Former Slave Turned 'Greenlawn Pickle King' To Be Honored

GREENLAWN, NY — Samuel Ballton, a former slave who became known as the "Greenlawn Pickle King," is set to be posthumously honored on Wednesday — ahead of Juneteenth.

Boulevard Avenue is planned to be dedicated for Ballton at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci, town officials, and ancestors of Ballton will join at the intersection of Boulevard and Taylor avenues in Greenlawn for the ceremony.

Ballton was born into slavery in Virginia in 1838 before escaping at the beginning of the Civil War, according to the town. He later returned to rescue his wife. He served in the Union Army until the war ended. The family lived in Alexandria, Virginia before heading north to settle in Greenlawn in 1873.

In March 2020, the town board renamed a portion of Boulevard Avenue in Greenlawn to honor the contributions made by Ballton to the development of the hamlet in the late 19th century.

Ballton, when he first arrived to Huntington, worked as a tenant farmer for Alexander Gardiner and other wealthy farmers. He saved money, and, with Gardiner’s help, purchased land of his own and became a successful farmer. In one year, he grew more than 1,500,000 cucumbers for pickling, earning him the unofficial title of the "Pickle King" of Greenlawn.

With the proceeds from his farming and money borrowed from wealthy landowners, Ballton purchased and subdivided land in Greenlawn to build houses in the growing community. He was active in civic affairs and raised a large family in Greenlawn. Many of his descendants continue to call the Town of Huntington home.

Ballton died in 1917 and is buried at the Huntington Rural Cemetery.

To recognize Ballton's contributions to the Huntington community, as well as his outstanding character, the town renamed the section of Boulevard Avenue, east of Taylor Avenue, as Boulevard Avenue/Samuel Ballton Way.

In May, the Huntington Town Board established Juneteenth as an official observed town holiday to celebrate the fulfillment of President Abraham Lincoln's order to end slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.