Havilah Babcock
| Havilah Babcock | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 8, 1837 Franklin, Vermont |
| Died | April 21, 1905 (aged 67) Neenah, Wisconsin |
| Occupation | Manufacturing Executive |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Kimberly |
Havilah Babcock (September 8, 1837 – April 21, 1905) was an American manufacturing executive and a joint founder of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Babcock was born in Franklin, Vermont, where he attended school until 1849 when he moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and later to Neenah, Wisconsin. At age 12 he was working for his father and his brothers to construct the Neenah portion of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway. Afterwards, he worked as a box boy at a local dry goods store. At 16 he was promoted to clerk, and he found much success in the business. In 1857, Babcock and John A. Kimberly started their own dry goods store. They had equal share and profit in everything the store made. In 1869 Babcock and Kimberly founded the Reliance Mill in Neenah. It quickly helped Neenah to become the second largest flour milling center in Wisconsin. With interest in the boys, and want to open a paper company in the Fox Valley, Charles B. Clark came with an idea for a company.
After Babcock, Kimberly and Clark were joined by Franklyn C. Shattuck, the four came together to create Kimberly-Clark, which served customers with high-quality newsprint, as well as the dry goods store Babcock and Kimberly previously had. Havilah had equal rights in the company, but chose to emit his name from the company name, leaving just Kimberly and Clark. In 1878 Kimberly-Clark expanded to Appleton, and to finance their share, Babcock and Kimberly were forced to sell their dry goods store. Upon the selling of the dry goods store, Babcock became more involved in the paper company, for Clark took interest into politics.
Babcock sought to express himself more artistically, having dressed women in latest fashion in their dry goods store. He purchased land on East Wisconsin Avenue, Neenah, in 1879. The architect William Waters to design the exterior of the Havilah-Babcock house. After construction from 1881 to 1883, Babcock moved into the house with bare walls and kerosine lamps. He wanted to design it all himself, and give detail to everything. Between 1888 and 1889 the interior was completed. After Babcock's death in 1905, his wife, Frances Kimberly, continued to live there. His children inherited the house, and it was continually passed down, to now Peter Adams who currently lives there with his wife, Patricia Mulvey.
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