Babcock, Havilah A.

Other Events:

• 1860 Census: 1860, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA
• Occupation: Abt 1872
• 1880 Census: 1880, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA
• 1900 Census: 1900, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA
• News Mention: 14 Oct 2015; Appleton Post Crescent
• Induction: 15 Oct 2015; Paper Industry International Hall of Fame

Notes:

1860 Census:
Wheeler Babcock25
Priscilla Babcock23
Harilah Babcock23
Elenor Babcock20
William Peckham23
Mary West17

Occupation:
One of the Four Founding Fathers of Kimberly Clark Corp.

1880 Census:
Habilah Babcock42
Frances E. Babcock35
Hellen E. Babcock6
Caroline M. Babcock5
Henry K. Babcock3
George W. Babcock1
Julia Farrel23
Sarah Price19

1900 Census:
Havilah Babcock 61
Francis E Babcock56
Helen E Babcock26
Caroline M Babcock25
Henry K Babcock23
George W Babcock21
Francis E Babcock17
Eleanor E Johnson37
Mary Sexton21
Lizzie Greenwald44

News Mention:
Those who know Havilah Babcock's life story say the 19th-century man's accomplishments with his business partners are remarkable even by today's 21st-century standards.
The paper industry will honor Babcock Thursday night in its Paper Industry International Hall of Fame for his role in co-founding one of the Fox Cities' iconic businesses, Kimberly-Clark Corp., almost a century-and-a-half ago.
But there's more to the story than a Neenah industrialist who worked hard with his partners to create what would eventually become a $20 billion-dollar global company.
"Everyone thinks they know Kimberly-Clark, but there's an aspect no one knows," said Peter Adams, Babcock's great-grandson and last descendant remaining in Wisconsin.
"They did something that was truly phenomenal in the times they lived, or in any day. It was 150 years ago, before the Green Bay Packers. They honed the idea of what it was to be a team."
In 1872, Babcock and three other men - John Alfred Kimberly, Charles Clark and Frank C. Shattuck - created Kimberly, Clark & Co., which first made paper used for newspapers.
"It sounds simple, but it was not. Every one of the four partners had the same say," said Adams. "They all knew everybody else's jobs. They had equal shares of the business. They even went so far as when there were community projects, like the Neenah library, they gave the exact same amount of money. They played up each other's strengths, but they had this collective identity."
Clark was a strong leader, Adams said. Shattuck was a meticulous record-keeper and Kimberly had a scientific mind.
Havilah Babcock, co-founder of Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Havilah Babcock, co-founder of Kimberly-Clark Corp. (Photo: Courtesy of Peter Adams)
Babcock was the one with charisma and salesmanship.
"The thing that stands out for me was how young and progressive they were," said Susan Middleton, records analyst and lead archivist for Kimberly-Clark. "I don't think any were over the age of 35. You look at what they did as a group, and it's phenomenal. They were inexperienced men who took on something like this.
"Babcock played a vital role in helping with the mills and businesses in those early years. He was successful in building those operations in the Fox Valley. He played a big role as corporate vice-president and later treasurer after Shattuck died."
Babcock was also a pivotal link to the next generation of leadership, and served as mentor to Frank J. Sensenbrenner, K-C's next chief executive who helped move the company toward becoming a world leader in paper and tissue-based consumer products.

A ladies' man

Havilah (a Biblical name his family pronounced ha-VY-lah) Babcock was born in 1837 in Vermont and began working for his father in construction in Neenah at age 12. He had a sixth-grade education, but was an avid reader and became self-educated.
He and business partner Alfred Kimberly owned a dry goods store, bank and flour mill before they created Kimberly, Clark & Co. with their partners.
He sang in the church choir and led an all-female Bible study at his Presbyterian church.
"He was tall and good looking, and he first established his reputation selling dress goods to women. He had a devoted following of women. He loved beauty, the arts, fashion and style," said Adams.
"He also understood quality. His reputation was based entirely on the highest quality possible. The company's initial success was because of the rag content of their newsprint. It was the highest quality paper being manufactured. It was a disposable product that was almost archival quality."

An American Downton Abbey
Babcock's grand 1883 Queen Anne mansion at 537 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Neenah still stands as a perfectly preserved testament to his taste and love of high quality 110 years after his 1905 death.
The house remains as he created it with allegorical stained glass windows, ornate woodwork, lavish furniture and oriental rugs.
It has been nicknamed "An American Downton Abbey," after the TV show, because of its grandeur.
Though it's not open to the public - it is still a private home where Adams lives today - it can be seen via Wisconsin Public Television's "Remarkable Homes of Wisconsin" at the 10 minute mark in http://video.wpt.org/video/2365438345/. It is also documented in the book "Wisconsin's Own: Twenty Remarkable Homes" and on Adams' 2012-2013 blog http://anamericandowntonabbey.blogspot.com/.
Neenah High School students collaborated on a landmarks project with the Neenah Historical Society, and their research on the house is found at http://havilahbabcockhouse.weebly.com/.

Company's early success
Building was also part of the K-C company's early success.
Once the four partners got into the paper business, they built or acquired seven paper mills in a little more than a decade.
"Through this rapid expansion of capacity, Kimberly, Clark & Co. established the Fox River Valley as one of the leading centers of paper production in the U.S." according to Babcock's hall of fame biography.
Babcock will be the third of the four K-C founders to be inducted in the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame. Kimberly and Clark were previously inducted.
Maureen Wallenfang: 920-993-7116, or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @wallenfang
Who's who at the hall of fame dinner Thursday
The Paper Industry International Hall of Fall will induct six paper notables Thursday night at a dinner and ceremony in the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel's ballroom in downtown Appleton. The annual event recognizes leaders in the paper and affiliated industries.

2015 Inductees:

Havilah Babcock (deceased), co-founder of Kimberly-Clark in Neenah.

David A. Bossen (deceased), founder of Measurex Corp., Cupertino, Calif.

Alf de Ruvo (deceased), chemist, from Sweden.

Norm Dove, founder of Devron Engineering Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Bjarne Holmbom, chemist, from Finland.

Wang Zhen (deceased), who developed a wooden-block movable type system to print the world's first mass produced book in 1313 A.D., in China's Shandong Province.
Wan Jie, chairman of the Artron Culture Group and vice
Wan Jie, chairman of the Artron Culture Group and vice chair of the China Printing Association. (Photo: Courtesy of Paper Industry International Hall of Fame)
Notable guests:
David J. Patterson, president and CEO of VERSO Corp. will be keynote speaker.
Two Chinese paper industry leaders flew to Appleton to celebrate the event.
Wan Jie is chairman of the Artron Culture Group and vice chair of the China Printing Association. He will accept the hall of fame award on behalf of Wang Zhen.
Hu Quiaozhong, general manager of Gold East Paper in Jiangsu Province, will also attend the event. Gold East Paper is one of the world's largest paper mills and one of the largest producers globally of coated paper.

Induction:
Co-Founder, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, WI. USA
Havilah Babcock was born in Franklin, Vermont on September 8, 1837. He attended school in Vermont and in Waukesha, Wisconsin before his family came to Neenah in 1849. There, at age twelve, he and his brothers worked for their father, a building contractor hired to construct the Neenah segment of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway.
In 1857, while still in their teens, Babcock and his friend Alfred Kimberly started their own dry goods business. The two young men also established the unusual business culture of equal ownership and shared management. In 1869 they made use of Babcock's construction background to build the Reliance Mill, the city's largest flourmill.
In 1872, Kimberly and Babcock organized a joint stock paper company with four other investors. A month later the investors changed to include C. B. Clark and F. C. Shattuck and the company renamed Kimberly, Clark & Co. In 1874, by a memorandum of agreement, the equal ownership was formally established between the four partners: Kimberly, Babcock, Clark and Shattuck. In doing so they consciously avoided the dissension that plagued other businesses and experienced an unparalleled rate of growth and expansion.
Beginning with the construction of the Globe Paper Mill in 1872, the company purchased the original Neenah Paper Mill in 1874; organized the Atlas Paper Company in 1878; constructed the Vulcan Paper Mill in 1881; the Tioga Paper Mill in 1883; the Badger Paper mills in 1884; the new Neenah Paper Mill in 1885; organized the Telulah Paper Company in 1887; and constructed the Kimberly mill in 1889. Through this rapid expansion of capacity, Kimberly, Clark & Co. established the Fox River Valley as one of the leading centers of paper production in the United States of America.
In 1880, the company was incorporated as Kimberly & Clark Co. with Kimberly as President and his closest associate Babcock, as Vice President, working together for the next twenty years. Babcock would also take a highly visible leadership role in the organization of the Shattuck & Babcock Paper Co. in 1890, which would become the largest producer of fine writing papers in the U.S.
In 1889, F.J. Sensenbrenner (1998 Hall of Fame Inductee) had joined Kimberly & Clark Co. as an accountant. As Clark died in 1890, Shattuck in 1891 and Kimberly withdrew from work in 1905; Babcock served as a pivotal link in the transition of leadership to F. J. Sensenbrenner. In 1928 when Kimberly died and Sensenbrenner became President, the name of the company was changed for the fourth time to Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Havilah Babcock died on April 21, 1905. He was survived by his wife and five children.

Havilah married Kimberly, Frances 22 May 1872. Frances (daughter of Kimberly, Henry H. and Fratt, Julia) was born 10 Jan 1845, Troy, Rensselaer, New York, USA; died 20 Mar 1917, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

Caroline married Adams, James Edward 4 Sep 1912, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA. James was born 2 May 1867, , , Indiana, USA; died 25 Jun 1929, Berkeley, Alameda, California, USA. [Group Sheet]

Henry married Luther, Arva Abt 1937. Arva was born 4 Apr 1916, Sebastopol, Sonoma, California, USA; died 10 Jul 2012, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]