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 An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

Biography

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and received his first training in the house of Boorman, Johnston, and Company. In 1852, he formed a partnership with

John Bond Trevor John Bond Trevor (1822–1890) was an American financier and Wall Street pioneer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume 32. 1945. pp. 360. he moved to New York City in 1849. In 1850 he became a ...

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 The New York Gold Exchange was an exchange formed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War for the purpose of creating an open market for transactions involving gold and the government-created paper currency, the greenback. Establi ...

and was for several years its president. In 1873, the firm changed its name to J. B. Colgate and Company. 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 Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. 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 An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Steele County,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, founded in 1882. Colgate was the county's largest landowner, with that he purchased from the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by 38th United States Congress, Congress in 1864 and given ...

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