William Henry Appleton

William Henry Appleton was born on January 27, 1814, at Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was the eldest of eight children born to Daniel Appleton (1785–1849) and Hannah Adams (1791–1859), the daughter of John Adams and Dorcas Falkner.{{cite book|last1=Cutter|first1=William Richard|title=New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation|date=1913|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|url=https://archive.org/details/newenglandfamili01cutt_0|page=[https://archive.org/details/newenglandfamili01cutt_0/page/179 179]|accessdate=22 June 2017|language=en}}

In 1838, Appleton he joined his father as a partner in the family publishing business, D. Appleton & Company, which he had begun clerking for in 1831 at the age of 16.

In 1848, he became the senior member of D. Appleton & Company upon the retirement of his father. In partnership with his brother John Adams Appleton; they were joined in partnership by three younger brothers.

In 1853, William became the firm's London representative. He was active in the struggle for an international copyright, and served a term as president of the American Publishers Copyright League. His firm published works by a range of noteworthy authors, including Hall Caine, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert Spencer, and John Stuart Mill, as well as leading American scientists and philosophers of his era.

Among the reference books brought out by him were The New American Cyclopædia (1858–63); Webster's Spelling Book; Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1887–1900), Applied Mechanics (1897), and an Annual Cyclopœdia (1885–1903). He wrote Letters on International Copyright (1872).

On April 16, 1844, he married Mary Moody Worthen (1824–1884), a daughter of Ezra Worthen and sister of William Ezra Worthen.{{cite news|title=WILLIAM E. WORTHEN DEAD.; The Well-Known Civil Engineer Succumbs to an attack of Paralysis -- His Public Services.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/04/03/101102946.pdf|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 3, 1897|language=en}}

• William Worthen Appleton (1845–1924),{{cite news|title=WM. W. APPLETON, PUBLISHER, DEAD; Chairman of Board of D. Appleton & Co. a Victim of Pneumonia at 78 Years. CHIEF EDITOR FOR FIRM President of Publishers' Copyright League Was a Grandson of Pioneer Daniel Appleton.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/01/28/archives/wm-w-appleton-publisher-dead-chairman-of-board-of-d-appleton-co-a.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=28 January 1924}} who married Anna Debois Sargent (1845–1908).
• Kate Appleton (1848–1873), who married Hobart Seymour Geary (1838–1918), a merchant,{{cite news|title=A WIDE-REACHING FAILURE; DISASTER TO AN OLD-ESTABLISHED FIRM. OLYPHANT & CO., OF CHINA, MAKE AN ASSIGNMENT--A BAD VENTURE IN COOLIES--FIFTY YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS SUDDENLY ENDED--THE CREDITORS PROTECTED.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1878/12/08/archives/a-widereaching-failure-disaster-to-an-oldestablished-firm-olyphant.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=8 December 1878}} in 1872.{{cite news|title=DIED -- GEARY|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1873/07/27/archives/died.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=27 July 1873}}
• Mary Appleton (d. 1934), who died unmarried.{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=MISS MARY APPLETON.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/10/28/archives/miss-mary-appleton.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=28 October 1934}}{{cite news|title=Miss Mary Appleton|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/16211148/|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=Newport Mercury|date=November 2, 1934|page=3|language=en}}
• Henry Cozzens Appleton (1863–1925), who married Dora Threlkeld (1847–1927).{{cite book|title=Social Register, New York|date=1902|publisher=Social Register Association|page=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LS8BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11|accessdate=23 June 2017|language=en}}

Appleton was a prominent figure in publishing for a period of sixty years. He lived at Wave Hill (New York); the house was later turned into a botanical garden in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York.[http://www.wavehill.org/about/history.html A Brief History of Wave Hill ], Wave Hill. Accessed May 3, 2008. He was one of the earliest members of the Century Association, joining in 1847, a member of the Union Club of New York, the Riding Club, and the Aldine and Players' Clubs.

He died at his home in Riverdale on October 19, 1899.{{cite news|title=DEATH OF W.H. APPLETON; Last of the Early Founders of Publishing Houses Here. INCIDENTS IN HIS CAREER Striking Indications of His Shrewdness and Tact in Business -- His Charities and Benefactions.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/10/20/archives/death-of-wh-appleton-last-of-the-early-founders-of-publishing.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=20 October 1899}} He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

His grandson, through his son William, was William Henry Appleton (1866–1951),{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=DEATHS -- APPLETON|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/08/06/archives/obituary-4-no-title.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=6 August 1951}}{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=WILLIAM H. APPLETON, YACHTSMAN, WAS 85|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/08/05/archives/william-h-appleton-yachtsman-was-85.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=5 August 1951}} a prominent yachtsman who married Noel Johnston, granddaughter of John Taylor Johnston, former president of the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the founding president of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.{{cite news|title=W. H. APPLETON AND NOEL JOHNSTON WED; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Johnston a Bride in Her Washington Square Home. THE WEDDING ATTENDANTS Little Flower Girl and Page in Costumes Copied from Romney Portraits -- The Guests.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1915/04/15/archives/w-h-appleton-and-noel-johnston-wed-daughter-of-mr-and-mrs-j-h.html|accessdate=23 June 2017|work=The New York Times|date=15 April 1915}}

Appleton City, Missouri, was named after the publisher, in appreciation of his 1870 donation to the town's library.{{cite book|last1=Wolfe|first1=Gerard R.|title=The House of Appleton|url=https://archive.org/details/houseofappletonh0000wolf|url-access=registration|date=1981|publisher=The Scarecrow Press|location=Metuchen, N.J.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/houseofappletonh0000wolf/page/166 166–167]|isbn=978-0-8108-1432-5 }}

Appleton is a character in the time travel novel The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson. As depicted in the book, Appleton had an extensive secret life as a time-traveler, had visited Classical Greece and met in person some of the famous ancient Greek writers and philosophers whose works he published, and also several times visited the 21st century – but always found his own 19th century milieu to be the most congenial.

;Notes

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;Sources

• {{NIE|wstitle=Appleton, William Henry|year=1905 }}

• {{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Appleton, William Henry |volume= 1 |page= 132-133 |short=}}

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Category:1814 births

Category:1899 deaths

Category:Appleton family

Category:American book publishers (people)

Category:People from Haverhill, Massachusetts

Category:People from Riverdale, Bronx

Category:19th-century American businesspeople