Henry Batterton

Henry T. Batterton, Jr (born 1870 in Eminence, Kentucky) was the long-time owner of the Batterton Coffee Company which pioneered the Royal Cup brand.

Batterton was the youngest of five children born to Henry T. and Mary V. (Swift) Batterton, both Kentucky natives. He attended Pleasureville College and began his business career at a coffee wholesaler in Cincinatti, Ohio. He later became a sales representative for a New York company with responsibility for the Birmingham market.

During one of his sales trips to Birmingham, during which he stayed at the Eagle Hotel, Batterton was offered the opportunity to purchase a failing coffee company. He took the offer and resuscitated it as the Batterton Coffee Company, selling Royal Cup and Garland brand beverages and spices. His heirs sold the company to Billy Smith in 1950 and it remains in private hands.

Batterton married the former Pauline Hopkins, from his home town, in 1910. The couple had one daughter, also named Pauline. He was an active member of the Birmingham Rotary Club, the Southern Club and the Birmingham Civic Association. He and his family attended First Christian Church.

References

• Cruikshank, George H. (1920) History of Birmingham and Its Environs: A Narrative Account of Their Historical Progress, Their People, and Their Principal Interests 2 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections