James Montaudevert Waterbury, Jr.

James Montaudevert "Monte" Waterbury, Jr. (April 24, 1876 – August 28, 1920) was an American businessman and a 10-goal polo handicap player. Together with his brother Lawrence Waterbury, Harry Payne Whitney and Devereaux Milburn, known collectively as the " Big Four," he competed and won the 1909 International Polo Cup.

Early life

Monte was born on April 24, 1876 in Westchester, New York. He was one of seven children born to James Montaudevert Waterbury, Sr. and Catherine Anthony "Kate" (née Furman) Waterbury. He had four brothers and two sisters, including Lawrence Waterbury II, Livingston Waterbury, Reginald Waterbury, Katherine Livingston Waterbury and Elsie Waterbury, who married Gouverneur Morris.

His paternal grandparents were Lawrence Waterbury I and Caroline Antoinette (née Cleveland) Waterbury. The Waterbury family was considered one of New York's oldest families. His maternal grandfather was John M. Furman.

He was educated through private tutors and graduated from Columbia University.

Career

Waterbury's family owned the Waterbury Company, a manufacturing company that specialized in wire and manila rope and was located at 63 Park Row, and which Monte was serving as President at the time of his death in 1920.

Polo career

Waterbury was an active polo player in the 1890s through the 1910s, including the 1909 team put together by Harry Payne Whitney nicknamed the " Big Four", composed of Monte, his brother Lawrence, Whitney and Devereaux Milburn. They defeated England, which had held the cup since its inauguration in 1886. He has won the International Polo Cup five times, in 1902, 1909, 1911, 1913, and 1914. He won the first U.S. Open Polo Championship in 1904, and ten senior titles. During the 1913 Cup, he "sustained a broken, making it impossible for him to hold a mallet" and was replaced by Louis Stoddard.

He was a member of the Meadowbrook Polo Club along with his brother Lawrence. He usually preferred to play the back position, but the team would often rotate positions as the game was being played.

Waterbury did not play polo internationally after the 1914 defeat at the International Polo Cup (with Ivor Guest, Lord Wimborne in charge of the British team). and only rarely pursued the sport in the United States in his later years.

Personal life

Monte was linked to stage actress Eleanor Pendleton, who later married Louis Ream, son of millionaire businessman Norman B. Ream. After Eleanor's divorce from Ream, she moved into the Hotel St. Louis, across from Monte's apartment at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 32nd Street, and they resumed their relationship.
They were rumored to have been engaged, but a wedding never took place. Waterbury also dated infamous showgirl Evelyn Nesbit before her marriage to crazed lunatic Harry K. Thaw. Thaw murdered New York architect and socialite Stanford White in a rooftop killing.''The American Experience'': Crime of the Century, PBS narrated by David McCullough

Waterbury died at the age of 44 on August 28, 1920 from an apparent heart attack one day after arriving at a health resort in French Lick, Indiana. He had been in poor health in the year preceding his death and it was generally accepted by his family that he had been suffering from a heart condition. After a funeral at St. Bartholomew's Church, he was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Church in Westchester.

Legacy

The annual Monty Waterbury Cup at the Meadow Brook Club in Westbury, Long Island was named in his honor, with the first match occurring in 1922.

References

External links

Monte Waterbury on Cob-nut
by Herbert Haseltine.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterbury, Monte
1876 births
1920 deaths
Waterbury family
Columbia University alumni
American polo players
People from Westchester County, New York
International Polo Cup