Dates

• Existence: 1797 - 1863

Biographical Note

Born in Scituate, MA on March 1, 1797, John Douglas Bates was the eldest child of Caleb Bates (1774-1820) and Mary (Douglas) Bates (1773-approximately 1853). He had six siblings: Mary Bates (1799-), Caleb Bates (1801-), Adolphus Bates (1804-), Henry Bates (1806-), Reuben Bates (1809-1862), and Edward Carrington Bates (1811-). His father, Caleb Bates, was a ship's captain who sailed for Nathan Bridge & Co., a Boston-based merchant shipping company. John Bates became a co-partner of the firm alongside Bridge, and he traveled to Cuba and Europe as a company agent. After Bridge's death in 1830, Bates returned to Boston from a voyage in Europe; he then entered into a partnership with clerk Adam W. Thaxter and renamed the company Bates & Co.

In 1834, Bates married Mary (Bordman) Gilman, the widow of Robert Hale Gilman. Mary had two sons from her previous marriage: Benjamin Ives Gilman (who later changed his name to Ives Gilman Bates) and William Henderson Gilman (-1869). Bates took both stepsons under his wing, and supported their careers throughout his life. A year later, John and Mary Bates gave birth to John Douglas Bates, Jr. (1835-1900); their son later joined Bates & Co. as a co-partner with his father.

John D. Bates died in Paris, France on October 5, 1863. His company continued for a number of years under the management of his son, John D. Bates, Jr.

Places

• Boston (Mass.) (Residence)

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