Son of David Ballantyne and Ann Bannerman

Married Huldah Meriah Clark, 17 Feb 1847, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa

Children - Richard Alando Ballantyne, Delecta Annie Jane Ballantyne, David Henry Ballantyne, Meriah Cedina Clark Ballantyne, John Taylor Ballantyne, Annie Ballantyne, Roseltha Ballantyne, Isabella Ballantyne, Joseph Ballantyne

Married Mary Pearce, 27 Nov 1855, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Children - Zachariah Ballantyne, Mary Elizabeth Ballantyne, Jane Susannah Ballantyne, James Edward Ballantyne, Eliza Ann Ballantyne, Heber Charles Ballantyne

Married Caroline Albertine Sanderson, 6 Mar 1857, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Children - Thomas Henry Ballantyne, Caroline Josephine Ballantyne, Bertha Matilda Ballantyne, Catherine Mena Ballantyne, Jedediah Ballantyne, Brigham Ballantyne, Laura June Elizabeth Ballantyne

History - Richard Ballantyne was born in Whitridgebog, Roxburgshire, Scotland, on 26 August 1817. His parents were of Scottish descent and his father died before his family heard of the restored gospel, brought to the British Isles by the followers of Joseph Smith, Jr. Young Richard was in his twenty-sixth year when his family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1843. He had finally accepted the message of Mormonism in December 1842, allowing Henry McCune to baptize him into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Prior to his conversion he had worked as a farmer and also as a baker. Both employments left little time for school, and what education he had received was during the winter months. After arriving in Nauvoo, he became the manager and bookkeeper of the Coach and Carriage Association, and in 1846 he was involved in the closing of John Taylor's printing establishment in Nauvoo. He participated in the Mormon Exodus in 1846, staying in Winter Quarters until May 1848, when he migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving in September. Before leaving Nauvoo he had advanced in the priesthood, first to a seventy and then to a high priest. He married Huldah Meriah Clark in 1847 and thus became a "family man" (their first son was born while they were crossing the plains) when he entered the Salt Lake Valley.

During his first year in the Great Basin he engaged in farming. In December 1849 he held the first Sunday school class in the Church. He thus engaged himself until the fall of 1852 when he was called on a mission to Hindostan, India. His mission to East India lasted until September 1855, after which he returned to the Salt Lake Valley.

He arrived home during the "Reformation" and was immediately called on a "home mission." These experiences undoubtedly led to his plural marriages: to Mary Pearce in 1855 and to Caroline Sanderson in 1857. He spent the remainder of his life in farming and business, and for a short time (May 1877 to November 1878) he owned and operated the Ogden Junction. After this, he engaged first in railroading and then in the lumber business. Some successes in these enterprises led him into real estate, but the Panic of 1893 left him a poor man. He died in Ogden on 8 November 1898.

He is best remembered for his work in the Sunday Schools of the Church, a work he continued throughout his life.

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Brigham Young Company (1848); Approximate age at departure: 30

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Richard Ballantyne Company (1855); Age at departure: 37