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Ball, George Jacob
(1874-1949) Glen Ellyn, Illinois. was born in Milford, Ohio in 1874. At
thirteen he was working in a greenhouse near Cincinnati. For thirteen years
he worked with a leading seed company, a rose grower, and a commercial cut flower
grower. He settled in the Chicago area after serving in the Spanish-American
war. By 1905 he was growing sweet peas and offered them to the cut flower
trade. He built greenhouses in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and began to develop
improved strains of asters, sweet peas, and calendulas. In 1915, he gathered
seed from Orange King calendula and sent it to a California grower. This crop
was so successful that he was financially able to establish the Geo. J. Ball, Inc.
His first one-page seed list was printed and mailed to growers in 1918. Ball
Seed Company continued to expand and in 1927 they moved to West Chicago. In 1933,
the Ball Trial Gardens were opened. In 1937, George Ball published the first issue
of GrowerTalks, and in 1938 Ball was elected president of the Society of American
Florists. Ball died in 1949 and his four sons, George K., Victor, Robert, and
Carl, took over Ball Seed Co. The company remains family owned and is now called
the Ball Horticultural Company. The current CEO and Chairman of the Board is Anna Caroline
Ball, third-generation leader of the family company. The Ball family has published George's
diary, detailing his daily business plans.
Sources: GG
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