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John E. GILSON, son of John GILSON then president of the GILSON Manufacturing
Company of Port Washington, Wisconsin and grandson of Theodore GILSON who was
the co-founder of the company over
"half a century earlier"
, became involved in the
making of an internal combution engine. Several application letters for various
gasoline engine designs and improvements can be found at the United States Patent
Office. On these applications to the patent office, John E. GILSON identifies
himself as an inventor and the assignor to the GILSON Manufacturing Company,
a citizen of the United States, residing at Port Washington, in the county of
Ozaukee and State of Wisconsin.
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The Gilson Manufacturing Company Limited, of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, was incorporated
in 1906. At first it was under the direct control of the Gilson family from Port
Washington who had named an American Mr. Edw. Barelman as president and general
manager of the newly built
"Guelph, Ontario plant."
In 1907 the first "Made in Canada"
Gilson engine made their appearence but in no way differed from the engines built in
Port Washington. By 1907 the Gilson catalog indicates both Port Washington and Guelph
locations on the front cover. The Gilson "Style B" was short lived as it is not shown
in 1907 catalog but the "Style A" now rated at 4-1/2hp and the "Style C" are still
being offered. A new air cooled Gilson has been introduced as a
"Style E"
in the 1hp., 1-1/2hp. and 2-1/2hp. sizes. Also, built on the same general lines
as the "Style E" air cooled engine an hopper water cooled
"Style D"
was introduced in 1907. This "Style D" was available as either a 2hp. or a 3hp.
engine. To complete the GILSON line, the much larger
"Style K"
was offered in the 12hp. and 15hp. sizes.
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The main addition to the 1908 GILSON catalog is a two cylinder
"Style E"
rated at 5-1/2hp. Also in 1908 the 3hp "Style D was re-rated
upwards to 3-1/4hp.
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By 1909 the GILSON "Style C" sideshaft had been discontinued. The 3-1/4hp.
"Style D" had been re-rated to 3-1/2hp. The "Style K" line was offering a
new 6hp. and 8hp. to join the 12hp. and 15hp. that had been introduced two
years earlier.
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By 1910 the GILSON "Style E" twin cylinder air cooled had disapeared and was
replaced with a single cylinder 6hp air cooled
"Style F"
which much resembled the smaller "Style E". A 6hp. was also added to the
existing "Style D" engines. The "Style K" engines were beefed up to 7hp.,
9hp., 12hp. and 16hp. A new hopper cooled
"Style G"
was introduced in 1910 and they came as a 12hp. and a 16hp.
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In 1911 the GILSON catalog mentioned the addition of a 4-1/2hp "Style D" to
the already existing 2hp., 3-1/2hp. and 6hp. Gilson also added a 12hp. and a
16hp. to their "Style G" line of engines.
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For 1913 a completely new line of Gilson engines were introduced; in fact some of
the new style were being advertized as early as mid-1912. For the first time the
"Johnny-On-The-Spot"
appeared on the market. It was called the "Style JS" and was rated at 1-1/2hp.
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In 1914 the Gilson family owned Companies were sold. The Port Washington,
Wisconsin operation was sold to Harry Bolens, an important and long time
employee of the Gilson company. Bolens retained the name Gilson for several
years after he bought the company. That same year the Gilson Guelph Canada
assets were bought back from Gilson to become "All Canadian". Prior to 1914
the Port Washington and the Guelph operations were one and the same company,
but in 1914 they became two distinct Companies. It is interesting
to note that they both retained the name "GILSON". Under Harry Bolens' reign,
Gilson engines continued to be produced in Port Washington for no more than
3 years. On the other side of the border, in Guelph, Canada, Gilson engines
continued to be built until 1929 or 1930.
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The very last of the Port Washington built GILSON engines, now under the ownership
of Harry Bolens, were the
"Heavy Duty Engines"
of 1915-1916. The Gilson engines had all been RED in color since 1904 until now.
The new lineup of "Heavy Duty Engines" was GREEN in color and came in 4-1/2hp.,
5hp., 6hp., 7hp., 9hp., 10hp., 12hp., and 15hp. sizes. Few of them must have
been built as they are very seldom seen nowadays.
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This is now 1915 and GILSON in Guelph, Ontario, CANADA is on its own. It was
sort of time to establish some sort of identity of their own but were not
ready to change the Gilson line of engines that had been introduced quite
succesfully a couple of years earlier. The GILSON engines built in Guelph
had been RED in color since their beginning in 1907. The decision was made
paint the GILSON engines GREEN with gold and black trimmings and also to have
the words
"GILSON-GUELPH"
cast in "raised letters on both sides of the water hopper. The
"Brass nametag"
had Port Washington removed from it and now only mentions Guelph.
This
"Johnny-On-The-Spot"
and this
8hp. "Style W"
have the GILSON-GUELPH words embossed on the sides of the water hopper.
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The 1918-29 Gilson engines were also GREEN with the name
"GILSON"
cast in raised letters on the sides of the water hopper.
The
1-3/4hp "Johnny-On-The-Spot"
was their best seller and a
larger
2-1/2hp version
was also availeable. The
"60 SPEED" version
were made as either a 1-3/4hp, "Style U" or a 3-1/2hp. "Style X".
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The
"GILSON-WIZARD"
engines were built from November 1920 to 1929. This was the very last line
of Gilson engines to be put on the market. To part with the tradition of
earlier Gilson engines which were mostly gasoline engines of the hit and
miss type, the WIZARD were throttled governed, KEROSENE engines sporting
the Webster Tri-Polar-Oscillator.
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