WILLARD J. FRISBIE
Willard James Frisbie, youngest child and only son of James and Julia A.
Frisbie, was born in the town of Camden, Oneida County, N. Y., April 14,
1848. His parents were of English descent and of New England lineage and
lived in Camden for many years. His father died in 1864 and his mother
April 29, 1895, aged respectively sixty-four and eighty-four. He received
his education in Camden Academy, and immediately after leaving that
institution entered the banking house of A. Curtiss & Carman in Camden
village, where he remained about seven years, filling the positions of
clerk, bookkeeper and teller. He then formed a partnership with William H.
Stanfield, under the style of Frisbie & Stanfield, and engaged in the retail
dry goods business in Camden, which was successfully continued from December
1, 1873 to April 1, 1884, when they sold out to C. A. & A. C. Phelps. In
1881 the firm of Frisbie & Stanfield commenced the manufacture of knit
goods, and in 1883, built the factory now occupied by the Corbin Cabinet
Lock Works in Camden village. In 1887 they purchased the old Costello
tannery property and water-power on the south side of Fish Creed and
converted it into a woolen-yearn mill, and in March, 1891, their entire
establishment was moved to these premises. ON the latter date the firm
adopted its present style of the Camden Knitting Company. The third partner
in the concern is Charles F. Kendall, a practical man, who has been
identified with the business from the start and as an active member since
1891. The firm manufactures ladies’ and children’s ribbed underwear, making
a specialty of ladies’ combination suits, and from modest beginning has
built up a trade which extends throughout the United States. About 175
operatives are employed. IN 1893 the firm established a branch in Syracuse,
N. Y., known as the Syracuse Knitting Company, which manufactures large
quantities of knit goods, the resident manager being Mr. Stansfield. In
December, 1895, the Kendall Knitting Company was incorporated with a capital
of $50,000, the board of directors being Charles F. Kendall, president;
William H. Stansfield, vice-president; George A. Frisbie, secretary; Willard
J. Frisbie, treasurer, and Charles A. Byington, resident manager. This
corporation was named in honor of Mr. Kendall, and began active operations
on January 1, 1896, in Utica, where the old Bailey Scotch Cap factory in
Broad Street, was fitted up for the purpose. The company employs about 200
hands.
Mr. Frisbie has been a life-long Republican and for two terms served as village trustee. He is a prominent and representative businessman of Camden, a liberal contributor to all local movements of a public nature, and takes a lively interest in the prosperity and welfare of his native town and village, which has always been his home. He was one of the originators in 1893 of the Camden Opera House, became one of its heaviest stockholders, and has continuously been a member of the board of directors.
October 18, 1870, Mr. Frisbie married to Miss Emma S. Phelps, daughter of Albert Phelps of Camden and they have two children; George A., a graduate of Colgate Academy, and Ruth L.
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