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George B. Cluett
Information on this page is from History of Rensselaer County, New York by Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, published in 1880. Many thanks to Debby Masterson for typing it.
George B. Cluett was born Nov. 21, 1838, in Wolverhampton, England, and came to Troy with his parents,
William and Ann Cluett, July 19, 1850. He received a liberal education in the schools at home in Troy,
and such parental training as made early impressions of integrity and morality. At the age of sixteen,
in the year 1854, he became a clerk for Maullin & Blanchard, collar-manufacturers, in whose employ his
brother, J. W. A. Cluett, has been since 1852. This firm was established in 1851 and employed as their
first clerks the Cluett brothers. In 1857, J. W. A. Cluett joined his father in business under the
firm-name of William Cluett & Son. George B. Cluett retained his position as clerk, until 1861, and became
a partner with Mr. Maullin, Mr. Blanchard having withdrawn from the firm. This firm continued business
until 1862, when, upon the death of the senior member, a new firm was organized, with the title of
George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co., consisting of George B. Cluett, J. W. A. Cluett, and Charles J. Saxe,
J. W. A. Cluett having dissolved partnership with his father at the same time.
In 1862 another brother, Robert Cluett, came into the business as clerk, and in 1866, upon the withdrawal
of Mr. Saxe, he became a member of the co-partnership. Mr. R. S. Norton, who had been traveling agent
for the house since 1869, became a member of the firm in 1874, the firm-name remaining unchanged.
In 1873, George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co. opened a retail men's furnishing-store in Troy and, soon after
that time, began to manufacture shirts to order. Their success in making fine shirts induced them to
offer them to the trade. The increasing demand for the linen goods of this firm necessitated more
ample accommodations for manufacturing purposes, and in 1878, they erected a shirt laundry - a
five-story brick building, 70 by 45 feet - on North Fourth Street. George B. Cluett, Bro. & Co.
have made many valuable improvements in the manufacture of linen goods. Their "Patent Bound Bosom Shirt,"
"Reinforced Bound Collar," and "Entire Seam Cuff," for which they have also been granted patents,
are known to the best trade of the United States.
This important industry of manufacturing linen goods, second to no other in Troy, and which was first
invested with the dignity of a special pursuit, has increased with the rapid demands of trade until
the aggregate sales amount to several millions of dollars annually, and to such an extent has the
trade of this firm increased that they have opened offices for the distribution of their goods in
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Mr. George B. Cluett in politics is a Republican, and a supporter of all enterprises
tending towards necessary local improvement and the preservation of good society.
He is an active member of Christ Church of Troy and a supporter of church and
kindred interests. He was first married, in 1863, to Sarah B., daughter of G. D.
Golden, of Troy. His wife died the following year, and, in 1867, he married
Amanda R., daughter of Judge N. J. Rockwell, of Illinois.
GEORGE B. CLUETT, the subject of this narrative, belongs to that class of young men who, while young,
meet by necessity the obstacles of life coincident with limited means, contend for position, with the odds
against them, with young men of wealth and trained business capacity, and see no propitious future either
of business or of leisure, but from boyhood begin at the foundation of business to carve out a fortune
for themselves. Such men, who, with strong hearts and willing hands, early learn to provide for themselves,
often suddenly appear in the great business circle side by side with men of large experience and wealth,
and finally gain control of trade.
NOTE from Lin Van Buren: The children of George B. CLUETT and wife Amanda R. CLUETT, as per the 1880 US Census, were these:
- CLUETT Walter H. 10 b NY
- CLUETT Nellie H. 8 b NY
- CLUETT Harry 6 b NY [Ernest Harold CLUETT (1874-1954) - see biography]
- CLUETT George B. 4 b NY
- CLUETT Alfonzo R. 2 b NY
- [CLUETT Beatrice was born after this census, in about 1886.]
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Lin Van Buren