William Colgate (January 25, 1783 – March 25, 1857) was an English-American soap industrialist who founded in 1806 what became 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 ...
company.
Early life
William Colgate was born in
Hollingbourne
Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is around 900 and has th ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, on January 25, 1783.
[George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 613] He was the son of Robert Colgate and his wife Sarah (née Bowles). The family moved to a farm near
Shoreham when William was six years old.
[
Robert Colgate (1758–1826) was an 18th-century ]English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...
, politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and sympathiser with the American War of Independence
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, whose republican ideals impelled him to leave their farm in Shoreham, Kent
Shoreham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 5.2 miles north of Sevenoaks.
The probable derivation of the name is ''estate at the foot of a steep slope''. Steep slo ...
, in March 1798 and emigrate to Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland, in the United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, after which the family settled on a farm in Harford County, Maryland
Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...
. Colgate formed a partnership with Ralph Maher to manufacture soap and candles, and William helped the two men, but the partnership dissolved after two years. The family later settled in Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the US state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 44,308. The county seat is Delhi. The county is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, ...
.[Everts, W.W., ''William Colgate: The Christian Gentleman'', Philadelphia. American Baptist Publication Society, 1881]
/ref>
Career
William Colgate went to New York City in 1804. He there obtained employment as an apprentice to a soap-boiler. He closely watched the methods practiced by his employer, noting what seemed to him to be mismanagement, and learned useful lessons for his own guidance. At the close of his apprenticeship he was enabled, by correspondence with dealers in other cities, to establish himself in the business with some assurance of success. In 1806 William established a starch, soap and candle business in Manhattan, on Dutch Street. In 1820, he started a starch factory across the Hudson in Jersey City. William followed his goal of prosperity through life, and became one of the most prosperous men in the city of New York. This circumstance, together with his great wisdom in counsel, and his readiness to aid in all useful and practicable enterprises, gave him a wide influence in the community, and especially in the denomination of which he was from early life an active and honored member.
Personal life
The Rev. William Parkinson, pastor of the First Baptist Church in the City of New York, baptized him in February 1808 and Colgate became a deacon. In 1811 he transferred his membership in Oliver Street Baptist Church. In 1838 he became a member of the Tabernacle Baptist Church (Manhattan), to the erection of which he had himself largely contributed.
Colgate was a tither throughout his long and successful business career. He gave not merely one-tenth of the earnings of Colgate's soap products; but he gave two-tenths, then three-tenths, and finally five-tenths of all his income to the work of God in the world. During the later days of his life he revealed the origin of his devotion to the idea of tithing. When he was sixteen years old he left home to find employment in New York City. He had previously worked in a soap manufacturing shop. When he told the captain of the canal boat upon which he was traveling that he planned to make soap in New York City the man gave him this advice: ‘Someone will soon be the leading soap maker in New York. You can be that person. But you must never lose sight of the fact that the soap you make has been given to you by God. Honor Him by sharing what you earn. Begin by tithing all you receive.’ William Colgate felt the urge to tithe because he recognized that God was the giver of all that he possessed, not only of opportunity, but even of the elements which were used in the manufacture of his products.
Family
Colgate married Mary Gilbert (1788-1855) on April 23, 1810, and they had nine children: Robert (1812-1885), Gilbert (1814-1838), Sarah (1816-1859), James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
(1818-1904), William III (1820-1838), Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
(1822-1897), Mary IV (1826-1873), Joseph (1828-1865), and Martha (1831-1837). His son Robert purchased Stonehurst at Riverdale-on-Hudson in The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
about 1859 shortly after it was built; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1983.
Philanthropy
Colgate annually subscribed money to assist in defraying the expenses of Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution
Colgate University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated un ...
(later Madison University and Theological Seminary); and he was among the most strenuous opponents of their removal to the city of Rochester. His sons James and Samuel were both benefactors of Madison University and Theological Seminary. After seven decades of the Colgates' involvement, the school was renamed Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...
in 1890."Origins of Colgate University", Colgate University
/ref>
Colgate was a regular contributor to the funds of the Baptist Missionary Union, and took upon himself the entire support of a foreign missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
.
References
Archives and records
William Colgate and Company records
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colgate, William
1783 births
1857 deaths
Baptist deacon
People from Hollingbourne
People from Harford County, Maryland
Kingdom of Great Britain emigrants to the United States
Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery
19th-century English businesspeople
Colgate-Palmolive
American company founders
People from Shoreham, Kent
19th-century American businesspeople
Baptists from New York (state)
Colgate family