Nicholas Gilman
State: New Hampshire
Age at Convention: 32
Date of Birth: August 3, 1755
Date of Death: May 2, 1814
Schooling: Local schools
Occupation: Businessman of family store, real estate and land speculations, lending and investments, public security interests, politician, soldier
Prior Political Experience: Confederation Congress (1786-1788)
Committee Assignments: Committee of Leftovers
Convention Contributions: Arrived July 23, present through the signing of the Constitution. Arrived too late to participate in the debate over representation of states. William Pierce stated that “Mr. Gilman is modest, gentile and sensible. There is nothing brilliant or striking in his character, but there is something respectable and worthy in the Man.” [Editor's Note: Mr. Pierce left the Convention on July 2 and never returned. Mr. Gilman did not arrive until July 23. Accordingly, it is difficult to tell when and how Mr. Pierce's character sketch was written.]
New Government Participation: Attended the New Hampshire ratification convention and supported the ratification of the Constitution. Served as Representative (1789-1797) for New Hampshire. New Hampshire U. S. Senator (1804-1814).
Biography from the National Archives:Member of a distinguished New Hampshire family and second son in a family of eight, Nicholas Gilman was born at Exeter in 1755. He received his education in local schools and worked at his father’s general store. When the War for Independence began, he enlisted in the New Hampshire element of the Continental Army, soon won a captaincy, and served throughout the war.
Gilman returned home, again helped his father in the store, and immersed himself in politics. In the period 1786-88 he sat in the Continental Congress, though his attendance record was poor. In 1787 he represented New Hampshire at the Constitutional Convention. He did not arrive at Philadelphia until July 23, by which time much major business had already occurred. Never much of a debater, he made no speeches and played only a minor part in the deliberations. He did, however, serve on the Committee of Leftovers. He was also active in obtaining New Hampshire’s acceptance of the Constitution and in shepherding it through the Continental Congress.
Gilman later became a prominent Federalist politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 until 1797, and in 1793 and 1797, he was a presidential elector. He also sat in the New Hampshire legislature in 1795, 1802, and 1804, and in the years 1805-8 and 1811-14, he held the office of state treasurer.
Meantime, Gilman’s political philosophy had begun to drift toward the Democratic-Republicans. In 1802, when he was defeated for the U.S. Senate, President Jefferson appointed him as a bankruptcy commissioner, and 2 years later as a Democratic-Republican he won election to the U.S. Senate. He was still serving there when he passed away at Philadelphia, while on his way home from Washington, DC, in 1814 at the age of 58. He is interred at the Winter Street Cemetery at Exeter.
Related:
* indicates delegates who did not sign the Constitution
Connecticut
William Samuel Johnson – Roger Sherman – Oliver Ellsworth (Elsworth)*
Delaware
George Read – Gunning Bedford, Jr. – John Dickinson – Richard Bassett – Jacob Broom
Georgia
William Few – Abraham Baldwin – William Houstoun* - William L. Pierce*
Maryland
James McHenry – Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer – Daniel Carroll – Luther Martin* - John F. Mercer*
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham – Rufus King – Elbridge Gerry* - Caleb Strong*
New Hampshire
John Langdon – Nicholas Gilman
New Jersey
William Livingston – David Brearly (Brearley) - William Paterson (Patterson) - Jonathan Dayton – William C. Houston*
New York
Alexander Hamilton – John Lansing, Jr.* - Robert Yates*
North Carolina
William Blount – Richard Dobbs Spaight – Hugh Williamson – William R. Davie* - Alexander Martin*
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin – Thomas Mifflin – Robert Morris – George Clymer – Thomas Fitzsimons (FitzSimons; Fitzsimmons) - Jared Ingersoll – James Wilson – Gouverneur Morris
South Carolina
John Rutledge – Charles Cotesworth Pinckney – Charles Pinckney – Pierce Butler
Rhode Island
Rhode Island did not send delegates to the Convention.
Virginia
John Blair – James Madison Jr. – George Washington – George Mason* - James McClurg* - Edmund J. Randolph* - George Wythe*
Other:
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