Daniel Humberstone

Item

Title

Daniel Humberstone

Date

March 29, 1865 to February 16, 1932

Description

Daniel Humberstone was the eldest of three brothers who all came to work at Stickley’s factory. Born in London in 1865, Humberstone emigrated to the United States in 1874, and the family soon settled in Syracuse. A purchase he made in 1899 is the earliest documentation he was employed at the factory, though he may have worked there earlier, since by 1890 he was listed in the Syracuse City Directory as a “finisher.” Few details of his early life have been located; Humberstone was married by the age of nineteen, and by 1887 was working as a carriage painter. By 1900 he had started a family and was excelling in his career: the Federal Census that year recorded his occupation as “Foreman—Chair Factory.” Humberstone remained foreman, probably in a position akin to the head of the finishing department–until sometime in 1903, as the following year’s directory has him removed to Fayetteville.

In 1911, Humberstone joined the Knaus Manufacturing Co., in Constantia, New York which reunited him with Norman L. Knaus who had worked for Stickley in the Upholstery department. The company was fairly short-lived, closing in 1915, but made a variety of Arts and Crafts furniture. In 1920, Humberstone was listed as a finisher in an auto factory, but by 1930 he was again working in the furniture industry.