The Maj. John Gilman House is a historic house at 25 Cass Street in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

, United States. Built in 1738, it is a well-preserved example of a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

gambrel-roof house, further notable for its association with the locally prominent Gilman family. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1988.

Description and history

The John Gilman House is located north of Exeter's commercial and civic downtown area, at the southeast corner of Cass and Park streets. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gambrel roof and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is five bays wide, with a central entrance flanked by

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and topped by a

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

and gabled

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. Windows are topped by shallow projecting

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

s on the ground floor, and butt against the eave on the second floor. The windows themselves appear to be c. 1830

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

replacements, and are narrower and taller than typical Georgian windows. The interior was subjected to a careful restoration of its 18th-century character in the 1960s. The house was built in 1738 by Colonel John Gilman for his son, also named John. The elder Gilman lived in the nearby

Gilman Garrison House The Gilman Garrison House is a historic house museum at 12 Water Street in Exeter, New Hampshire. Built in 1709, it is a rare surviving example of a garrison house or fortified structure. It is owned by Historic New England, which operates the ...

, in which his son was born. It is one of only three gambrel-roofed houses to survive in the town from the Georgian period, and it is the least-altered of those. The Gilmans, both father and son, were prominent in the local militia and town affairs. Later residents included Thomas Odiorne, son-in-law of the younger Gilman, who was a successful merchant and manufacturer of equipment and parts for sailing ships. Major John Gilman held an enslaved African boy of fourteen years old,

Caesar Nero Paul Caesar Nero Paul (c. 1741 – 1823), patriarch of a prominent New England family of writers, clergymen, and abolitionists. A victim of the Atlantic slave trade as a young child, he became a free man after the French and Indian War; married a white w ...

, in this house as a house-boy. Caesar later accompanied him to the

French and Indian Wars The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title ''French and Indian War'' in the singular is used in the U ...

, was captured, then returned to Exeter in 1771 and lived as a free man. Caesar married Lovey Rollins and was the father of noted Baptist minister Rev. Thomas Paul and two other ministers. His daughter Rhoda married noted black Revolutionary soldier

Jude Hall Jude (Judas) Hall was an African-American soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He served from 1775 to 1783, thus earning his freedom from slavery. After the war, he married and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, where his homestead is still ...

, and another daughter, Nancy, was the mother of black abolitionist poet

James Monroe Whitfield James Monroe Whitfield (c. April 10, 1822 – April 23, 1871) was an African-American poet, abolitionist, and political activist. He was a notable writer and activist in abolitionism and African emigration during the antebellum era. He published th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, John, Maj., House Houses completed in 1738 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Georgian architecture in New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Exeter, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Gilman family of New Hampshire

Description and history

See also

References