Monte Waterbury

James Montaudevert "Monte" Waterbury, Jr. (April 24, 1876 – August 28, 1920) was an American businessman and a 10-goal polo handicap player.[1] 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.

Monte Waterbury
Monte Waterbury in 1914.
BornApril 24, 1876
Westchester, New York
DiedAugust 28, 1920 (1920-08-29) (aged 44)
French Lick, Indiana
Major racing wins
International Polo Cup (1909, 1911, 1913)
Honours
The Monty Waterbury Cup is named in his honor.
Inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame (1993)
Significant horses
Strawberry

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.[2] He had four brothers and two sisters, including Lawrence Waterbury II, Livingston Waterbury, Reginald Waterbury, Katherine Livingston Waterbury and Elsie Waterbury,[3] who married Gouverneur Morris.[4][5]

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.[6] His maternal grandfather was John M. Furman.[7]

He was educated through private tutors and graduated from Columbia University.[8]

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.[3]

Polo career
Captain Vivian Noverre Lockett, Monte Waterbury, Captain Ralph Gerald Ritson, and Lawrence Waterbury II, c. 1910 – c. 1915.

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.[9] During the 1913 Cup, he "sustained a broken, making it impossible for him to hold a mallet" and was replaced by Louis Stoddard.[10]

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.[11]

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).[10] and only rarely pursued the sport in the United States in his later years.[11]

Personal life

Monte, who did not marry, was linked to stage actress Eleanor Pendleton, who later married Louis Ream, son of millionaire businessman Norman B. Ream.[12] 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.[12] They were rumored to have been engaged, but a wedding never took place.[12] 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.[13]

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.[11] 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.[3] After a funeral at St. Bartholomew's Church, he was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Church in Westchester.[14]

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.[1]

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References
  1. "Monty Waterbury Cup". New Bridge Polo and Country Club. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  2. "James Montaudevert Waterbury Jr". United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  3. "Monte Waterbury, Polo Player, Dead. Member of American Team Since 1902 Dies Suddenly at French Lick Springs. His Heart Was Affected. Played in 5 Matches Against England and Was Captain of Big Four When England Won Cup" (PDF). New York Times. August 29, 1920. Retrieved 19 September 2010. James M. (Monte) Waterbury, Jr., who was one of the most brilliant polo players in this country, died suddenly yesterday at French Lick Springs, Ind., where he had gone for a rest.
  4. Americana, American historical magazine. National American Society. 1906. p. 438. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  5. "Bay Morris". NewsOK.com. 16 September 1987. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  6. "L. Waterbury Dies; Noted Polo Player" (PDF), The New York Times, New York City, May 27, 1943, retrieved March 8, 2019
  7. Hall, Henry (1895). America's Successful Men of Affairs: The City of New York. New York Tribune. pp. 700-701. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  8. Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900. Biographical directory Company (incorporated). 1900. p. 528. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  9. "James Montaudevert Waterbury". Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  10. Laffaye, Horace A. (2014). Polo in Britain: A History. McFarland. p. 91. ISBN 9780786489800. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  11. "MONTE WATERBURY, POLO EXPERT, DIES -- American Captain in International Series Suffered From Heart Disease". New York Herald. August 29, 1920. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  12. Howell, H. Thomas (2014). Eleanor's Pursuit. Archway Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 9781480812147. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  13. The American Experience: Crime of the Century, PBS narrated by David McCullough
  14. ""MONTE" WATERBURY, POLO STAR, BURIED -- Many Attend Services in St. Bartholomew's Church". New York Herald. 2 September 1920. p. 9. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
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