George Rockingham Gilmer (April 11, 1790 – November 16, 1859) was an American politician. He served two non-consecutive terms as the 34th

governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

, 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 is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Early life

Gilmer was born near Lexington, Georgia, 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 Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

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 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. 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 (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

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. 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. This led to the

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decision '' Worcester v. Georgia'', which struck down the Georgia statute imposing its laws on the Cherokees as violating the Treaty of Hopewell. 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. 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 The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

. Gilmer was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

1836 Events January–March * January 1 — Hill Street Academy is named Colombo Academy and acquired by the Government, establishing the first public school in Sri Lanka. * January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand ...

for

Hugh Lawson White Hugh Lawson White (October 30, 1773April 10, 1840) was an 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 as a Tenn ...

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. * Janu ...

for

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

Death and legacy

Gilmer died in 1859 in Lexington and is buried in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery in the same city. Gilmer County, Georgia 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) 1836 United States presidential electors 1840 United States presidential electors Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly