George Francis  WILSON

m. Clarissa "Clara" Bartlett
3 May 1844 Whitingham, Windham, Vermont, USA


In partnership with Professor Eben S. Horsford of Harvard, Wilson operated the Rumford Chemical Works. Born in 1818, Wilson apprenticed as a wool sorter and learned a great deal about machinery early in life. In 1854 he started a chemical merchandising company in Providence, but did not meet with much success. He was able to interest Professor Horsford in the partnership in which Wilson would manufacture chemical products which Horsford developed.

They began in Providence, but soon moved to Seekonk, Massachusetts (which became part of East Providence) and incorporated the Rumford Chemical Works, so named because Horsford held the Rumford Professorship at Harvard named for Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. The neighborhood around the chemical works also became known as Rumford.

The partnership became a very successful business. While Horford developed the products including Rumford Baking Soda, Rumford Yeast Powder, Horsford's Acid Phosphates (a universal tonic) and Horsford's Bread Preparation (which was meant to replenish in bread those nutrients lost in the flour-refining process), Wilson was able to invent the machinery necessary for their manufacture...
library.brown.edu

portrait (above) from library.brown.edu