Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

ness which to this day bears his name,
was born in 1788, in Connecticut, and followed
the shoemaker's trade in the town
of Weston, in that State. This was after
the War of 1812. He also was master
of the trades of tanning and currying, but
in none of the three branches of industry
in which he was proficient was he to find
the key to his future prosperity. Those
were the days when families made their
own meal, sifting it from the bran through
sieves made of horsehair. Benjamin
Gilbert was a man alert to opportunity,
and his far-seeing mind quickly discerned
the latent possibilities of the manufacture
of these articles. Abandoning his shoemaker's
last, he embarked in the manu-
facture of horsehair sieves. His place of
business was the basement of his house,
and his entire factory force consisted of his
wife and daughters, who wove the hair
while he shaved wooden hoops to form
the rims of his sieves. The year of the
humble beginning of this great business
was 1818.
The horsehair sieve market not proving
as large as he had anticipated, Mr.
Gilbert increased his business by adding
the manufacture of curled hair, used for
cushions, mattresses and furniture. He
moved from Weston to Georgetown, Con-
necticut, fifty miles from New York City,
where the business continues to this day.
In 1826 he installed and put into opera-
tion the first machinery ever used in pick-
ing hair, and about the same time he
leased a small part of an old sawmill,
thus obtaining a separate factory at last.
It was at this early period of the progress
which subsequently increased so amazingly
that Sturges Bennett was admitted
to partnership, the style of the firm becoming
Gilbert & Bennett. In 1832 William
J. Gilbert, a son of the founder, was
also admitted, the firm name being
changed to Gilbert, Bennett & Company.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
313
In 1834 fine wire was substituted for
horsehair in the manufacture of their
product, and the old Red Mill was pur-
chased. Thenceforth the history of the
enterprise is that of a rapid and continu-
ous march of progress.
Edwin Gilbert, son of Benjamin Gil-
bert, became a member of the firm in 1844,
and with his brother, William J., and
E. O. Hurlbutt, comprised the selling
force. Even under the difficult selling
conditions of those days, the sale of their
goods spread as far as the Western Re-
serve of Ohio, but very few, indeed, foresaw
the time when the New York, New
Haven & Hartford Railroad Company
would run their rails alongside factories
of the Gilbert, Bennett & Company and
on them take out shipments for all parts
of the United States. In 1852 a store was
opened in New York City, and in 1885
the firm was established in Chicago. Benjamin
Gilbert, the founder, conducted the
business to the last day of his life, pass-
ing away in 1847. On May 30, 1874, the
company was incorporated under the
name of The Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing
Company, with Sturges Bennett
as president. In the simple statement of
this fact may be read the whole narrative
of the important part Mr. Bennett had
played in the progress of the business
almost from the first day of his connection
with it. His cool, calm judgment, his
unceasing vigilance, and his indefatigable
industry, had been of inestimable value
during the struggling years of the enterprise,
and continued to be so when he
became its leader. In 1876 he resigned
the presidency, but remained to the close
of his life a director of the company.
(The Perry Line).
This ancient name signifies dweller by
a pear tree, and is also said to be derived
from the personal name Pierre, and thence
to mean a stony place.