Silas, like his father before him, was a Baptist minister and was educated in the public schools and academies of western New York.

The sacrifice and devotion demanded by her parents, living the difficult life of itinerants, impressed themselves on their daughter.

[1] In 1882, Gilbert came into association with Mary Bannister Willard, who was at that time editor of The Union Signal.

Since then, Gilbert sustained an intimate relation with Mary Willard, serving also as her legal business representative in the U.S. after the American School for Girls was established in Berlin, Germany, in 1885.

Gilbert escorted parties of young ladies to Willard's school, and contributed to the success of that enterprise.