MEMOIR

OF

EDWARD HOOKER GILBERT

BY CHARLES KNOWLES BOLTON

Colonel Edward Hooker Gilbert, prominent as a manufacturer of woollen and worsted goods, as well as a patron of learning, was born at Ware, Mass., 7 December, 1859, the son of George Henry and Elizabeth Jane (Hooker) Gilbert. He attended the public schools in Ware, and fitted for college at Greylock Institute and Phillips Exeter, entering the class of 1881 at Yale. He was one of two Gilberts in the class, and was known as "Gilly." His attractive personality made him universally liked. After graduation he at once identified himself with the George H. Gilbert Manufacturing Company, and two years later became Vice-President of the Company. He interested himself also in politics, first as a selectman, and then as a member of Governor George D. Robinson's staff in 1884-1887. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, a good disciplinarian, and a firm believer in law and order.

Colonel Gilbert was a quiet, unassuming gentleman, and in the later years of his life ill health kept him from active pursuits. But he was naturally of a sociable disposition. At Yale he belonged to one of the leading societies, Wolf's Head, and later became a member of the Elizabethan Club. He was also a member of the Somerset Club in Boston. He became a member of the American Antiquarian Society in October, 1900, and of our Society in the same month two years later. He represented our Society at the Greenfield celebration in 1903, and wrote a sketch of that difficult sub