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Henry Spink Darby City of Troy |
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Henry Spink Darby City of Troy |
HENRY SPINK DARBY—A life-long resident of Troy and from the age of nine, a worker, Henry S. Darby, president of J. M. Warren and Company, and president of the United National Bank of Troy, can from this height of assured success review with satisfaction the past and trace the path he has trodden from the valley to the mountain top. The company of which he is the executive head is operating one of the oldest establishments in Troy, a hardware store, opened in 1809, under the firm name of Hart & Nazro. On June 21, 1821, John P. Nazro retired, and the firm became Hart & Pitcher. In 1824 it was identified as Craft, Hart & Pitcher, and in 1831 was changed to Pitcher, Hart & Card. In 1832 it was Hart & Card, and in 1834 Isaac B. Hart continued the business alone. The Warrens became connected with the firm in 1836, when it was named Hart, Lesley & Warren, the name being changed in 1840 to Warren, Hart & Lesley, when Joseph M. Warren became a partner.
In 1847 the store was moved into the present quarters of the new addition from the old stand at No. 6 Lane Row. In 1855 Mr. Hart and Mr. Lesley retired from the firm, which became known as J. M. Warren & Company, a partnership between J. M. Warren and Charles W. Tillinghast. The present main building was built in 1870, and in 1876 the large storerooms in the rear were acquired. The business was incorporated in 1887. The property at Nos. 241-243 River Street was purchased by the firm from the estate of J. M. Warren, February 1, 1910. This house prides itself on the staff which it has built up, many of the clerks never having worked elsewhere. H. S. Darby, the present president-treasurer, has been the only treasurer the firm has had since its incorporation. He has also been vice-president-treasurer.
Henry Spink Darby, son of Alexander Lowe, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Sarah (Hilton) Darby, was born at Troy, New York, March 9, 1859. He attended the public school until the age of nine, when he was forced, through the death of his father, to seek employment, procuring a position as office boy with the Albany Iron Works, Troy, New York. In 1873, at the age of fourteen, he became a clerk in the office of J. M. Warren and Company, and through perseverance and efficiency he won promotion, rising finally to intermediate position of trust, to treasurer, vice-president, and finally to the presidency and
treasurership, in 1914. He is president of the United National Bank, vice-president of the Troy Trust Company, president of the board of trustees of the Young Women's Christian Association, treasurer of the board of trustees of the Young Men's Christian Association, secretary of the Samaritan Hospital, and director of the Marshall Infirmary. He is Chamber of Commerce, and the Republican Club of Rensselaer county. He has been a communicant of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, of Troy, for many years; treasurer for twenty-six years, and warden since 1915, and is a member of the board of missions of the Episcopal Diocese ofAlbany.
Mr. Darby married, at Rochester, New York, April 26, 1888, Harriett Crennell, a daughter of William H. and Harriett (Green) Crennell. Mr. and Mrs. Darby are the parents of two children: 1. Alexander Lowe, born October 2, 1890, who married, on September 20, 1916, Edna Ruth Johnson, of Troy, New York, and they have two children: Alexander Lowe, and Nancy Palmer. 2. Esther Radcliffe, born January 5, 1895, who married, April 26, 1921, Dr. D. W. Houston, Jr., of Troy, New York, and they have a daughter, Harriett Crennell.
Such in briefest outline is the life-story of one of Troy's leading businessmen. He has won the prominence he holds in the city's business and financial life, fairly and honorably, and the winning has not been through a lucky turn of fortune's wheel, but merit alone has brought Mr. Darby every promotion he has ever received.
