

Gilman, Winthrop S.

Born: 1808-03-28 Marietta, Ohio

Died: 1884-10-01 Palisades, New York

Flourished: 1829-1840 Alton, Illinois

Gilman arrived in Alton, Illinois, in 1829, where he established the firm of Godfrey, Gilman & Company with Benjamin Godfrey. Gilman owned the warehouse that housed abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy's printing press, and Gilman was one of the press' defenders during the 1837 pro-slavery riot. He was a major stockholder in the State Bank of Illinois and was an incorporator of several Alton businesses. By 1850, Gilman had left Alton and was living in a hotel in St. Louis, where he was a merchant. By 1860, he had moved to New York, where he became a successful banker. In 1860, Gilman was living in New York City with his wife and seven children and owned $160,000 in real estate and $30,000 in personal property.

Gravestone, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY; W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:64, 69, 74, 309, 449, 470; U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Madison County, IL, 127; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), St. Louis Ward 4, St. Louis, MO, 51; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), New York Ward 21, New York County, NY, 26.