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Table of Contents

Collection Overview

Gilman Family Genealogy

Scope and Content

Restrictions

Subject Headings

Administrative Information

Related Material

Contents:

I. Phineas Shepard

II. Julius Gilman

III. Julius Sheldon Gilman

IV. George Shepard Gilman

V. Hills Family Papers

VI. Ellen Hills Gilman

VII. George Hills Gilman

VIII. Mabel Goodrich Gilman

IX. Memorabilia

Gilman Family Papers

A Guide to the Gilman Family Papers at the Connecticut Historical Society

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Collection Overview

Gilman Family Genealogy

The Gilman Family of Hartford, whose papers are collected here, descends from Richard Gilman, a freeman in Hartford in 1672. Gilman bought land in East Hartford in 1676. He was married to Elizabeth Adkins. The line is traced through Solomon (1676-1732), Josiah (1719-1796), Levi(?), and Oliver (1766-1843). The collection starts at this level with papers of Phineas Shepard (1766-1840) and his wife, Mary Webster (1772-1848). Their daughter, Eliza (1800-1884), married Julius (1799-1886), son of Oliver Gilman and Chloe Bemont (1767-1808).

Phineas Shepard (1766-1840) Phineas Shepard made his living in various ways. He was a mason but also ran a book-binding business from his home. Shepard also ploughed and mowed fields, collected taxes, bought and sold goods, and dealt in land.

Julius Gilman (1799-1886) Julius Gilman, born in East Hartford, set up a book-bindery on Main Street, Hartford, in 1833. His account books for that business date to 1857 although it is not listed in the City Directory. His health caused him to shift his principal activity to farming which he pursued profitably on Charter Oak Hill. He also conducted real estate transactions. With his wife, Eliza, he had several children: George Shepard (1825-1886), Charles Barnard (1827-1852), Henry Mason (1840-1910), Julius Sheldon (1833-1917), H. Elizabeth (1835-1905), Frederick Gillette (1840-1910), and Mary (1846-1911). He died at his home at 6 Charter Oak Place.

George Shepard Gilman (1825-1886) Born in Hartford, George Shepard Gilman graduated from Trinity College in 1847 with high honors and as salutarian of his class. He later studied law with Lucius F. Robinson and shared an office with Henry C. Robinson. Gilman served as judge of the Police Court in 1860 and as prosecuting attorney for the city of Hartford for several years. He also served on the Common Council and Board of Alderman. Additionally, Gilman was clerk of the Board of Education for a time. When George Gilman joined the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., he retired from the bar. He became a director of the company and was associated with it until his death. Gilman invested in lands in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. He also held bonds in several western railroads and mining companies. Locally, Gilman and associates owned and operated the Sage Ammunition Works in Middletown from 1864 to 1869. He also invested in Connecticut tobacco.

In the community of Hartford George S. Gilman was active in the South Congregational Church and served on the Joint Special Committee for the Farmington River Water Supply in 1878. He helped found the Republican Party in Connecticut. He was chairman for Hartford County and in 1860 was elected president of the Hartford Wide-Awakes Club. As his records and correspondence show, he supervised the town committees and canvassed assiduously for the new party. He remained active in the 1864 and subsequent elections. In 1865 George S. Gilman married Ellen Marie Hills (1841-1919). The couple had two children, George Hills Gilman (1866-1928) and Julia Ellen Gilman (1873-1963).

Julius Sheldon Gilman (1833-1911)Julius Sheldon Gilman, fourth child of Julius and Eliza Shepard Gilman, was born in Hartford at the Charter Oak Hill farm. After schooling in Hartford, he departed to work in New York at the age of 15 . When Abraham Lincoln issued a call for volunteers in 1862, Julius S. Gilman responded and enlisted in a-new company, the 22nd Connecticut Volunteers. He was appointed, and after six months was promoted to Brigade Quartermaster. When the nine months required service expired, Gilman returned to Hartford with his regiment. Julius S. Gilman was immediately appointed Assistant Quarter-Master on Governor William Buckingham's staff and later, under Governor Joseph Hawley, was made Quarter-Master General.

After returning to civilian life, Gilman worked for four years in Chicago for the D.D. Mallory Oyster and Packing Company (his brother, Henry, was also to work for this company in Detroit). In 1864 Julius married Mary Webster Gillette (1837-1901). Their only child, Robert, died at age 3 months in 1870. Julius S. Gilman returned to Hartford and bought out the Worthington and Dustin subscription book business. The firm became Dustin and Gilman. After five years, following the failure of Dustin and Gilman, Gilman changed to the oil stove business, first in Hartford and then in New York.

Julius S. Gilman's personal interests seem to have centered on military and veterans' affairs. He helped found the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) post in Hartford and was a moving force in the Campfield Monument Association and the establishment of that monument in 1900. While living in Hartford in 1865-66, Gilman was secretary of the Choral Union of Hartford.

Hills Family Papers The Hills family of Hartford became connected with the Gilman family through the marriage of Ellen Maria Hills (1841-1919) to George Shepard Gilman. Ellen hills was the daughter of Isaac (1801-1858) and Eliza Hills (1811-1870). Isaac Hills was a partner in the shoe manufacturing company, Isaac Hills and Sons. Upon Isaac's death, Ellen's brother, Horace W. Hills (1834-1890) remained in the business. It is chiefly the shoe company papers which appear here.

Ellen Hills Gilman (1841-1919) Ellen Hills Gilman assumed a good deal of financial and legal responsibility upon the death of her father. Ellen learned to keep detailed and accurate records and was the capable executor of her husband's and brother's estates as well as the overseer of the liquidation of the I. Hills and Sons Company. Her household accounts and the accounts of her trip to Europe in 1890 are meticulous. As a widow in 1896, she decided to build a new house for herself at 149 Lafayette Street. The construction entailed the removal of a pre Revolutionary house on the lot and, sensitive to the historic significance of the building, she directed that a detailed record be made of the house as it was carefully dismantled. Specifications and contractors' costs for the new house were minutely recorded. Ellen Gilman's correspondence with her bankers and brokers attests to her grasp of financial matters and her sound judgment.

The letters to Ellen Gilman from many members of her extended family reveal a responsive and warm person to whom people confided intimately. She was an understanding parent during difficult times in her children's development. In addition, the correspondence contains instances of private charity and thoughtfulness to former employees and friends.

George Hills Gilman (1866-1928) George Hills Gilman(1866-1928) was a freshman at Yale when his father died. After graduation in 1890 he read law in the office of E. Henry Hyde and Charles M. Joslyn, becoming a partner in 1893. He remained a partner during various changes in the firm. Eventually the firm would be called Gilman and Marks. The firm was noted for its careful research on titles, ownership and real estate law. George Hills Gilman was auditor for thirty-three years for the Hartford Electric Light Co. He carried on his father's work for the Republican party and served as member of the Hartford town committee and chairman of the sixth ward. For twenty-eight years he was clerk of the South School District. In 1898 George Hills Gilman married Mabel Edith Goodrich (1867-1959), with whom he had one child, George Hills Gilman, Jr. (1906-1985). George Hills Gilman was known for his interest in horses, for both driving and riding. He also put time and energy into the affairs of the Dauntless Club of Essex.

George Hills Gilman's sister, Julia Ellen Gilman (1873-1963), was married in 1902 to Walter Haven Clark (1872-1939). They had two daughters: Ellen Mary (1904-) and Dorothy Gilman (1911-). She is represented in the collection chiefly through her letters to her mother, Ellen Hills Gilman.

Mabel Goodrich Gilman (1867-1959) Mabel Goodrich Gilman came from an old Wethersfield family. Her vast genealogical research into the Gilman and Goodrich families is included in this collection. It is mainly due to her efforts that the family papers were preserved. Her penciled notes on the disposition of various groups of papers have been kept in the folder "Correspondence concerning the collection". As her son, George Hills Gilman, Jr., never married, she made a home for him. Her hospitality is shown in her careful records of parties and dinners.

George Hills Gilman, Jr. George Hills Gilman, Jr., was born in the Lafayette Street house his grandmother built, now replaced by the State Library. He graduated from Taft, Yale College (1929), and Yale Law School. He practiced law his entire career in the firm of Gilman and Marks. Like his grandfather, he was a director of the Travelers Insurance Company. Also like his father and grandfather, he enjoyed horses and played polo at the Farmington Valley Polo Club.

George Hills Gilman Jr.'s community interests were chiefly in the history and preservation of Hartford. He was active and generous to organizations with those goals. Notably, he was president of the Connecticut Historical Society, and for many years a Trustee. He also followed family tradition by long service to the business affairs of the South Congregational Church.

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Scope and Content

Collection consists of a wide range of material created and or received by a number of members of the Gilman and Hills families over almost two centuries. The majority of the material is correspondence, but there are a number of account books, other financial records, and legal papers ranging from writs to deeds. In the Julius Sheldon Gilman Series there is much material relating to the 22nd Connecticut Regiment of Volunteers. In the George Shepard Gilman series are some records of Republican Party activity in Connecticut.

Materials are organized into nine series, based on custodial history and provenance.

Series I: Phineas Shepard consists of correspondence to and from Phineas Shepard, some of his writings (poems and satires), account books and receipts concerning real estate transactions, and legal papers of the same.

Series II: Julius Gilman consists exclusively of financial and legal material relating to Julius Gilman's book-binding business: account books, receipts and promissory notes, and deeds and insurance policies.

Series III: Julius Sheldon Gilman consists largely of material relating to Gilman's role in the Civil War with the 22nd Connecticut. Among this Civil War material are correspondence with Washington D.C., samples of military forms, requisition orders, statements of the number of enlisted men, orders and invoices. Also included in this series are some personal correspondence and personal financial records.

Series IV: George Shepard Gilman consists of business, and community affairs related correspondence, correspondence with friends and family members and personal and business diaries, ledgers and account books. Also included are many legal and financial records of land investments and insurance concerns. Of note are records relating to the activity of the Republican Party in Connecticut.

Series V: Hills Family consists of a wide variety of material ranging from account books, receipts, certificates, wills and deeds, construction contracts, leases, prescriptions, licenses, stock certificates and a passport. There is a small amount of correspondence and two diaries.

Series VI: Ellen Hills Gilman consists principally of personal correspondence, a great deal of which concerning a trip to Europe in 1890. Also included are checks and statements, and legal and financial papers relating to the execution of family estates. There are also agreements and architectural plans and drawings for several Hartford properties.

Series VII: George Hills Gilman

Series VIII: Mabel Goodrich Gilman consists principally of genealogical notes, correspondence and charts.

Series IX: Memorabilia consists of ephemera, such as drawings, a scrapbook and a souvenir menu.

Materials in this collection are arranged chronologically in each series to compliment access points from the card catalog. Within each series, the material has been arranged chronologically within categories such as correspondence or receipts. oversize items are listed with the series to which they relate.

Almost all printed material has been removed to the printed book collections. A list of printed items removed is in "Correspondence concerning the collection". Some of these items may have been deaccessioned. In addition, photographs donated with the collection have been removed to the Society's museum. Copies of accession sheets identifying the photos are in the last box of the collection.

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Restrictions

There are no restrictions on access to the collection. Some items in fragile condition. Preservation copy available for fragile items.

Use of the material requires compliance with the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center regulations.

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Subject Headings

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Administrative Information

Item, Collection Title, Collection number (Box #, Folder #). Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.

Collection was processed by Anne Willard in 1985. Finding aid updated to EAD 2002 in December 2010.

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Related Material

A list of objects, furniture and paintings donated by the Gilman family to the Connecticut Historical Society is filed in "Correspondence concerning the collection".

An additional letter of George Shepard Gilman to Gideon Welles appears in microfilm 80415.

Contents:

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I. Phineas Shepard

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II. Julius Gilman

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III. Julius Sheldon Gilman

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IV. George Shepard Gilman

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V. Hills Family Papers

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VI. Ellen Hills Gilman

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VII. George Hills Gilman

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VIII. Mabel Goodrich Gilman

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IX. Memorabilia