Frederick K. Humphreys - Biography

Biography

Frederick was born in Marcellus, New York on March 11, 1816 to Erastus Humphreys (1785–1848), a physician. Frederick was raised in Auburn, New York where he went to the Auburn Academy. In 1832 he joined his uncle and brother in their clock business. In 1835 he returned home to manage his father's farm. In 1837, at the age of 21, he married Cornelia Palmer (c 1816–1840), and they moved to Chillicothe, Ohio where his Cornelia's father lived. In Chillicothe Frederick entered the Methodist Episcopal ministry. His wife died in 1840 and Fredrick returned to Auburn as an itinerant preacher. On August 1, 1843, Frederick married his second wife, Frances Maria Sperry (1826–1902) of Ludlowville, Tompkins County, New York. They had the following children: Helen Frances Humphreys (1844–?); Frederick Hahnemann Humphreys (1847–1919); Alvah Jay Sperry Humphreys (1851–1883) who was the father of Frederick Erastus Humphreys; and Frank Landon Humphreys (1858–?). He was the personal physician of Theron T. Pond (?-1852), and Humphreys claimed that Pond gave him permission to manufacture Pond's Creams before he died. Humphreys began to manufacture the product under the name "Pond's Extract". Palmer, who took over the Pond's corporation, received an injunction from Humphrey using the name 'Pond's Extract' or manufacturing the cream. Around 1871 the lawsuit of Palmer vs. Humphrey was still pending, when F. W. Hurtt, a banker of New York, bought the alleged rights from Humphrey Homeopathic Medicine Company, and took Palmer into the new partnership, giving him a one-eighth interest in the new corporation.

Frederick Humphreys died in 1900 in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey and he was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.