Joseph Gilman (5 May 1738 – 14 May 1806) was an American pioneer settler in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

of the United States. Prior to his immigration to the frontier, he was a state senator in New Hampshire, and member of the Committee of Safety.

President Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

appointed him to be one of three judges in the territory in 1796. He served until the territory was dissolved in 1803.

Youth

Joseph Gilman was the son of Reverend Nicholas Gilman and Mary (Thing) Gilman. He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, on May 5, 1738. He was the brother of minister

Tristram Gilman Tristram Gilman (November 24, 1735 – April 1, 1809) was an American Congregational minister who served as the fourth pastor of the "Old Ledge" meetinghouse in what was then North Yarmouth, Massachusetts (now Yarmouth, Maine), for forty years ...

(1735–1809)''Collections of the Maine Historical Society'', Maine Historical Society (1896), p. 45 and a cousin of

Nicholas Gilman Nicholas Gilman Jr. (August 3, 1755May 2, 1814) was an American Founding Father, a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution, represent ...

. He was educated in his hometown, and went to Boston, Massachusetts, at age fifteen to work for a merchant. He stayed there until at least 1760, and in 1761 entered into partnership for seven years with Nathaniel Folsom and Josiah Gilman in Exeter as ''Folsom, Gilman and Gilman'' to keep a store, build ships and make seas voyages. They had extensive dealings in England and the Caribbean. Gilman was married to Jane Tyler, who probably died in 1760, and then to Rebecca Ives (1745-1823) of

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

, in 1763. They had sons Robert (1764-1766) and

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

(1766-1833).

Public life

In the autumn of 1776, Gilman was appointed by the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

as Treasurer of Rockingham County, and in 1779 he was commissioned as a justice of the peace. He was elected to the New Hampshire Senate twice, and served from 1784 to 1787. He was the chairman of the New Hampshire Committee of Safety in the American Revolutionary War, a group responsible for supplies for the state's troops. At the end of the war, the currency collapsed, and debts were hard to collect. Gilman became an associate of the Ohio Company of Associates, and decided to emigrate to the

with his wife and son for a fresh start.

Life in Northwest Territory

left, 300px, President Washington appointed Gilman a Judge of the Northwest Territory in 1796 Gilman and family arrived at

Marietta Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

in 1789. In 1790, Territorial Governor

Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...

appointed him as Judge of Probate, Judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions, Justice of the Peace, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1796, Rufus Putnam resigned as a Judge of the Northwest Territory to accept appointment as Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory. President Washington appointed Gilman to the judicial position, with consent of the Senate, and he served until Ohio became a state and the territory was dissolved in 1803. Gilman had to travel for the court, as sessions were held in Vincennes, Detroit, and Cincinnati, as well as at Marietta. Gilman died at Marietta on May 14, 1806. He was buried there, but his grandson

Winthrop Sargent Gilman Winthrop Sargent Gilman (28 March 1808 – 1 October 1884) was head of the banking house of Gilman, Son & Co. in New York City. Born and raised in Ohio, he had parents and ancestors from New England. Part of the family had already established the ...

had him re-interred many years later at the Gilman family plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Joseph Politicians from Marietta, Ohio People from Exeter, New Hampshire 1738 births 1806 deaths Northwest Territory judges New Hampshire state senators Gilman family of New Hampshire Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery American pioneers