Henry Gildersleeve, a 19th Century American shipbuilder involved in the construction of 120 vessels of all types, was born in Gildersleeve, Connecticut (now part of Portland, Connecticut), on April 7, 1817, in the family homestead on Indian Hill Avenue. He died of heart disease on April 9, 1894, in his residence that he built in 1853 on Main Street in Gildersleeve. At age 17, Gildersleeve left school and went to work in his father's shipyard. In 1842 he was taken into partnership with his father (Sylvester Gildersleeve) under the firm name of S. Gildersleeve & Son. Henry Gildersleeve was part owner of many of the larger ships and schooners built by the yard and amassed a considerable fortune during the times the American merchant marine was in its glory.

Children of Henry Gildersleeve and Nancy Buckingham

• Emily Shepard Gildersleeve 1840
• Philip Gildersleeve 1842

Children of Henry Gildersleeve and Emily Finette Northam

• Oliver Gildersleeve 1844
• Emily Shepard Gildersleeve 1846
• Mary Smith Gildersleeve 1848
• Anna Sophia Gildersleeve 1850
• Sylvester Gildersleeve 1852
• Louisa Rebecca Gildersleeve 1857
• Henry Gildersleeve 1858

Son of Henry Gildersleeve and Amelia Warner

• Orren Warner Gildersleeve 1878

Links

• Find A Grave
• Wikipedia

Sources

• Gildersleeve, Willard Harvey. Gildersleeves of Gildersleeve, Conn. Meriden, 1914. 33-35. Web.