John Taylor Gilman
John Taylor Gilman was a farmer, shipbuilder and statesman from Exeter, New Hampshire. He represented New Hampshire in the Continental Congress in 1782–1783 and was the fifth governor of New Hampshire for nearly 14 years, from 1794 to 1805, and from 1813 to 1816. Taylor Gilman's tenure as governor of 13 years, 11 months, and 25 days is the longest for any governor from the Federalist Party.
Early life
Gilman was born in Exeter, in the Province of New Hampshire, the son of Ann and Nicholas Gilman. His brother was Nicholas Gilman, who had signed the U.S. Constitution. His family had settled in Exeter in its earliest days. He lived in the Ladd-Gilman House, now a part of the American Independence Museum. He received a limited education before he entered 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. The American Independence Museum commemorates his brave act every year at their American Independence Festival, where a role-player reads the Declaration in its entirety to festival-goers.Career
Gilman 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 in 1791–1794, 1806, 1807, 1809–1811, 1817, 1818, and 1820–1825.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 elected governor 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, Hanover, New Hampshire, and trustee by election. He was president of the board of trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, 1795–1827, and donor of the oldest property, the 'Yard,' upon which the older buildings stand. Gilman was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814.