The Gilmans Of Richmond

Here is a write up about my grandfather's paternal side of the family. His name was William James Gilman, III. Many of the Gilmans settled in Hanover County, Virginia. Also connected to this branch of the family, are the Wingfields.

From Virginia Biography:
Patriarch

For a great many years the name of Gilman has been a well known one in Richmond in connection with the building industry, and it is one that  dates in Virginia from ante-revolutionary  days. The ancestor, John Gilman, came  from England to Virginia with the Queen's  Rangers, and as they were a body of men selected for their physical perfection and excellence of character, he must have been possessed of these qualities. His son, John Gilman, was born in Hanover county, Virginia. He served six years in the revolutionary army, enlisting at the age of twenty-one years, was with Washington at Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of Lord Cornwallis ; later he again served his country in the war of 1812.

John Gilman, a descendant of the emigrant, was a large landowner of Hanover county. Virginia, a Whig in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married and left issue: William A., James W., of whom further ; Edward and Elizabeth. These three sons all served in the Confederate army.

(My Great Great Great Grandfather)


James Washington Gilman was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1825, and died in Richmond, Virginia, in May, 1912. He was a soldier of the Confederacy, and after the war became a building contractor in Richmond. He was an influential Democrat, and served as a member of the Richmond common council. With his family he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Martha Ellen Wingfield, born in 1827, died in May, 1913, surviving her husband one year. Children :John Edgar, married Jennie Tiller ; Alice Hastings, married George W. Tiller, a cousin of her brother's wife ; Patty Tinsley, married Edmund Howard ; Elvira Spottswood, married Forest Chesterman ; Lucy Thomas, married H. W Tyler; William James, of further mention ; Julian DavL,married Minnie Hicks ; Edward Lee, married Jessie Boyden.

(My Great Great Grandfather)

William James Gilman was born in Richmond, Virginia, April 26, 1864. He was educated in the public schools of Richmond, finishing at high school. He learned his father's trade, and from youthful manhood was engaged with the latter in his contracting operations In 1888 he began business in his own name, and as William J. Gilman conducted a large and prosperous businesses a contractor of building. On January 1, 1913, the third generation was admitted to the business, the firm now being Gilman &Son. In 1894 Mr. Gilman sustained severe financial losses, but with well directed energy and wise business ability he retrieved his losses, and has attained a strong position in Richmond's business world. He is a director of the Richmond Bank and Trust Company, president of the Otterburn Springs, president of the German Mutual Building and Loan Association, and president of the Builders Exchange. He has represented his ward in the city council ; served five years in the Walker Light Guards ; has attained the thirty-second degree in Freemasonry, belonging to Amity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine, is also a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Junior Order United American Mechanics, Fraternity Mystic Circle. He is a deacon of the Second Presbyterian Church, having been a member of that congregation for twenty-five years. In politics he is a Democrat.

Mr. Gilman married in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Richmond, June 30, 1886, Rev.Dr. T. G. Dashiell officiating, Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge assisting, Dorothy Madeline Denzler. She was born in Richmond,February 1, 1861, eldest of the twelve children of John Denzler. For twelve years she was soprano in the quartet choir of her church, and for twenty-three years has been a member. John Denzler, born in Bavaria, Germany, came to the United States when eighteen years of age. He became a merchant of Richmond, served in the Confederate army, and died in 1899, aged sixty-eight years. He married Mary Emily Melton, born in Henrico county, Virginia, of English parents, in 1838, and is still living. Children : Dorothy M., of previous mention; Clara Elizabeth, married E. G. Glenn; John W.. married Rosa B. Harris; Rosa Emily, married H. L. Granger; May Dearborn, married Thomas P. Trewett ; Lillian Garnett, married Dr. B. R. Hudnall ; and Grace Dashiell ; other children died in infancy.

Children of William James and Dorothy M. (Denzler) Gilman: Arthur Sherwood, born September 2, 1887, died in 1907, while a cadet pursuing a course in electrical engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic In stitute ; Grace Madeline, born November 7. 1888, married Dr. Frank H. Redwood, of Suffolk, Virginia, June 5, 1912;

(My Great Grandfather)
William James Gilman, Jr.  He was born April 26 (also his father's birth date) 1891, a graduate of Richmond Academy, was a student at Richmond College, and is now a member of the building firm of Gilman & Son. He married, April 9, 1913, Blanche Taylor King, of Richmond. Blanche is the daughter of William T King, and Blanche Taylor King, both of Richmond ,Virginia.

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