Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/321

 GILLON

OILMAN

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he was assigned to the command of the lOtli army corps, which he directed in the oijerations against Cliarleston, S.C. He was brevetted Heu- tenant-colonel, colonel, brigadier-general and major-general in the regular army for the cap- tirre of llorris island, July 10, 1863, for his part in the bombardment of Fort Sumter, capture of Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg, and for the operations against Charleston, at long range from the battery known as the " Swamp Angel." He ju-s. ^ id, was also pro-

moted major- general of vol- unteers and received the commendation of the general- in-chief, who said, " He has overcome difiS- ■jht. o..^r-,r r^.JCiEC. culties almost

unknown in modern sieges. Indeed his opera- tions on Morris island constitute a new era in the science of engineering and gunnery." He was ordered with the 10th corps to Virginia in 1864, captured the line in front of Drewry's Bluff, and enabled General Butler to withdraw his army to Bermuda Hundred. With two divisions of the 19th corps he was in charge of the defences of Washington early in 1865, and pursued Early after his final raid, and in doing so was severely hurt from a fall of his liorse. He commanded the department of the South from Feb. 9 to Nov. 17, 1865, and resigned from the volunteer arm}' in December, 1865, and was made engineer-in-chief of fortifications on the Atlantic coast, south of New York. His promotions in the regular army were: major, June, 1863; lieutenant-colonel, 1874, and colonel, Feb. 20, 1874. He was presi- dent of the Mississippi river commission created by congi'ess in 1879, and of those in charge of the Cape Fear river, N.C., and Potomac river. Va., improvements. Rutgers college conferred on him the honorary degi-ee of Ph.D., and Oberlin college that of A.M. in 1856. He wrote: The Sieye and liedncUon of Fort Pnlaxki (1863); Limi'S, Hy- draulic Cements and 3Iortar.i (1863); Engineering and Artillery Operations against Charleston, S-C, in JSe.?(1865); Beton, Coignet and other Artificial Stones (1871); Strength of the Bnilding Stones of the United States (1874); Roads, Streets and Pavements (1876). He died in Brooklyn, N.Y., Ajml 7, 1888. QILLON, Alexander, representative, was born in Rotterdam. Holland, in 1741, and early engaged in commerce, residing for a time in London. Eng- land. He emigrated to America in 1766, and engaged in business in Charleston. S.C. He espoused the cause of the colonists and in 1777 fitted out an armed vessel with which he cap-

tured three armed British cruisers sailing iu company, boarding one after the other and carry- ing them as prizes into Charleston. He was maile commodore of the South Carolina navy in 1778, and was sent to France to procure vessels for the navy. He hired a frigate, rechristened it South Carolina and with it captured valuable prizes. He organized a lai'ge fleet made up of American and Spanish vessels, and with it cap- tured the Bahama islands in May, 1782. He was a representative in the South Carolina legislature for a number of terms, was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, 1788; founder and first president of the Charleston chamber of commerce, and represented the state of South Carolina in the 3d U.S. congress, 1793-94. He died at Gillou's Retreat, S.C, Oct. 6, 1794.

OILMAN, Arthur, architect, was born in Newburyport, Mass., Nov. 5, 1821; son of Arthur and 8. A. (Marquand) Otis Gihnan, and grandson of Samuel and Lydia (Robinson) Giddings Oilman. He attended Trinity college but was not gradu- ated. The attention of the public was first at- tracted towards him in 1844, when he published an article in the Xorth American Beview on '■ American Architecture." This was translated into a number of foreign languages and he was then invited to deliver a course of lectures before the Lowell institute, Boston, Mass. Subsequently

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STATE CAPlTOU,ALBAAIY, AJ.Y.

he went to Europe to study the architecture of the old world, and upon his return to Boston he urged uijon the city government plans for filling in and building up the " Back Bay " district, which was at that time hardly more than swamp land. His plans were subsequently car- ried out by the state. During his residence in Boston he designed and erected the City Hall, the Eastern railway station, and the Arlington Street church. In 1865 he removed to New York city where he was the architect of the Equitable As- surance Society building. He also designed St.