James Nelson Humphrey (1858-1929) was born in Emerald Grove, Wisconsin. He entered grade school at the age of four and Milton College at the age of sixteen. After graduation in 1879, he taught at several high schools in Wisconsin, finally becoming professor of Latin at the Wisconsin State Normal School at Whitewater. While at Whitewater, he co-authored a textbook, Work With Words, a Practical Etymology and Word Analysis.
In 1892, Humphrey formed the Century Pen Company at Neenah, Wisconsin along with W. F. Palmer and George S. Parker (founders, in 1891, of Parker Pen Company of Janesville, Wisconsin). The Century Pen Company was transferred to Whitewater in 1894 and in 1897, Professor Humphrey resigned his position at the normal school to devote full time to the company. The business prospered in its early years as a manufacturer of fountain pens. About 1912, however, the company ceased its manufacturing operations and became solely a distributor of fountain pens. Subsequently the company's interests expanded to include automatic pencils and paper goods. About 1921, the business began to have financial difficulties when it ceased to pay dividends to stockholders. After Humphrey's death in 1929, his wife Clara Dunn Humphrey, his son Heywood, and Heywood's wife Viola continued in the business. Financial problems forced the dissolution of the company in 1938, but the Humphrey family continued in the office supplies business, forming Century Sales and Service.
