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Notable people · Business

James Gamble

Irish-born Cincinnati soapmaker who in 1837 went into partnership with his brother-in-law, the candlemaker William Procter, founding Procter & Gamble.

Born April 3, 1803, The Graan, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland
Died April 29, 1891, 26 Clark Street, Cincinnati

James Gamble
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
April 3, 1803, The Graan, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland source
Died
April 29, 1891, 26 Clark Street, Cincinnati (Hamilton County) source
Buried
Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati (Section 13, Lot 6) (Hamilton County) source
Education
Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, Ireland
Kenyon College (per Wikipedia), Gambier, OH
Known as
Business
Organizations
Procter & Gamble

Life story

James Gamble was born in 1803 in Enniskillen, Ireland, where his father was a Methodist minister. Hard times in Ireland pushed the family to emigrate in 1819.

They set out down the Ohio River for Illinois but stopped at Cincinnati when James fell ill, and he stayed. He learned soapmaking there and began making soap on his own in 1828.

He married Elizabeth Ann Norris, whose sister Olivia married William Procter. In 1837 the brothers-in-law combined their trades into Procter & Gamble. Within about twenty years the firm reached a million dollars in sales and held a Union Army supply contract.

Gamble was an active Methodist and gave to churches around Cincinnati. He died at home in 1891 and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. His son James Norris Gamble later developed the Ivory soap formula.

Ohio ties

  • Cincinnati (1819-1891)
    home from age 16 until his death; soapmaker and co-founder of Procter & Gamble Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (Sycamore Street above Sixth) (1821-1822)
    apprenticed as a soap and candle maker in Mr. Bell's factory, in an old rope walk where St. Xavier College later stood Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (Walnut Street above Fifth) (1828-c. 1834)
    his own candle and soap business, first on the west side of Walnut Street, then on the east side Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (Water Street between Plum and Western Row) (1834-1836)
    made soap and candles in partnership with Mr. Knowlton Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (Western Row, now Central Avenue) (1837-1880s)
    Procter & Gamble's first works Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (Westwood, 2918 Werk Road) (1871-1932)
    estate 'Ratonagh' of his son James Norris Gamble, the inventor of Ivory soap; razed in 2013 Hamilton County · source
  • Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati (1891)
    burial, Section 13, Lot 6 Hamilton County · source

Timeline

  1. 1803 Born on 3 April at the Graan near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland, son of George and Mary Gamble. source
  2. 1819 After business losses that followed the end of the Napoleonic wars, his father George Gamble emigrated with the family; they sailed from Derry to New Brunswick and travelled on toward Illinois. source
  3. 1819 The family stopped in Cincinnati when James fell seriously ill, and settled there. source
  4. 1821 Apprenticed at 18 to a soap and candle maker named Bell on Sycamore Street, working his first six months for board alone. source
  5. 1828 Started making candles and soap on his own account on the west side of Walnut Street above Fifth. source
  6. 1834 Moved his works to the south side of Water Street between Plum Street and Western Row, where he worked until 1836. source
  7. 1836 His son James Norris Gamble, the future inventor of Ivory soap, was born in Cincinnati on 9 August. source
  8. 1837 Sold his business to his partner Mr. Knowlton and began business with William Procter on Western Row, founding Procter & Gamble. source
  9. 1859 Procter & Gamble's sales exceeded $1 million. source
  10. 1861-1865 The firm supplied soap and candles to the Union armies. source
  11. 1879 His son James Norris Gamble developed Ivory soap, which was named by William Procter's son Harley. source
  12. 1888 His wife Elizabeth Ann Norris Gamble died, aged 76. source
  13. before 1891 When Procter & Gamble was incorporated, Gamble, then in his late eighties, took no office in the new company, though he never formally retired. source
  14. 1891 Died of general debility on 29 April at 26 Clark Street, Cincinnati, and was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery on 2 May. source

What James is known for

  • Co-founded Procter & Gamble in 1837
  • Made soap on his own from 1828 before the partnership
  • Co-founded Procter & Gamble, 1837

Stories

A boy too sick to go on

The Gambles did not set out for Ohio. George Gamble, whose family business may have run into difficulties, sailed with his family from Derry in 1819; the crossing to New Brunswick took 47 days, and they continued by boat and wagon toward Illinois, which was being promoted to settlers. In Cincinnati sixteen-year-old James became seriously ill. The family stayed while he recovered, and never moved on. After his recovery James began an apprenticeship as a soapmaker.

Source

Board for wages

The 1894 History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County traces Gamble's working life street by street. In 1821, aged 18, he went to learn soap and candle making with Mr. Bell, whose works were in an old rope walk on Sycamore Street above Sixth, where St. Xavier College later stood. For his first six months his only pay was his board; for the next six he got board and nine dollars a month. He then worked in turn for Hollingsworth, Boggs, and Daniel Ames & Company before starting on his own on Walnut Street in 1828. He moved twice more, to the east side of Walnut and then to Water Street, before selling out to his partner Knowlton in 1836 to join William Procter.

Source

Ivory and the floating-soap legend

Ivory soap, launched in 1879, was the work of Gamble's son James Norris Gamble, a trained chemist. A popular story holds that floating Ivory was an accident: a workman left a mixing machine running too long, whipping air into a batch, and customers wrote in asking for more. The company later discounted the tale. In 2004 P&G archivist Ed Rider found that James N. Gamble had himself worked out how to make the soap float and recorded it in his notes. Ivory's first slogan, 'It Floats!', followed in 1891, the year the elder Gamble died.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Named for James Gamble

Family

  • wife: Elizabeth Ann Norris
  • brother-in-law and partner: William Procter
  • father: George Gamble
  • son: James Norris Gamble
  • son: David Gamble

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1234
  • 1 Gamble family obelisk, Spring Grove Cemetery (Section 13, Lot 6)
    4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati Hamilton County · source
  • 2 Spring Grove Cemetery (cemetery-level coordinates)
    Cincinnati Hamilton County · source
  • 3 Procter & Gamble Ohio Historical Marker (36-31), P&G Plaza
    438 Sycamore Street at East Fifth Street, Cincinnati Hamilton County · source
  • Site of the first Procter & Gamble works, Western Row (now Central Avenue) (unknown)
    Cincinnati Hamilton County · source
  • Site of Bell's soap works where Gamble apprenticed, Sycamore Street above Sixth (demolished)
    Cincinnati Hamilton County · source
  • Ivorydale, Procter & Gamble works (built 1885-86)
    St. Bernard Hamilton County · source
  • 4 James Norris Gamble Ohio Historical Marker (86-31), Westwood Town Hall Recreation Center (marker for his son)
    3017 Harrison Avenue, Cincinnati Hamilton County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where James Gamble was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about James Gamble, and what the record shows.

Often said James Gamble invented Ivory soap.

The record Ivory was developed in 1879 by his son James Norris Gamble, a chemist, and named by William Procter's son Harley Procter. The Ohio historical marker for James Norris Gamble credits him with inventing Ivory and dates it to 1878. source

Often said Floating Ivory soap was an accident, after a worker left a mixer running too long.

The record The company later discounted the story. In 2004 the P&G archivist found records showing that James N. Gamble had worked out how to make the soap float and noted it in his writings. source

Often said Gamble built and died at the mansion at 2918 Werk Road in Westwood.

The record The Werk Road estate, 'Ratonagh', was his son James Norris Gamble's: the son moved there with his wife in 1871 and lived there until 1932, and the house was razed in 2013. Spring Grove's interment card gives the elder Gamble's place of death as 26 Clark Street, Cincinnati. source

Often said James Gamble graduated from Kenyon College in 1824.

The record The 1894 county history's sketch of James Gamble says nothing of college: it has him apprenticed to a soapmaker from 1821 and working for wages until 1828. The same book records that his son James N. Gamble graduated from Kenyon in 1854, which is the likely source of the confusion. source

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • James Gamble is shown floating on a bar of Ivory soap (the product which was largely responsible for his fortune).
    James Gamble is shown floating on a bar of Ivory soap (the product which was largely responsible for his fortu...
    Public domain

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

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