Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/691

Rh 1823 ; d. there, 29 Jan., 1877. became in 1840 Mrs. Nelson Glover, and in 1805 Mrs. Lewis Jervey, her first husband having died in 1846. She wrote, chiefly for the young, many tales, poems, and novels, which appeared in southern magazines and in the volume mentioned above. Among her pub- lished fictions are "Vernon Grove" (New York, 1859). and "'Helen Courtenay's Promise" (1866).

GILMER, George Rockingham, lawyer, b. in Wilkes (now Oglethorpe) county, Ga., 11 April, 1790 ; d. in Lexington, Ga., 15 Nov., 1859. He studied law, and began practice at Jjexington. In 1813 he became a lieutenant in the 43d U. S. infantry, which served against the Creeks, and was disband- ed after the conclusion of peace with Great Britain in 1815. He served in the legislature in 1818-'20, was elected to congress as a Democrat, and served from 3 Dec, 1821, to 3 March, 1823, was again elected to the state house of representatives in 1824, and served in congress a second time from 3 Dec, 1827, to 3 March, 1829. In 1829-'31 he was governor of Georgia. He was elected again to congress in 1832, and served from 2 Dec, 1833. tc 3 March, 1835, was a presidential elector on the Hugh L. White ticket in 1830, and in 1837-9 served a second term as governor. In 1840 he was a presidential elector on the Harrison ticket. By his will he left valuable bequests to Georgia uni- versity, of which he was a trustee for thirty years. He published a historical work entitled " Geor- gians," containing information in relation to the early settlement of the state (1855).

GlLMER, Jeremy Francis, soldier, b. in Guil- ford county, N. C., 23 Feb., 1818 ; d. 2 Dec, 1883. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy, joined the engineers, and was engaged in building forts and making surveys, and in river and harbor improvements, till the beginning of the civil war, when he resigned his commission as captain of en- gineers, and entered the Confederate army. He was appointed major of engineers in September, 1861, and was chief engineer on Gen. Albert S. Johnston's staff. In the battle of Shiloh he was severely wounded. After his recovery he was appointed chief of the engineer bureau at Rich- mond. On 20 Aug., 1863. lie was promoted major- general, and ordered to Charleston to direct the de- fences of that city, but in June, 1864, he returned to Richmond and resumed charge of the bureau of engineering. After the war he engaged in railroad and other enterprises in Georgia.

GILMER, John Alexander, jurist, b. in Guil- ford county, N. C, 4 Nov., 1805 ; d. in Greensbor- ough, N. C, 14 May, 1808. He received a classi- cal education, taught for three years, studied law, and was licensed to practise in 1833. He was elected to the state senate in 1840, and successively re-elected till 1850. He was the Whig candidate for governor in 1850, but was defeated by Braxton Bragg. The same year he was elected to congress, and in 1858 was re-elected, serving as chairman of the committee on elections. He was mentioned for the place of secretary of the treasury in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, but, withdrawing from con- gress, embraced the cause of secession, and was elected a member of the Confederate congress.

GILMER, Thomas Walker, statesman, b. in Virginia ; d. near Washington, D. C, 28 Feb., 1844. He studied law, practised in Charlottesville, Va., and served for many years in the state legis- lature, for two sessions as speaker. In 1840-'l he was governor of Virginia. In 1841 he entered congress, and, although he had been elected as a Whig, sustained President Tyler's vetoes. He was re-elected as a Democrat in 1842 by a close vote. His competitor, William L. Goggin, contested the re- sult without success. On 15 Feb., 1844, he was ap- pointed by President Tyler secretary of the navy, and resigned his seat in congress on 18 Feb. to en- ter on the duties of the office, but ten days later was killed by the bursting of a gun on board the United States steamer '• Princeton."

GILMOR, Harry, soldier, b. in Baltimore county, Md., 24 Jan., 1838 ; d. in Baltimore, 4 March, 1883. He was educated under a private tutor, and engaged in business in Baltimore and in the west until the beginning of the civil war, when he joined the Confederate army, under Col. Ashby Turner, at Charleston, Va. He soon became con- spicuous for his daring, especially as a scout, and was appointed sergeant-major for gallantry af- ter the action at Harper's Ferry in December, 1861. In February, 1802, he was severely wound- ed, and on his recovery he was put in command of a company. He was engaged in several battles. In September, 1802, he was captured and impris- oned as a spy for five months at Fort McHenry, but in February, 1803, was exchanged. He took part in the battle of Kelly's Ford in March, 1803, rejoined the 13th Virginia regiment in April, and in May raised a battalion of horse, and was commissioned major. In June he com- manded the 1st Maryland Confederate regiment, captured, and held for a few days, Frederick, Md., and the towns of Chambersburg, Carlisle, and Gettysburg, and was appointed provost-mar- shal of the last-named place. In February, 1864, he raided on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and was court-martialed for destroying a train and per- mitting his command to rob the passengers ; but he was honorably acquitted of this charge and re- stored to his command, which was reorganized as the 2d Maryland cavalry. In July, 1864, he led Gen. Jubal A. Early's advance into Maryland, was engaged throughout tliis campaign, and in the fight at Bunker Hill was severely wounded. He. rejoined his command at Woodstock, and was cap- tured while defending his guns. He spent three years in Europe, and in 1874 was elected police commissioner of Baltimore. He published " Four Years in the Saddle " (New York, 1866).

GILMORE, James Roberts, author, b. in Boston, Mass., 10 Sept., 1823. His father was a cousin of Gov. Joseph A. Gilmore, of New Hampshire. The son was prepared for college in Utica, N. Y., but entered a counting-room at the age of fourteen, and became a partner in the business before he was of age. He made annual business trips to the south, and at the age of twenty-five became the head of a new cotton and shipping firm in New York city, from which he retired before the beginning of the civil war with a competency. In the early years of the war he published several novels, containing realistic portrayals of southern life and feeling, under the pen-name " Edmund Kirke." He also wrote numerous war-songs and ballads. His writings about the south, by their graphic and unexaggerated pictures of slavery, helped to decide the northern mind in favor of emancipation and the continuance of the war. In 1862 he founded the "Continental Monthly " magazine, to advocate emancipation as a political necessity : but discontinued his connection with it soon after the issuing of President Lincoln's proclamation. In July, 1864. with Col. Jaquess, he was intrusted with an unofficial mission to the Confederate government, with a view to arranging a peace. They only succeeded in eliciting from Jefferson Davis a declaration that he would not consent to peace except on the basis of the independence of the Confederate