Gilman, Nicholas, 1755-1814

Nicholas Gilman Jr. (August 3, 1755 – May 2, 1814) was an American Founding Father, a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution, representing New Hampshire. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives during the first four Congresses and served in the U.S. Senate from 1805 until his death in 1814.

Born in Exeter in the Province of New Hampshire, after attending local public schools, he became a clerk in his father's trading house, but the growing rift between the colonies and Great Britain quickly thrust Gilman into the struggle for independence. Gilman represented his community in the New Hampshire Provincial Congresses, which met just after hostilities broke out at Lexington and Concord in 1775 and which later drafted the state constitution. During the American Revolution he served as the state's treasurer. While remaining in Exeter, Gilman was an ardent supporter of the Patriot cause, and he likely trained with the local militia regiment. In November 1776, a committee of the state legislature appointed Gilman to serve as adjutant, or administrative officer, of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, serving in the military until retiring in late 1783.

Following the war, Gilman's career as merchant proved short-lived. In 1786 and 1787, the New Hampshire legislature appointed Gilman to the Continental Congress. He was also selected in 1786 to represent the state at the Annapolis Convention. When the First Congress of the new United States of America convened in New York in 1789, Gilman was in attendance as a member of the House of Representatives, a seat he filled for four terms. After returning to Exeter, Nicholas resumed his own political career in 1800, serving a term as state senator. Initially a Federalist while that party led the fight for a more binding union of the states, Gilman became increasingly concerned with the need to protect the common man from abuses of power by government. As a consequence, he gave his support to the Democratic-Republican Party that was beginning to form around Thomas Jefferson. In 1801, he accepted the appointment from Jefferson as a federal bankruptcy commissioner. Following one unsuccessful attempt, he was then elected to the United States Senate in 1804 as a Jeffersonian. Gilman served in the Senate until his death in Philadelphia. He was buried in Exeter Cemetery in Exeter, New Hampshire.