Cass Gilbert (1859 - 1934)

Born 24 Nov 1859 in Zanesville, Muskingum, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Julia Tappan (Finch) Gilbert — married 29 Nov 1887 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Descendants

Died 17 May 1934 at age 74 in Brockenhurst, New Forest, Hampshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Christopher Childs [send private message]

Biography

Cass Gilbert is Notable.

Cass Gilbert was among America's foremost architects of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He was born at Zanesville, Ohio, 24 Nov 1859, ^[1] the son of Union Civil War General Samuel Augustus Gilbert and Elizabeth Fulton Wheeler. ^[2]

Gilbert studied both in America (briefly at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota; subsequently, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and in Europe, and designed scores of notable structures ranging from private residences to the Minnesota state Capitol to New York's Woolworth skyscraper -- for years the tallest building in the world -- to the United States Supreme Court building in Washington. He was President of the American Institute of Architects from 1908-09.

Gilbert and his wife, Julia Finch, married at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 29 Nov 1887. ^[3] They had four children:

1. Emily Finch Gilbert (16 December, 1888 - 28 April 1962)^[4][5]
2. Elizabeth Wheeler Gilbert (15 July, 1890 - abt 21 September, 1904)^[6][7]
3. Julia Swift (Gilbert) Post (30 April, 1892 - 7 August 1934)^[8][9][10]
4. Cass Gilbert, Jr. (10 May, 1894 - 8 July 1975)^[11][12]

Following his death in England in 1934, ^[13] Gilbert was eulogized by the Times of London as “the most remarkable architect of his generation in America.” The New York Times seconded that assessment, mourning that “New York City has lost the prophet of her distinction among the cities of the earth.” American architecture was poised at the edge of a new phase, which it rapidly entered, yet Gilbert's buildings -- whether comparatively modest homes designed for friends like the Watson family of Saint Paul, or the larger mansions along that city's Summit Avenue, or the grand buildings for which he is most famous -- have stood the test of over a century now, and remain beautiful and striking monuments to his genius.

Cass Gilbert ^[14] and his wife ^[15] are buried in the Fairlawn Cemetery, Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKDF-SD4V : 16 March 2018), Cass Gilbert, 1922; citing Passport Application, New York, United States, source certificate #211039, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2079, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCGL-7NW : 13 December 2017), Cass Gilbert in entry for Samuel Gilbert, 1860.
3. ↑ "Wisconsin, County Marriages, 1836-1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZQ7-BP7 : 11 March 2018), Cass Gilbert and Julia Tappan Finch, 29 Nov 1887; citing Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,013,977.
4. ↑ "Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FD9F-HBK : 8 March 2018), Cass Gilbert in entry for Emily Finch Gilbert, 16 Dec 1888; citing Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,309,122.
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #90084523 (with obituary)
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSKV-1L8 : accessed 3 December 2019), Elizabeth Gilbert in household of Mr. Cass Gilbert, Borough of Manhattan, Election District 9 New York City Ward 29, New York County, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 779, sheet 11A, family 182, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,115.
7. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #90084256
8. ↑ "Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDZN-25L : 11 February 2018), Cass Gilbert in entry for Julia Swift Gilbert, 30 Apr 1892; citing St Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,309,125.
9. ↑ "Minnesota, Birth and Death Records, 1866-1916," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XPN6-Q5J : 9 March 2018), Cass Gilbert in entry for Julia Swift Gilbert, 30 Apr 1892; citing Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, p 94, Public Health Center, St. Paul; FHL microfilm 1,309,044.
10. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #90084692
11. ↑ "Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FD9D-H9T : 10 February 2018), Cass Gilbert in entry for Cass Gilbert Jr., 10 May 1894; citing Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,309,126.
12. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #90084372
13. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVHJ-QMDN : 4 September 2014), Cass Gilbert, 1934; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, New Forest, Hampshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #8198783
15. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #54152119

Census records:

• "Minnesota State Census, 1885," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQF8-YSP : 5 August 2017), Cass Gilbert in household of Frederick Jackson, St Paul Ward 04, Ramsey, Minnesota; citing p. 25, volume 4 Ward, State Library and Records Service, St.Paul; FHL microfilm 565,751.
• "Minnesota State Census, 1895," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ6C-9CG : 3 April 2016), Cass Gilbert, St. Paul city, Ward 07, Ramsey, Minnesota; citing p. 92, line 20, State Library and Records Service, St.Paul; FHL microfilm 565,801.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSKV-1LH : accessed 3 December 2019), Mr. Cass Gilbert, Borough of Manhattan, Election District 9 New York City Ward 29, New York County, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 779, sheet 11A, family 182, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,115.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M599-293 : accessed 3 December 2019), Cass Gilbert, Manhattan Ward 19, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1158, sheet 18B, family 299, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1043; FHL microfilm 1,375,056.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJBG-TY4 : accessed 3 December 2019), Cass Gilbert, Manhattan Assembly District 15, New York, New York, United States; citing ED 1075, sheet 19B, line 100, family 268, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1213; FHL microfilm 1,821,213.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMPW-ZBK : accessed 3 December 2019), Cass Gilbert, Ridgefield, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 173, sheet 8A, line 47, family 144, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 259; FHL microfilm 2,339,994.

See also:

• Barbara S. Christen and Steven Flanders, editors, Cass Gilbert, Life and Work: Architect of the Public Domain (W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-393-73065-4) 304pp. First 61 pages available online
• Marion Daniel Shutter & John Scudder McLain, editors, Progressive Men of Minnesota: Biographical Sketches and Portraits of the Leaders in Business, Politics and the Professions; Together with an Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the State (The Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, 1897) p. 134
• Wikipedia: Wikipedia:Cass_Gilbert
• Genealogy Trails, entry for Cass Gilbert
• Geoffrey Blodgett, Gilbert Cass: Falling in Love in the 1880s, "Minnesota History" magazine (Minnesota Historical Society, 2000), Vol. 57, pp. 38-50 downloadable PDF