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 banking business in New York. Gilman developed as a businessman in the northwest region with wide interests. While residing in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...

, in the 1830s, he managed a number of groceries in the region, especially in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in the antebellum period. He was an abolitionist and on November 7, 1837 had helped defend one of his warehouses, where he had allowed publisher

Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister, journalist, Editing, newspaper editor, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Followin ...

to hide a printing press for the ''

Alton Observer The ''Alton Observer'' (1837) was an abolitionist newspaper established in Alton, Illinois, by the journalist and newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy after he was forced to flee St. Louis, Missouri. Lovejoy left St. Louis, where he edited the ''St. ...

'' from an anti-slavery mob. Lovejoy was killed in the altercation. After that, Gilman moved with his family to New York City, where he entered the family banking business. He lived and worked in the New York area for the rest of his life.

Biography

Winthrop Sargent Gilman was born in 1808 in

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...

to merchant Benjamin Ives Gilman and his wife Hannah (Robbins) Gilman. His father Benjamin, born in 1766, was a native of

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. ...

. His ancestors were among the most prominent early settlers. His father Benjamin I. Gilman graduated in the first class of the Phillips Exeter Academy, a private preparatory school. Gilman developed his business career in

, where he was a merchant with major groceries and related businesses in the region. He resided across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, a free state, and had a warehouse there with his partner Godfrey. Supporting the abolition movement, he allowed publisher

to hide a recently acquired printing press in a Gilman warehouse in Alton. (Three had been destroyed by anti-slavery activists.) In the ensuing riot, the angry mob killed Lovejoy and burned Gilman's warehouse to the ground. Before the Civil War, Gilman moved to New York City and entered the family banking business. Gilman, Son & Co. in New York often acted in conjunction with the interests of the influential Brown family of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, founders of Brown University. Subsequently, John Nicholas Brown and the Gilman Land Company, an offshoot of the Gilman family banking business, were involved in the development of the Gilman Block in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

, as well as other real estate properties.

Marriage and family

In 1835, Gilman married Abia Swift (née Lippincott), daughter of Rev. Thomas Lippincott and his wife of

. They had nine surviving children together, five sons, including

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

(1837-1909), Winthrop S., Jr. (1839–1923), Theodore (1841–1930), and Benjamin Ives Gilman (1852-1933); and four daughters. Gilman had an abiding interest in science. After he moved to the New York area, he built a private observatory at his family home known as ' Fern Lodge' at the

Palisades, New York Palisades, formerly known as Sneden's Landing (pronounced SNEE-dens), is a hamlet in the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York. It is located north of Rockleigh and Alpine, New Jersey; east of Tappan; south of Sparkill; and west of t ...

. There he frequently observed

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

Legacy

Sons Arthur, Winthrop, and Theodore Gilman followed their father into the family banking firm. After Arthur's health declined, he retired to his estate 'Glynllyn' in the

Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

near Lee, Massachusetts, and returned to earlier literary interests. He became a writer on historical subjects and family history.''Genealogy of the Gilman Family in England and America,'' Arthur Gilman, J., Albany, N.Y.: Munsell, 1864
/ref> About 1870 he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He and his second wife in 1879 founded a women's educational institution, that developed as Radcliffe College, the women's college associated with

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Theodore Gilman became noted for his research into banking. He introduced and presented bills to Congress from 1913 to 1918 to establish a higher order of banks to be based on bank assets. His work established the plan for the

Federal Reserve Act The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The Pani ...

. He also headed the Bible Society for years.

Papers

Papers of Winthrop Sargent Gilman and his sons, and other Gilman family members, are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society. They include correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, printed materials, and genealogical information.Robbins Gilman and Family Papers
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Winthrop Sargent 1808 births 1884 deaths Phillips Exeter Academy alumni People from Marietta, Ohio Gilman family of New Hampshire American abolitionists American bankers Activists from Ohio 19th-century American businesspeople