My Virginia

My grandfather was born William James Gilman, III, on January 20th, 1914 in Richmond, Virginia- to William James Gilman Jr, and Blanche Taylor (King) Gilman.  He had a younger sister named Alice. They called him "Billy" for short. Its interesting that there is a Country singer with the same name today . My grandfather was a very independent sort. He wanted to be an actor, or a writer, or a politician, or all three! As he went through college (Richmond Polytechnic Institute- now commonly known as "VCU"), he discovered writing is what he wanted to do. He never quite finished school there.  He once said to a close friend: "Why waste time on some four green acres? That is all college is to me". Despite his talent for writing, he also had a penchant for gambling. It  all started when he was a young teenager, and a man told him to bet on a horse race . The horse he bet on won. That started his gambling problem. When he was a young man of twenty-three, ...

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. ...