Benjamin Ives Gilman (1766)
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Benjamin Ives Gilman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Delegate to the 1802 Ohio Constitutional Convention from Washington County | |
| In office November 1, 1802 – November 29, 1802 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 29, 1766 |
| Died | October 13, 1833 (aged 67) |
| Party | Federalist |
| Spouse | Hannah Robbins |
| Children | Winthrop Sargent Gilman, eight others |
| Alma mater | Phillips Exeter Academy |
Benjamin Ives Gilman (29 July 1766 – 13 October 1833) was a pioneer of the U.S. state of Ohio. He was a shipbuilder on the Ohio River and an extensive landholder. He was a delegate to the convention that wrote a constitution for the new state.
Gilman was the son of Joseph Gilman and Rebecca (Ives) Gilman, and was born July 29, 1766, at Exeter, New Hampshire.[1][2] He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy.[3] When the Ohio Company of Associates was formed, he purchased one share personally, and two in partnership.[4] He moved to Marietta, Northwest Territory, with his parents in 1789.[5]
Life in Northwest
Gilman returned to the East, and married Hannah Robbins of Plymouth, Massachusetts, at that place in February 1790,[1] and they moved to Marietta. The couple had nine children born between 1790 and 1808, including Winthrop Sargent Gilman.[6]
Gilman opened a store in Fort Harmar in 1792,[4] and was clerk of courts for Washington County from 1795 to 1803.[7] In 1802, Gilman was elected as a Federalist delegate to the convention to write a constitution for the new state of Ohio.[7] He voted at the convention against slavery[8] and for civil rights and suffrage of black people.[9]
In 1801, Gilman began a shipbuilding business. His ships would sail down the Ohio River and Mississippi River, and thence to ports on the Atlantic Ocean. This business thrived until the Embargo Act of 1807 destroyed trade.[10] Gilman also had extensive landholdings in Ohio. In 1810, he owned 22,128 acres (8,955 ha), sixth most in the state.[11]
