View source for William Colgate

{{Short description|Business magnate}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = William Colgate
| image              = William Colgate.jpeg
| alt                = 
| caption            = A depiction of Colgate in his later years, drawn in 1881
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1783|1|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Hollingbourne]], [[Kent]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1857|3|25|1783|1|25}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Green-Wood Cemetery]], [[Brooklyn]], New York
| nationality        = [[Naturalization|Naturalized]] [[Citizenship in the United States|American]]
| occupation         = [[Business magnate]]
[[Philanthropist]]
| known_for          = Founded [[Colgate-Palmolive]] company
| spouse             = Mary Gilbert (married 1811)
| children           = 9, including [[James Boorman Colgate|James]] and [[Samuel Colgate|Samuel]]
| signature          = William Colgate signature.png
}}

'''William Colgate''' (January 25, 1783 – March 25, 1857) was an English-American [[industrialist]] who in 1806 founded what became the [[Colgate-Palmolive]] company.

==Early life==
William Colgate was born in [[Hollingbourne]], [[Kent]], [[England]], on January 25, 1783,<ref name="George Thomas Kurian 2016, p. 613">George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 613</ref><ref name="BaptistEnc">{{cite book|editor1-last=Cathcart|editor1-first=William|title=The Baptist Encyclopaedia, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc.|isbn=9781579789091|pages=249–250|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-zWuEM-qHMC}}</ref> He was the son of Robert Colgate (1758–1826), a farmer and politician, and his wife Sarah (née Bowles). The family moved to a farm near [[Shoreham, Kent|Shoreham]] when William was six years old.<ref name=Everts/>

His father was a sympathizer with both the [[American Revolutionary War|American]] and [[French Revolution]]s, whose republican ideals impelled him to leave their farm in March 1798 and emigrate to [[Baltimore, Maryland]], in the [[United States|United States of America]], after which the family settled on a farm in [[Harford County, Maryland|Harford County]]. Robert formed a partnership with Ralph Maher to manufacture soap and candles, and teenage William helped out, but the partnership dissolved after two years. The family later settled in [[Delaware County, New York]].<ref name=Everts>[https://archive.org/stream/williamcolgatech00ever#page/36/mode/2up Everts, W.W., ''William Colgate: The Christian Gentleman'', Philadelphia. American Baptist Publication Society, 1881]{{PD-notice}}</ref>

== Career ==
William Colgate went to New York City in 1804 and began work as an apprentice in a soap-boiler. Observing what he regarded as mismanagement, he learned valuable lessons to apply to a business of his own. At the close of his apprenticeship he wrote to dealers in other cities seeking to establish himself with them. In 1806 William set up a starch, soap and candle business on Dutch Street in Manhattan.<ref>Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller, Nancy Flood, ''The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition'', Yale University Press, USA, 2010, p. 277</ref> In 1820, he opened a starch factory across the Hudson in Jersey City.<ref>[https://www.colgatepalmolive.com/en-us/about/history "History", Colgate-Palmolive]</ref> He went on to become one of the most prosperous men in New York City, sought for his wise counsel and ready to offer aid to others in practical enterprises. Through this he gained wide influence, especially among those of his faith.

==Personal life==
[[File:R. R. Colgate mansion, cousin of Gen. Edwin R. Yale wife.jpg|thumb|240px|R. R. Colgate mansion, [[Sharon, Connecticut]]]]
The Rev. William Parkinson, pastor of the [[First Baptist Church in the City of New York]], baptized the twenty-three year-old Colgate in February 1808, who then became a deacon.<ref name="George Thomas Kurian 2016, p. 613"/> In 1811 he moved to [[Oliver Street Baptist Church]]. In 1838 he became a member of the [[Tabernacle Baptist Church (Manhattan)|Tabernacle Baptist Church]], to the erection of which he had himself largely contributed.

Colgate was a tither to his faith throughout his long and successful business career.

===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 Boorman Colgate|James]] (1818–1904), William III (1820–1838), [[Samuel Colgate|Samuel]] (1822–1897), Mary IV (1826–1873), Joseph (1828–1865), and Martha (1831–1837).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abbe |first=Truman |url=http://archive.org/details/robertcolgateimm00abbe |title=Robert Colgate, the immigrant; a genealogy of the New York Colgates and some associated lines, compiled by Truman Abbe and Hubert Abbe Howson. |date=1941 |publisher=New Haven, Conn., The Tuttle, Moorehouse & Taylor company, 1941. |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref> His son Robert purchased [[Robert Colgate House|Stonehurst]] at Riverdale-on-Hudson in the [[Bronx]] about 1859 shortly after it was built; it was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1983.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a|dateform=mdy}}</ref> Robert's son, Romulus Riggs Colgate, built the Colgate Mansion in [[Sharon, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=Pricetag for Colgate Mansion in Sharon |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/Pricetag-for-Colgate-Mansion-in-Sharon-8-9-16893083.php |website=ctinsider.com}}</ref>

==Philanthropy==
Colgate annually subscribed money to assist in defraying the expenses of [[Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution]] (later Madison University and Theological Seminary); and he was among the most strenuous opponents of their removal to the city of Rochester.{{why|date=March 2022}} 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]] in 1890.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the University {{!}} Origins, People, Campus {{!}} Colgate University |url=https://www.colgate.edu/about/who-we-are/university-history |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.colgate.edu |language=en}}</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]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{PD-old-text|title=The Baptist Encyclopaedia, Volume 1|year=1881|author=William Cathcart, ed.}}

==Archives and records==
* [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HBS.Baker.EAD:bak00468 William Colgate and Company records] at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

==External links==
* [http://www.reformedreader.org/colgate.htm The Reformed Reader biography]
* {{Find a Grave|3121}}

{{Colgate-Palmolive}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colgate, William}}
[[Category:1783 births]]
[[Category:1857 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Hollingbourne]]
[[Category:People from Harford County, Maryland]]
[[Category:English emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:Colgate-Palmolive]]
[[Category:American company founders]]
[[Category:People from Shoreham, Kent]]
[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Baptists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Colgate family]]