George Griswold Frelinghuysen
# George Griswold Frelinghuysen

George Griswold Frelinghuysen (May 9, 1851 – April 21, 1936) was an American patent lawyer, and president of P. Ballantine & Sons Company, a New Jersey brewery.

## Early life

Frelinghuysen was born in Newark, New Jersey on May 9, 1851. He was the son of Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen and Matilda Elizabeth Griswold. Matilda was of English descent. His father was a lawyer who served as a U.S. Senator and later as Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur. His siblings included: Matilda Griswold Frelinghuysen, who married Henry Winthrop Gray, a prominent merchant; Charlotte Louisa Frelinghuysen; Frederick Frelinghuysen, who married Estelle B. Kinney; Theodore Frelinghuysen, a prominent New York clubman; and Sarah Helen Frelinghuysen (1856–1939), who married Judge John Davis, and after his death, Brig. Gen. Charles Laurie McCawley.

His paternal grandparents were Frederick Frelinghuysen and Mary (née Dumont) Frelinghuysen. His grandfather died when his father was just three years old, so his father was adopted by his uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen. Both grandfather and adopted grandfather were sons of Frederick Frelinghuysen, the eminent lawyer who was one of the framers of the first New Jersey Constitution, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress, and a member of the United States Senate. His maternal grandfather George Griswold, was a merchant in New York City who "made an immense fortune in the time of the clipper trade with China."

## Career

He graduated from Rutgers College in 1870, received his Bachelor of Laws from Columbia University Law School in 1872.

Frelinghuysen was admitted to the New Jersey and New York bars, in 1872 and 1876, respectively. He became a patent lawyer, eventually working for and becoming President of Ballantine. At its peak, Ballantine was the fourth largest brewery in the United States.

## Personal life

On April 26, 1881, George was married to Sara Linen Ballantine (1858–1940). Sara was the granddaughter of Peter Ballantine, the New Jersey brewer; and the daughter of Peter Hood Ballantine (1831–1882). Together, George and Sara had two children:

* Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen I (1882–1959), who married Adaline Havemeyer (1884–1963), a daughter of president of the American Sugar Refining Company Henry Osborne Havemeyer, on February 7, 1907. Future president Franklin D. Roosevelt, a classmate of Peter's at Columbia Law School, was an usher at the wedding.
* Matilda Elizabeth Frelinghuysen (1887–1967), who did not marry and who lived in Whippany.

George died in New York City in 1936.

### Legacy

The George Griswold Frelinghuysen Arboretum is named for him.

