John Taylor Gilman

John Taylor Gilman (b. December 19 1753ndash d. September 1 1828) was a farmer, shipbuilder, and statesman from Exeter, New Hampshire. He represented New Hampshire in the Continental Congress in 1782-1783 and was Governor of New Hampshire for fourteen years, from 1794 to 1805 and from 1813 to 1816.

Gilman was born in Exeter, New Hampshire to a family settled in Exeter since its earliest days. He received a limited education before he entered into the family shipbuilding and mercantile businesses. He was one of the Minutemen of 1775 and a selectman in 1777 and 1778. Gilman served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1779 and 1781 and was a delegate to the Convention of the States in Hartford, Connecticut in October 1780. He served as a member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783. He was the New Hampshire Treasurer in 1791 and moderator 1791-1794, 1806, 1807, 1809-1811, 1817, 1818, and 1820-1825.

Gilman served a Governor of New Hampshire 1794-1805 and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1805. He was again a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1810 and 1811 and again an unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1812. He was elected Governor and served from 1813 to 1816 and declined to be a candidate for renomination for Governor in 1816. He was an ex officio trustee of Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 1794-1805 and 1813-1816 and trustee by election 1817-1819. He was president of the board of trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire 1795-1827, and donor of the oldest property, the 'Yard,' upon which the older buildings stand. He died in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1828 and is buried in the Winter Street Burial Ground in Exeter.

Trivia

He is the first Governor of New Hampshire not to have a place in the state named after him. Gilmanton, N.H., settled by 24 members of the extended Gilman clan, was named for the family as a whole and not for the governor.

External links

* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000214 Gilman's Congressional Biography]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14955278 John Taylor Gilman Grave, Winter Street Burial Ground, Exeter, New Hampshire, Findagrave, findagrave.com]

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