James Burton Pond

Background

He was born on June 11, 1838 at Cuba, Allegany County, New York, United States. Descended from Phineas Pond, who was living in Branford, Connecticut, in 1735, he was the eldest son of Willard Elmer and Clarissa (Woodford) Pond.

His father, a blacksmith and farmer, left New York state in 1844, taking his wife and five children on a journey by the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Kenosha (then Southport), Wisconsin, and thence by wagon to Lake County, where he worked land "on shares" for three unfruitful years. The family then emigrated northward to Alto, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, where they preempted a quarter-section of government land. Still, however, the father seemed unable to succeed at farming, and eventually he reverted to his trade.

Education

When James was fifteen, after a few terms in the country schools of the vicinity, he struck out for himself and became a printer's apprentice at Fond du Lac. In a short time he learned the case.

Career

He worked at the printer's trade in several Wisconsin towns and for a time in 1856 was employed on the Herald of Freedom, at Lawrence, Kansas. In 1859 he visited Pike's Peak.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he was owner and manager of a paper at Markesan, Wisconsin. He abandoned that venture to join the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry. During most of the Civil War he was engaged in service against guerrilla bands in Kansas and Missouri. In 1863, as lieutenant in command of a small force at Baxter Springs, he repelled an attack of the guerrilla leader William C. Quantrill with a band of desperadoes wearing the Federal uniform and carrying the Union flag. He was commended by his superior officers for gallantry on that occasion.

After the close of the war he was commissioned major. He returned to Wisconsin but, not finding a newspaper opening to his liking, soon left for the West, where he was a rolling stone for several years. Finally bringing up at Salt Lake City, he worked on the Tribune and for a time owned a furniture business. He made the acquaintance of Ann Eliza, the nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, and when she left Young's household and renounced the practices of Mormonism, Pond managed her first lecture tour.

He went to Boston and joined the staff of the lyceum bureau then directed by James Redpath, whom he had known in Kansas. In 1875, Pond and George H. Hathaway bought Redpath's interest in the business, which they jointly operated until 1879, when Pond removed to New York City and opened an office of his own. His work at Boston had been largely the promotion of foreign authors and orators on the American lecture platform, and this he continued in New York, but he also became identified in a remarkable way with the lecture experiences of Henry Ward Beecher, with whom in twelve years (1875 - 87) he traveled 300, 000 miles.

It was in Pond's time that the most famous lecturers first received thousand-dollar fees. Several of these men made substantial fortunes under his management. He wrote the story of his early life in "A Pioneer Boyhood, " contributed to the Century Magazine (October 1899).

ond died due primarily to an ulcer on his right foot that turned gangrenous.

Achievements

• James Burton Pond sucessfully participated in Battle of Baxter Springs during the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor, was promoted to the rank of major. Later he purchased the Lyceum Theatre Lecture Bureau and embarked on a great career managing speakers. He became a successful lecture manager whose clients included Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, and Henry Morton Stanley. Pond published accounts of his experiences in his well-known works: A Summer in England with Henry Ward Beecher, and Eccentricities of Genius.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Eccentricities of Genius: Memories of Famous Men and Women of the Platform and Stage (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Eccentricities of Genius: Memories of Famous...)

  • A Summer in England with Henry Ward Beecher

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Connections

He was married in January 1859 to Ann Frances Lynch, who died in 1871; and on March 10, 1888, to Martha Glass. A daughter was born to the first marriage and a son to the second. After his death, his son James B. Pond Jr. took over the business.

Father:

Willard Elmer Pond

Mother:

Clarissa (Woodford) Pond

Spouse:

Martha Glass

Spouse:

Ann Frances Lynch

Son:

James B. Pond Jr.

ancestor:

Phineas Pond