Waterbury, Henry

Birth

Henry Waterbury was born on June 25, 1824 to James Steven Waterbury (B. Mar 15, 1796) and Esther Strong (B. Oct 10, 1799). He was their eldest child and one of eleven children.

Occupation

Henry Waterbury, who was from Schoharie, came to Rensselaerville to take over the woolen mill on the Ten Mile Creek at the falls. The mill processed wool for local farmers. It would first card the fiber and then return it to the farmers for spinning and weaving. The material would then be returned to the mill for felting, fulling and finishing. Waterbury rebuilt the mill; first building the dam on Lake Myosotis and installing two sets of machinery to process 50,000 pounds of wool per year. Under Waterbury's tenure, most of the wool was spun for use in knitting stockings.

Waterbury became very interested in the manufacture of paper machine felts. He learned the key to their manufacture, which was the correct joining of the fabric into a contiuous loop. Interested in expanding his business to include these felts, he approached Francis C. Huyck to join him in the business. Huyck was a good choice because of his sales experience from his father's General Store in Rensselaerville and his ability to invest additional capital into the business. Huyck invested $10,000.00 in capital, which Waterbury needed as a flood had washed out the mill's dam on Lake Myosotis and rebuilding would cost $5000.00.

In 1870, Waterbury and Huyck they began the manufacture of paper machine felts after Huyck had toured various paper mills investigating their needs. They were the fourth such facility in the US. The business was immediately a success because their timing corresponded with a great expansion of the paper business throughout the US. James Edwin Waterbury, Henry's son, was the superintendent of the H. Waterbury and Company. In 1872, the mill employed 30 to 40 people of which a quarter were women. The payroll for the month of October 1872 was $565.40 with an average wage of $10 to $20 per month.

After about a decade, the deficiencies of their site became apparent. Rensselaerville was far from the nearest railroad, skilled laborers were hard to find and the water power from the Ten Mile Creek had become unreliable. Waterbury decided to move the facilty to Oriskany, New York. He was surprised and disappointed when his partner Francis C. Huyck chose to build a similar facility in the Kenwood neighborhood of Albany, New York. Waterbury abandoned the mill at Rensselaerville and had the machinery removed. He bought the Oriskany Manufacturing Company and began to make paper machine felts there.

Marriage & Children

On April 22, 1847, Henry Waterbury married Mary Stevens Waterbury, who was the daughter of Talmage Waterbury and Rachel Earl. They had the following children:

• James Edwin Waterbury (B. July 9, 1848, M. Ella Felter)
• Charles Arthur Waterbury (B. July 4, 1851)
• Daniel Albert Waterbury (B. Nov 4, 1853)
• John Calvin Waterbury (B. Sept 3, 1855)
• Henry Talmage Waterbury (B. Nov 20, 1857)
• Mary Esther Waterbury (B. April 26, 1861)

Religion

Henry was Presbyterian. He was a supporter of the Presbyterian Church in Oriskany and supported building a new church. The building was constructed after his death, but was funded by his family and as a result it was called the Waterbury Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Life

Henry was born in Schoharie and about 1860 he moved to the hamlet of Rensselaerville where he owned the woolen mill. In 1867 he was the director of the Soldiers Monument Association, which erected a 17 foot marble monument to the twenty-nine Civil War Soldiers from Rensselaerville who died.In the late 1870s he moved with his family to Oriskany, Onieda County where he had purchased the Oriskany Manufacturing Company. He lived there for the remainder of his life.

Death

His wife Mary died first on March 12, 1884. Henry Waterbury died in 1895 in Montgomery, Alabama while touring the south.

Obituary

New York Times Wednesday February 4, 1895 "Died in His Special Car Utica, NY Feb 3: Henry Waterbury, senior member of the firm Waterbury and Sons of Oriskany, started on a Sourthern tour in a special car on Thursday. A telegram has been received stating that he died suddenly while passing through Alabama yesterday. He was seventy-five years old."

Legacy

After Henry's death, his sons continued to operate the Waterbury Felt Company. In 1906, they purchased the Ayrshire Woolen Mills in Skaneateles Falls, NY. The Waterbury Felt Company is still in operation today and is located on the original site in Oriskany where the mill was started in 1846. The Waterbury Felt Company manufacturers the felts used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to make United States paper currency.

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