Nathan Gilbert (1817 - abt. 1866)

Born 16 Apr 1817 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 17 Jul 1866 at about age 49 in Houston, Harris, Texas, United States

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Biography

Nathan Gilbert Birth 06 Apr 1817, Death 18 Jul 1866, Burial Place Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas, ^[1]

Nathan married C. A. L. Allis, in 1840, Connecticut, ^[2] By about 1845 they were living in Louisiana, then about 1854 they were in Texas.

In 1860 he was a hotel keeper in Limestone, TX

Upon completion of his formal education, a relative in Saint Louis, Missouri, who owned a line of Mississippi River barges, gave Nathan a job as a clerk aboard one of the boats, which plied between Saint Louis and New Orleans.

When his boat made a stop at Plaquemine, Louisiana, Nathan met his bride-to-be, Caroline Amelia Louisa Allis, who just happened to be visiting her uncle, John Dutton.

Caroline and Nathan returned to New Haven, Connecticut, were soon married there in 1840 and resided there for a short period. However, charmed by the South, the couple relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1845.

Tragically they lost two young sons in a terrible yellow fever epidemic that wiped out nearly one third of the population of New Orleans. In 1854 they moved to Kosse, Texas. Then the couple moved to Sabine Pass on the river in 1862, where, during the Civil War, Nathan was employed by the Confederate government to protect and further the cotton interests, and shipments in Texas.

Their final move to Beaumont, Texas was in the summer of 1863, only six months before the birth of Caroline Allis Gilbert. Their family house was originally located on the southeast corner of Pearl and Gilbert Streets.

Nathan Gilbert was engaged in the general merchandising business and bought a storefront at old Concord in Hardin County.

Having visited the oil fields of Pennsylvania, Nathan luckily recognized evidences of a potential oil field at Sour Lake Springs in Hardin County, where he began dealing extensively in land.

At his tragic untimely death on July 8, 1866, while on a business trip in Houston, he had bought 5,428 acres and had an additional 1060 acres under a twenty-year lease at Sour Lake, Texas.

His foresight proved true in 1903 when Sour Lake became one of the first major oil fields of Texas.

The heirs of Nathan Gilbert formed "The Gilbert Company," an independent oil company that is still in existence today. They were extremely successful and fortunate in drilling many flowing and producing oil wells.

CHILDREN

Laura Gilbert Daggett 1812 – unknown

Nathan Gilbert 1817–1866

Elias Mix Gilbert 1821–1822

Elias Mix Gilbert 1826–1913

Wilbur Fisk Gilbert, born about 1846 Louisiana, death 16 Dec 1920 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.^[3]

John Nathan Gilbert, born 12 Dec 1855 Kosse, TX, died 05 Jun 1924^[4]

Mary L Gilbert Fuller, born 16 Jun 1858 DIED 06 Aug 1912 in Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas,^[5].

Carrie A Hinchee, born 24 Dec 1863 died 03 May 1913^[6].

1860 CENSUS Limestone, Texas^[7]

Nathan Gilbert 43 Connecticut
Caroline A Gilbert 37 Connecticut
Wilber F Gilbert M 15 Louisiana
E B Gilbert M 13 Louisiana
Amelia B Gilbert F 11 Louisiana
Jno N Gilbert M 4 Texas
Mary L Gilbert F 2 Texas

OTHERS RESIDING IN THE HOTEL

A J Hersey M 24 New Hampshire, Teacher of Com School
D M Hudson M 25 Alabama, Grocer
Wm Hudson M 27 Alabama, Grocer

Sources

1. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVKN-9VPS : 19 October 2022), Nathan Gilbert, ; Burial, Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas, United States of America, Magnolia Cemetery; citing record ID 38350582, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com Photograph Included, Note Contains Biography
2. ↑ Connecticut Observer, Issue: 5 Dec 1840, pg377
3. ↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK9-NP6J : 1 March 2021), Nathan Gilbert in entry for Wilbur Fisk Gilbert, 1920.
4. ↑ "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3CY-H7Y : 20 February 2021), Nathan Gilbert in entry for John Nathan Gilbert, 05 Jun 1924; citing certificate number 20457, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,113,624.
5. ↑ "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3W5-246 : 20 February 2021), Nathan Gilbert in entry for Mary L Gilbert Fuller, 06 Aug 1912; citing certificate number 20151, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,050,831
6. ↑ "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3W3-GDY : 20 February 2021), Nathan Gilbert in entry for Carrie A Hinchee, 03 May 1913; citing certificate number 11213, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,050,945
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXFJ-DTN : 18 February 2021), Nathan Gilbert, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJZ-8Z7 : 12 April 2016), M Gilbert, New Orleans, ward 2 (2nd municipality), Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing family 1116, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7LL-Q4D : 17 March 2018), Nathan Gilbert and Caroline Amelia Louisa Allis, 1840.

• apparently broken link http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tyrrell/00006.xml University of Texas