Monte Waterbury

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.{{cite web|title=James Montaudevert Waterbury Jr. |url=https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1968530 |publisher=United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918|access-date=March 8, 2019}} He had four brothers and two sisters, including Lawrence Waterbury, Livingston Waterbury, Reginald Waterbury, Katherine Livingston Waterbury and Elsie Waterbury, who married Gouverneur Morris.{{cite book |title=Americana, American historical magazine |date=1906 |publisher=National American Society |page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eAY7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA438 |access-date=8 March 2019 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Bay Morris |url=https://newsok.com/article/2198930/bay-morris |access-date=8 March 2019 |work=NewsOK.com |date=16 September 1987}}

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.{{Citation | title = L. Waterbury Dies; Noted Polo Player| newspaper = The New York Times | location = New York City| date = May 27, 1943| access-date= March 8, 2019| url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/05/27/88537792.pdf}} His maternal grandfather was John M. Furman.{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Henry |title=America's Successful Men of Affairs: The City of New York |date=1895 |publisher=New York Tribune |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6221441_000/page/n787 700]-701 |url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6221441_000 |access-date=14 June 2018 |language=en}}

He was educated through private tutors and graduated from Columbia University.{{cite book |title=Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900 |date=1900 |publisher=Biographical directory Company (incorporated) |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028866206/page/n537 528] |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028866206 |access-date=8 March 2019 |language=en}}

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.

File:Capt. Lockett, Monte Waterbury, Capt. Ritson, Larry Waterbury.jpg, Monte Waterbury, Captain Ralph Gerald Ritson, and Lawrence Waterbury II, {{Circa|1910|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.{{cite news |title=James Montaudevert Waterbury |url=http://www.polomuseum.com/hof_inductees/waterbury_james_m.htm |newspaper=Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame |access-date=2014-01-05 }} During the 1913 Cup, he "sustained a broken, making it impossible for him to hold a mallet" and was replaced by Louis Stoddard.{{cite book |last1=Laffaye |first1=Horace A. |title=Polo in Britain: A History |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786489800 |page=91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EsxYBYIFEoYC&pg=PA91 |access-date=8 March 2019 |language=en}}

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.

Waterbury 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 Waterbury'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.{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=H. Thomas |title=Eleanor's Pursuit |date=2014 |publisher=Archway Publishing |isbn=9781480812147 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YC6wBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |access-date=8 March 2019 |language=en}} 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.{{cite news |title=MONTE WATERBURY, POLO EXPERT, DIES -- American Captain in International Series Suffered From Heart Disease |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29273516/new_york_herald/ |access-date=8 March 2019 |work=New York Herald |date=August 29, 1920 |language=en}} 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.{{cite news|title=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|quote=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. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/08/29/112663640.pdf|access-date=19 September 2010|newspaper=New York Times |date=August 29, 1920}} After a funeral at St. Bartholomew's Church, he was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Church in Westchester.{{cite news |title="MONTE" WATERBURY, POLO STAR, BURIED -- Many Attend Services in St. Bartholomew's Church |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29273627/monte_waterbury_polo_star_buried/ |access-date=8 March 2019 |work=New York Herald |date=2 September 1920 |pages=9}}

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.{{cite web|title=Monty Waterbury Cup |url=http://www.newbridgepolo.com/polo_waterbury.html |quote=|publisher=New Bridge Polo and Country Club |access-date=19 September 2010}}

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• [http://www.artnet.com/artists/herbert-haseltine/monte-waterbury-on-cob-nut-eS1AP9zAy3EwaTe_-8PmfA2 Monte Waterbury on Cob-nut] by Herbert Haseltine.

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Category:1876 births

Category:1920 deaths

Category:Waterbury family

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:American polo players

Category:People from Westchester County, New York

Category:International Polo Cup