Henri Mali, the great-great-grandfather of Frederick Mali,
was born in Amsterdam in 1774 and went to Verviers to join
forces with Simonis as managing partner of the company where
he remained until his death in 1850. It was Henri Mali, who
in 1799 found and arranged for John Cockerill, the inventor
of the "Spinning Jenny," to come to Hamburg. Henri hired him
and brought him to Verviers. This broke the English monopoly
on the efficient manufacture of woven cloth.
In 1826, Henri sent his son, Henri Williem Theodore Mali, to
look into the business situation in the United States. In
that same year, he formed the Henry W. T. Mali & Co., Inc.,
and a few years later he was joined by his younger brother
Charles Mali. In 1831, when Belgium became a Kingdom and
began to be represented in the United States, Henri W. T.
Mali was appointed the first Counsel General, a position
that has been held by a member of the Mali family until
1949, when Henry J. declined.
Fred Mali, founder of Mali Cues, and the fifth generation of
the Mali family to carry on the fine tradition of billiards
excellence started in 1826.
Since neither Henry W. T. or Charles had sons, their brother
Jules Mali, then head of Simonis in Verviers, sent his
eldest son, Pierre Mali, to New York in 1878 to carry on the
family business. This tradition passed to John Taylor
Johnston Mali, Pierre's eldest son, and then to Pierre's
second son, Henry Julian Mali. Henry J.'s eldest son,
Frederick Johnston Mali was the 5th generation to run Mali
and Co., the
oldest and largest supplier of billiard fabric in the United
States.
The Henry W.T. Mali &. Co. continues in the great tradition
of service as exemplified by great-grandfather John Taylor
Johnston, who founded The Metropolitan Museum of Art and
great-great-grandmother Lucretia Mott, the renowned Quaker
Abolitionist and women's rights advocate.