paper manufacturer, b. Philadelphia, Pa. He moved to Chicago in 1860, where he engaged in the wholesale paper business until his firm was destroyed by the fire of 1871. He then turned his interests to the Fox River valley in Wisconsin, and in 1881 built the first paper mill in Menasha in partnership with George A. Whiting (q.v.). In 1886 he sold his interest to Whiting, and in 1887 moved to Neenah. In the same year he founded the Gilbert Paper Co. of Menasha in partnership with his sons, George, Albert, Theodore, and William M. He was president of this firm from 1887 to 1900. On the death of his father WILLIAM MARKLEY GILBERT was elected president of the company, serving in this capacity from 1900 to 1926. He was also chairman of the board of the National Manufacturers' Bank of Neenah. Menasha Evening Breeze, Feb. 7, 9, 1900; Neenah Daily News-Times, Jan. 12, 1926; W. A. Titus, Hist. of the Fox River Valley ... (3 vols., Chicago, 1930); Columbian Biog. Dict. ... Wis. (Chicago, 1895).Learn More
Dictionary of Wisconsin History
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
