Name Monte Waterbury | ||
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Occupation Rope manufacturer, Polo player Died August 28, 1920, French Lick, Indiana, United States Parents James Montaudevert Waterbury, Sr. | ||
James Montaudevert "Monte" Waterbury, Jr. (April 24, 1876 – August 28, 1920) was an American businessman and a 10-goal polo handicap player. His family owned a wire and manila rope manufacturing business in New York, and he was a member of the Meadowbrook Polo Club. Waterbury, together with his brother Lawrence Waterbury, Harry Payne Whitney and Devereaux Milburn were known collectively as the Big Four when they competed and won the 1909 International Polo Cup. 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.
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Biography
He was born on April 24, 1876 to James Montaudevert Waterbury, Sr. and Catherine Anthony Furman in Westchester, New York. He had five brothers and two sisters, including Lawrence Waterbury II. He was educated through private tutors.
Waterbury was an active polo player in the 1890s through the 1910s. 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 and only rarely pursued the sport in the United States in his later years.
Monte 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.
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.