Jabez Gorham

Background

Jabez Gorham was born on February 18, 1792, at Providence, Rhode Island. He was the son of Jabez and Catherine (Tyler) Gorham and a descendant of John Gorham, of Northamptonshire, England, who settled at Plymouth, Massachusets, in 1643.

Education

When Jabez was fifteen years old his father died, and thereafter he had no opportunity for schooling. Providence was then a center for the manufacture of silverware and gold-plated jewelry, and young Jabez was apprenticed to Nehemiah Dodge, who had been one of the pioneers in that industry.

Career

At the age of twenty-one, with four other young men, Gorham formed a jewelry firm, which continued five years. At the end of that time, he joined with Stanton Beebe in a like venture that lasted until 1831.

No record remains of Gorham’s personal skill as a craftsman; in salesmanship, he is known to have succeeded. Most of his stock was retailed by the Yankee peddlers of the period, and he was able to hold his own against the competition of other New England producers in the Boston market.

Until about 1825 such articles as spoons and forks were made by American silversmiths only on special order. Gorham was one of the first to see a future in silverware production.

At the end of his partnership with Beebe, in 1831, he and L. Webster, another silversmith who believed there was a market for such goods, undertook the manufacture of spoons, forks, and later thimbles and a few other small articles. They were the first silversmiths to use machinery in this industry.

In 1842 Gorham, having withdrawn from the partnership with Webster, bought the silverware part of the business and formed a new firm with his son, John Gorham, as a junior partner.

Five years later, the elder Gorham retired; the son continued the industry, and in 1865 the Gorham Manufacturing Company was incorporated by the State of Rhode Island.

He represented Providence in the General Assembly of Rhode Island and in 1842-44 was a member of the Providence Common Council. As a young man, he had been a captain of a militia company.

Achievements

• Jabez Gorham has been listed as a noteworthy silversmith, merchant by Marquis Who's Who.

Politics

In politics, Jabez was a Whig and in his later years a Republican.

Connections

Gorham was married first, December 4, 1816, to Amey Thurber, who died November 26, 1820; and second, April 16, 1822, to Lydia Dexter, who survived him.

Father:

Jabez Gorham

15 July 1760 - 27 May 1802

Mother:

Catharine Tyler Gorham

12 November 1762 - 29 March 1807

Wife:

Lydia Dexter Gorham

11 November 1797 - 14 September 1873

Wife:

Amey Thurber Gorham

30 January 1795 - 26 November 1820

Daughter:

Susan G Gorham Farnum

1825 - 12 February 1918

Daughter:

Amey Gorham Webb

7 May 1824 - 30 January 1864

Daughter:

Amanda Gorham Comstock

11 December 1818 - 17 March 1897

Son:

Charles F. Gorham

1834 - 16 August 1906

Son:

Benjamin Gorham

2 February 1823 - 5 December 1823

Son:

John Gorham

18 November 1820 - 1 July 1898