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Notable people · Business

William Procter

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

Born December 7, 1801, Herefordshire, England
Died April 4, 1884, 297 Race Street, Cincinnati

William Procter
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
December 7, 1801, Herefordshire, England source
Died
April 4, 1884, 297 Race Street, Cincinnati (Hamilton County) source
Buried
Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati (Section 47, Lot 76) (Hamilton County) source
Also known as
Wm. Procter
Education
Lucton School, Herefordshire, England
Known as
Business
Organizations
Procter & Gamble

Life story

William Procter was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1801 and went into business as a young man. After a business failure left him in debt, he was persuaded to try America and arrived in 1830, first making candles in New York City.

He moved west with his first wife, Martha Peat Procter, who died on the way to Cincinnati in 1832. He stayed in the city, and in 1833 married Olivia Norris, daughter of a Cincinnati candle maker.

Procter's father-in-law, Alexander Norris, suggested that the candlemaker and the soapmaker who had married the Norris sisters pool their buying of animal fat. In 1837 Procter and his brother-in-law James Gamble formed Procter & Gamble.

He died in Cincinnati in 1884 at 82 and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, close to Gamble. The firm stayed in the family for generations: his son and then his grandson both became company president.

Ohio ties

  • Cincinnati (1832-1884)
    home from his arrival in 1832 until his death; candlemaker and co-founder of Procter & Gamble Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (Western Row, now Central Avenue) (1837-1880s)
    Procter & Gamble began business on Western Row in 1837; the plant stayed on Central Avenue for about 50 years Hamilton County · source
  • Cincinnati (297 Race Street) (1884)
    his residence at death Hamilton County · source
  • Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati (1884)
    burial, Section 47, Lot 76 Hamilton County · source

Timeline

  1. 1801 Born on 7 December in Herefordshire, England, to William and Sarah Procter. source
  2. c. 1817 Finished his schooling, at Lucton School in Herefordshire, before his sixteenth year. source
  3. c. 1830 Working as a clerk in a London cloth house, he met William Hooper, who went ahead to America and later welcomed him to Cincinnati. source
  4. 1830 Arrived in the United States after his London woollens shop was ruined, and began making candles in New York City. source
  5. 1832 Arrived in Cincinnati while travelling west; his first wife, Martha Peat Procter, died there, and he stayed. source
  6. 1833 Married Olivia Norris, daughter of Alexander Norris and sister of Elizabeth Ann Norris, the wife of soapmaker James Gamble. source
  7. 1837 Formed the partnership of Procter & Gamble with James Gamble, which began business on Western Row, Cincinnati. source
  8. 1859 Procter & Gamble's sales reached $1 million, with about 80 employees. source
  9. 1861-1865 The firm supplied soap and candles to the Union Army during the Civil War. source
  10. 1879 P&G began national marketing of its floating Ivory Soap, building on its Civil War candle and soap contracts. source
  11. 1879 The firm introduced Ivory soap, developed by James Gamble's son James Norris Gamble and named by Procter's son Harley Procter. source
  12. 1884 Died of general debility on 4 April at 297 Race Street, Cincinnati, aged 82. source
  13. 1884 Interred on 7 April in Spring Grove Cemetery, Section 47, Lot 76; the burial was ordered by his son William A. Procter. source
  14. 1885-1886 After his death the firm decided to leave its crowded Central Avenue plant and built Ivorydale, a factory and village on three railroads north of the city. source
  15. 1887 Under his son and grandson the company adopted a profit-sharing plan for its workers. source

What William is known for

  • Co-founded Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati in 1837 (partnership formed Oct. 31, 1837)
  • Co-founded Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, 1837

Stories

A father-in-law's idea

Procter made candles and James Gamble made soap, and both trades ran on the same raw material, animal fat, which Cincinnati's hog-packing houses produced in quantity. The two men had married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth Norris, and their father-in-law Alexander Norris suggested that they would do better as partners than as rivals bidding for the same fat. In 1837 they took his advice. The 1904 Centennial History of Cincinnati says the partnership lasted the rest of their lives and was 'still further cemented' by the marriages.

Source

One-tenth of his income

The Centennial History of Cincinnati, written twenty years after Procter's death, singled out his giving. It says it was a rule of his life to give away one-tenth of his income, and that many institutions and private people benefited. It describes him as an active member of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce who built his business on 'legitimate trade' rather than speculation. At his death in 1884 he left nine surviving children, among them William A. Procter, who became the company's president, and Harley Procter, who named Ivory soap.

Source

Ivory, named from a psalm

Procter did not invent Ivory soap, but his son did name it. In 1879 James Norris Gamble, the chemist son of Procter's partner, developed an inexpensive white soap. Harley Procter chose the name from Psalm 45, which speaks of garments smelling of myrrh, aloes and cassia 'out of the ivory palaces'. The company registered Ivory as a trademark in September 1879. The soap became so central to the firm that its factory and research centre in St. Bernard took the name Ivorydale, and the company itself was nicknamed 'Ivory Towers'.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Named for William Procter

Family

  • first wife: Martha Peat Procter
  • second wife: Olivia Norris Procter
  • father-in-law: Alexander Norris
  • brother-in-law and business partner: James Gamble
  • son: William Alexander Procter
  • son: Harley Procter
  • grandson: William Cooper Procter

Sites to know

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

123
  • 1 Grave of William Procter, Spring Grove Cemetery (Section 47, Lot 76)
    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
  • Ivorydale, Procter & Gamble works (built 1885-86, after his death)
    St. Bernard Hamilton County · source
  • Site of the first Procter & Gamble works, Western Row (now Central Avenue) (unknown)
    Cincinnati Hamilton County · source
  • Procter residence at death, 297 Race Street (unknown)
    Cincinnati Hamilton County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

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

Myths and corrections

Things often said about William Procter, and what the record shows.

Often said Procter died on 3 April 1884.

The record The 1904 Centennial History of Cincinnati gives 3 April, but Spring Grove Cemetery's interment card records his death on 4 April 1884 at 297 Race Street and burial on 7 April. source

Often said Procter and Gamble created Ivory soap.

The record Ivory came 42 years after the founding. It was developed in 1879 by James Norris Gamble, the co-founder's chemist son, and named by Procter's son Harley Procter. source

Documents

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

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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