Major James B. Pond

Major James B. Pond

Born Cuba, New York; raised in Illinois and Wisconsin. Served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of major; awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at the Battle of Baxter Springs, 1863. In 1874 purchased the Lyceum Theatre Lecture Bureau in Boston, moving his operation to New York City in 1879. Became the leading American lecture agent of his era, managing platform tours for Mark Twain, Henry Ward Beecher, Henry Morton Stanley, Winston Churchill, Frederick Douglass, Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, and many others. Pioneer in bringing British and European celebrities to American audiences. Published A Summer in England with Henry Ward Beecher (1887) and Eccentricities of Genius: Memories of Famous Men and Women of the Platform and Stage (1900). Died 21 June 1903; succeeded by his son James B. Pond Jr.

Connection to S.R. Crockett: Pond was the principal American lecture agent for British authors during the 1890s and managed American tours for several writers in Crockett's immediate circle. He never managed to persuade Crockett to go to America on a literary tour.