William Gihon (1833-1916)
of 8 West 17th Street, New York City; Importer & Manufacturer of Fine Irish Linens
His family were prominent in the linen trade at Ballymena in Northern Ireland and his father oversaw their expansion in New York. His great-aunt, Sarah Gihon, was the wife of Sir William Brown, 1st Bt., son of the founder of Brown & Sons Bank in Baltimore, Maryland. Gihon was listed as one of the 52 "Patriarchs" of New York society. He married Caroline, daughter of Henry Rutgers Remsen. He had no children of his own but was stepfather to Caroline's two children by her first marriage.