George Rockingham Gilmer (April 11, 1790 – November 16, 1859) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician. He served two non-consecutive terms as the 34th Governor of Georgia, the first from 1829 to 1831 and the second from 1837 to 1839. He also served multiple terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Early life

Gilmer was born near

Lexington, Georgia The city of Lexington is the county seat of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, United States. The population was 239 at the 2000 census. Lexington is home to Shaking Rock Park. History Lexington was founded in 1800. That same year, the seat of Ogleth ...

, in what is present day Oglethorpe County ( Wilkes County at the time of his birth). He attended a variety of backwood schools, including Moses Waddell's famous Willington Academy. He served as first

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the Forty-third Infantry Regiment from 1813 to 1815 in the campaign against the Creek during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. He practiced law as a profession.

Political career

Gilmer's career consisted of multiple, alternating, elected positions at the state and federal level. Of the two great Georgia political factions known as the Crawford men and the Clarke men, he favored Crawford. He was elected to the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

in 1818, 1819, and 1824. Gilmer was also elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1820, 1826, 1828 and 1832. Due to an oversight, he did not serve after the election in 1828, because he failed to accept the position within the legal time frame and the governor ordered a new election. As governor of Georgia, Gilmer aggressively pursued Indian removal, laying claim to Federal assistance promised by the

Compact of 1802 The Compact of 1802, formally ''Articles of Agreement and Cession'', was a compact between the United States of America and the state of Georgia entered into on April 24, 1802. In it, the United States paid Georgia 1.25 million U.S. dollars for its ...

. He initiated the prosecution of Cherokee missionary Samuel Austin Worcester for violation of a law requiring all white persons residing within the Cherokee nation to obtain a license from the governor and to swear to uphold the laws of Georgia. Worcester was arrested in 1831 and sentenced to four years' hard labor. The Cherokee Nation hired a lawyer, William Wirt, and sued the state of Georgia in

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ''Cherokee Nation v. Georgia'', 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831), was a United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation sought a federal injunction against laws passed by the U.S. state of Georgia depriving them of rights within its boundaries, but ...

. This led to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision ''

Worcester v. Georgia ''Worcester v. Georgia'', 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832), was a landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Native Americans from be ...

'', which struck down the Georgia statute imposing its laws on the Cherokees as violating the

Treaty of Hopewell Three agreements, each known as the Treaty of Hopewell, were signed between representatives of the Congress of the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples, were negotiated and signed at the Hopewell plantation in South Car ...

. Backed by the Georgia militia and Governor Gilmer, the General Assembly dissolved the Cherokee government, annulled its laws, and passed an act authorizing Gilmer to take possession of the Cherokee lands in north Georgia. The Cherokee issue was hotly debated in the gubernatorial campaign of 1831. Gilmer lost the election to

Wilson Lumpkin Wilson Lumpkin (January 14, 1783 – December 28, 1870) was an American planter, attorney, and politician. He served two terms as the governor of Georgia, from 1831 to 1835, in the period of Indian Removal of the Creek and Cherokee peoples to In ...

. The state seized Cherokee gold mines and set up a land lottery system in 1832 to distribute Cherokee lands. During his second term as Governor of Georgia, beginning in 1837, Gilmer supported and expedited the Federal government in the final removal of Indians from Georgia. This process came to be termed the Trail of Tears. Gilmer was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

1836 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. * January 5 – Davy Crockett arrives in Texas. * January 12 ** , with Charles Darwin on board, re ...

for

Hugh Lawson White Hugh Lawson White (October 30, 1773April 10, 1840) was a prominent American politician during the first third of the 19th century. After filling in several posts particularly in Tennessee's judiciary and state legislature since 1801, thereunder ...

and in

1840 Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * Janua ...

for

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

Death and legacy

Gilmer died in 1859 in Lexington and is buried in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery in the same city.

Gilmer County, Georgia Gilmer County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,353. The county seat is Ellijay. It was based on a historic Cherokee town also spelled as Elejoy in the e ...

is named for him.

Notes

External links

Retrieved on 2008-04-28
''This Day in Georgia History:November 15'', Ed Jackson and Charly Pou, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of GeorgiaPortrait and Bio at New Georgia Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmer, George Rockingham 1790 births 1859 deaths Governors of Georgia (U.S. state) United States Army officers People of the Creek War Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers People from Oglethorpe County, Georgia University of Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Whigs Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Whig Party state governors of the United States Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) American slave owners 1836 United States presidential electors 1840 United States presidential electors