methods and achieved success beneficial alike to himself and his fellows. As business man and banker he was courteous, obliging and just; as public official he was incorruptible, painstaking, energetic, thoughtful, the interests of the public being guarded with even greater fidelity than his own. As friend, companion, adviser, husband, father, he was a charming, lovable man. The entire commonwealth mourns the loss of a great man."
    In St. Matthew's Episcopal church in Laramie on the 15th of January, 1889, Bishop Talbot performed the marriage ceremony of Mr. Balch and Mrs. Alfred W. Crandell, formerly Harriett Emily Crowe, a native of Troy, New York, and a daughter of Levi and Anna (Charlesworth) Crowe, both of whom were natives of England. Mrs. Crandell came to Laramie in 1887, her husband being connected with the Union Pacific Railroad to the time of his death, at which he left two daughters, Anna Charlesworth and Ethel Mercelia, the former residing in Laramie with her mother, while the latter is the wife of Dr. James Allan Ballard, formerly of Hayward, Wisconsin, but now a lieutenant in the United States Medical Corps, doing duty in France. To Mr. and Mrs. Balch were born a son and a daughter, twins, Gordon Henry and Marjory Hallet. The son was graduated from Harvard with the class of 1912 and was for some time private secretary to Lars Anderson, United States minister at Brussels, Belgium, but not liking the diplomatic service, he became connected with the Boston banking house of Stone & Webster in the security department. He is now a lieutenant in the hydro-aeroplane service of the United States navy. He had been actively interested in aviation for some time prior to joining that branch of the service. The daughter, Marjory Hallet, was educated in Mrs. MacDuffie's School in Springfield, Massachusetts, after which she traveled around the world with her mother and subsequently gave her services to the Massachusetts General Hospital in preparation for Red Cross work. She was married at Jamaica Plains, Boston, October 20, 1917, to John Earl Cunningham, of Baltimore, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who for one and one-half years was in France, serving as an ambulance driver. He is now connected with the great shipbuilding project at Hog Island, New Jersey.
    Mrs. Balch, a most estimable lady, has since her husband's death spent a number of years in the east, covering the period of her son's and daughter's educational training, and later she traveled in various countries and around the world. She now resides in Laramie.