Résumé

Founder / owner, Batchelder Tile Company, Pasadena, CA, and Los Angeles, CA, 1910-1935 or 1939. Initially. Batchelder produced tiles in Pasadena, but due to demand, he erected a factory at 2633 Artesian Street in Los Angeles in 1920. The company closed due to the dearth of construction during the early early years of the Depression. Historian Laura Verlaque of the Pasadena Museum of History.org said of the Batchelder Tile Company: "The company continued to expand throughout the 1920s, with showrooms in Oakland, Chicago, and New York. Advertisements were placed in trade and popular periodicals. Commissions flowed in from across the country. New tile designs were introduced, although Batchelder’s original designs from the 1912 catalog continuously remained in production. Catalogs were published in 1916, 1920, and 1923. Specialized fireplace mantel, pavers, and fountain catalogs were produced in the late 20s. Brighter glazes began to be used in the 1920s, and Spanish revival, Art Deco, and Mayan or Pre-Columbian tiles became popular. By 1928, the firm reached a high of $473,000 worth of sales. Sadly, the stock market crash in 1929 brought this growth to a halt and within five years, sales dropped to $30,000. The First Trust & Savings Bank of Pasadena foreclosed on the factory in December of 1935, and sold it to Bauer Pottery. Bauer continued producing tiles until 1939." (See Laura Verlaque, Pasadena Museum of History.org, "Ernest Batchelder: Educator, Designer and Tilemaker: Part II," published 10/25/2017, accessed 10/24/2024.)

Founder / owner, Pasadena Pottery Company, Pasadena, CA, 1936-1949. This firm also had other names, including "Batchelder Ceramics" and "Kinneloa Kilns." It had a studio at 158 Kinneloa Avenue in Pasadena. (See Laura Verlaque, Pasadena Museum of History.org, "Ernest Batchelder: Educator, Designer and Tilemaker: Part II," published 10/25/2017, accessed 10/24/2024.)

Teaching

Director of Art, Throop Polytechnic Institute, Pasadena, CA, 1902-1909.

Instructor, Handicraft Guild Summer Schools, Minneapolis, MN. Batchelder spent summers at this time teaching at the Handicraft Guild Summer Schools in Minneapolis, MN. He was a teacher of design theory and manual arts instruction at both institutions.

Member, Pasadena Planning Commission, c. 1920s.

Graduate, Massachusetts Normal School, Salem, MA, 1899.

College

B.A., Massachusetts Normal College of Art, Boston, MA, 1899.

Relocation

Born in Nashua, NH, Ernest A. Batchelder

attended an art school in Boston, MA, graduating in 1899. In 1900, Ernest lived with his father and stepmother Charles and Etta, a step-sister, Mary L. Schurling (born c. 08/1871 in ME), a relative named Edward T. Perkins (born c. 03/1824 in England) and a domestic worker, Mattie Ferguson (born c. 10/1875 in Canada). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Medford Ward 6, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: 663; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0875, accessed 10/24/2024.)

He moved to Los Angeles, CA, by 1901, where he began teaching at the Throop Polytechnic Institute in Pasadena, CA, in 1902.

In 1928, Batchelder and his wife resided at 626 Arroyo Drive in Pasadena. (See "Batchelder, Alice Coleman [Mrs.]," biographical entry in Women of the West 1928 Edition, Max Binheim, ed., [Los Angeles: Publishers Press, 1928], p. 22.)

Batchelder died in Los Angeles County, CA, at the age of 82. He spent the year 1905 travelling in the UK, surveying English schools active in the Arts and Crafts Movement there.

Parents

Ernest's mother was Mary Alice Sleeper (born 04/11/1852 in Quincy, MA--d. 01/05/1879 in Nashua, NH). Alice married Ernest's father Charles Levi Batchelder (born 06/24/1851 in Francestown, NH-d. 05/30/1906 in Nashua, NH) on 11/28/1873 in Chelsea, MA. Alice died young, passing away at about age 27 of tubercolosis in Nashua when Ernest was about four years of age. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, U.S., Death and Disinterment Records, 1754-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013, accessed 10/24/2024.)

Mary Alice's parents were Moses Whiting Sleeper (born 02/15/1819 in Francestown, NH-d. 03/01/1890 in Woburn, MA) and Julia A. Reed (born 11/25/1822 in Boston, MA-d. 10/18/1892 in Woburn, MA). In 1870, the Sleepers lived in Chelsea, MA, where Moses was a brick mason and 18-year-old Mary Alice was a dressmaker. The family had modest financial resources at this time, owning $3,000 worth of real estate and $900 in other assets. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Chelsea, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_650; Page: 133B, accessed 10/24/2024.)

Charles's parents were Cornelia Ann Vose (born 10/11/1828 in Francestown, NH-d. 12/30/1895 in Francestown, NH) and Elbridge Kimball Batchelder (born 05/13/1826 in Francestown, NH-d. 04/02/1900 in Medford, MA) who wed on 12/13/1849 in Francesstown, NH. In 1860, Elbridge and Cornelia lived and worked on a farm outside of Francestown. Elbridge's father Levi Batchelder (born 12/20/1798-d. 07/24/1874 in Francestown, NH), a wheelwright and farmer, worked the land nearby. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Book Title: Frederick Clifton Pierce, Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy, [Chicago, IL: W.B. Conkey, Company, 1898], p. 440.)

Charles worked as a stonemason Medford, MA, by 1900. By this time, he had remarried, to Etta M. Perkins Spurling (born c. 05/1850 in ME-d. 10/03/1921 in Newton, MA), who had been married previously to Nahum Young Spurling (born 05/28/1837-d. 07/26/1890 in ME) on 01/29/1867 in Portland, ME.

Spouse

He wed Alice Emma Coleman (born 07/27/1874 in Beatrice, NE-d. 06/17/1948 in Pasadena, CA) in 1912. Alice was an accomplished pianist, who performed recitals and founded the Coleman Chamber Music Concerts, a series still offered in 2024. (See "Batchelder, Alice Coleman [Mrs.]," biographical entry in Women of the West 1928 Edition, Max Binheim, ed., [Los Angeles: Publishers Press, 1928], p. 22.)

Biographical Notes

Batchelder occupied a leading role in advocating for the arts in Pasadena. He was active in the process of laying out Pasadena's Civic Center, and served on various boards of local organizations.

Member, Pasadena Library Board, Pasadena, CA.

Founding member, Music and Art Association, Pasadena, CA.

Member, Pasadena Playhouse Association. Pasadena, CA.

President, Pasadena Playhouse Association. Pasadena, CA.

• Nashua, NH (Architect's Birth)
  Nashua, NH

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