Charles Gilbert Francklyn (April 18, 1844 – January 11, 1929) was an American capitalist and industrialist who was based in New York society during the Gilded Age.
[1] After the death of his uncle in 1868, Francklyn became the Line's agent in New York, staying in the role until the agency was incorporated in 1880 and taken over by Vernon H. Brown & Co.[10] In 1878, he organized the Municipal Gas Light Company, of which he was the first president.
[1] Francklyn also commissioned one of the first residential gas ranges in the United States, built to his specifications for $275 in Baltimore, Maryland.
[14][15] By January 1886, a ferocious blizzard, in addition to overspending on livestock, fencing, and living quarters, forced the ranch into bankruptcy.
[26] After they sold their New Jersey cottage, they built another summer home in Southampton, New York on Ox Pasture Lane, originally known as Red Croft, in 1897.
[7] They had the home for thirty years, helping to make the beach town a fashionable resort among wealthy New Yorkers.
[30] Together, they lived at 15 Washington Square and were the parents of:[1] Francklyn died at his home, 160 East 91st Street in New York, on January 11, 1929.