Gilman, John Taylor, 1753-1828

John Taylor Gilman (December 19, 1753 – September 1, 1828) was a farmer, shipbuilder and statesman from Exeter, New Hampshire. He represented New Hampshire in the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783 and was the fifth governor of New Hampshire for 14 years, from 1794 to 1805, and from 1813 to 1816.

Born in Exeter in the Province of New Hampshire, Gilman received a limited education before entering into the family shipbuilding and mercantile businesses. Aged 22, he read aloud a Dunlap Broadside brought to New Hampshire on July 16, 1776 to the city of Exeter. He was one of the Minutemen of 1775 and a selectman in 1777 and 1778. Gilman served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1779 and 1781 and was a delegate to the Convention of the States in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 1780. He served as a member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783. He was the New Hampshire Treasurer in 1791 and moderator from 1791 to 1794, in 1806, in 1807, from 1809 to 1811, in 1817, in 1818, and from 1820 to 1825.

Gilman served as Governor of New Hampshire between 1794 and 1805 and was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1805. He was again a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1810 and 1811 and again an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1812. He was again elected governor in 1813 and served from 1813 to 1816 and declined to be a candidate for renomination for governor in 1816. He was an ex officio trustee of Dartmouth College from 1794 to 1805 and from 1813 to 1816, and trustee by election from 1817 to 1819. Gilman was president of the board of trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, from 1795 to 1827, and donor of the oldest property, the 'Yard,' upon which the older buildings stand.

Gilman died in Exeter and was buried in the Winter Street Burial Ground there.