James Boorman Colgate (March 4, 1818 – February 7, 1904), son of
William Colgate
William Colgate (January 25, 1783 – March 25, 1857) was an English-American soap industrialist who founded in 1806 what became the Colgate-Palmolive company.
Early life
William Colgate was born in Hollingbourne, Kent, England, on January 25, ...
and Mary Gilbert, was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
financier and member of the
Colgate family
Colgate may refer to:
Places
*Colgate, North Dakota, US
*Colgate, Wisconsin, US
*Colgate, West Sussex, England, UK
*Colgate, Saskatchewan, Canada
Other
*Colgate (name)
* Colgate (toothpaste), a product of Colgate-Palmolive
* Colgate-Palmoliv ...
, founders of the
Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...
conglomerate.
Biography
He was born in
New York City and received his first training in the house of
Boorman, Johnston, and Company. In 1852, he formed a partnership with Wall Street pioneer
John Bond Trevor of the
Glenview Mansion
Glenview Mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the John Bond Trevor House, is located on Warburton Avenue in Yonkers, New York, United States. It is a stone house erected during the 1870s in an eclectic Late Victorian ar ...
, and opened the banking house of Trevor and Colgate; this company dealt in stocks, securities and precious metals and regulated a large portion of the gold and paper exchange during the Civil War.
He was one of the founders of the
New York Gold Exchange and was for several years its president. In 1873, the firm changed its name to
J. B. Colgate and Company
''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...
. His extensive loans to the federal government during the
financial crisis of 1873 contributed materially to the reestablishment of confidence both in the United States and the markets of
Europe. As a trustee of
Colgate (formerly Madison) University, he for 30 years made almost annual donations to that institution, the development of which is due chiefly to his constant care and valuable advice.
Colgate is also the
namesake
A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another.
History
The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake",
which originates in English Bible translations ...
for the town of
Colgate, a small
unincorporated community in
Steele County,
North Dakota, founded in 1882. Colgate was the county's largest landowner, with that he purchased from the
Northern Pacific Railroad in 1880.
Personal life
In 1844, Colgate married S. Ellen Hoyt of
Utica, N.Y.
Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
, by whom he had one son, William Hoyt Colgate. Ellen died in 1846 and on February 19, 1851, he remarried to Susan Farnum Colby, daughter of
Gov. Anthony Colby and Mary Messinger Everett of
New London, N.H. His children by the second marriage were Mary (1857–1936) and James Colby Colgate (1863–1944).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colgate, James Boorman
Businesspeople from New York City
American financiers
1818 births
1904 deaths
19th-century American businesspeople
Colgate family