American politician (1790?1859)
George R. Gilmer
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In office
November 4, 1829 ? November 9, 1831
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Preceded by
| John Forsyth
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Succeeded by
| Wilson Lumpkin
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In office
November 8, 1837 ? November 6, 1839
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Preceded by
| William Schley
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Succeeded by
| Charles J. McDonald
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In office
March 4, 1833 ? March 3, 1835
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Preceded by
| new seat
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Succeeded by
| Seaton Grantland
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In office
October 1, 1827 ? March 3, 1829
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Preceded by
| Edward F. Tattnall
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Succeeded by
| redistricted to at-large
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In office
March 4, 1821 ? March 3, 1823
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Preceded by
| Joel Crawford
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Succeeded by
| George Cary
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In office
1818?1819
1824
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Born
| George Rockingham Gilmer
April 11, 1790
Lexington
,
Georgia
, U.S.
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Died
| November 16, 1859 (age 69)
Lexington
,
Georgia
, U.S.
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Political party
| Democratic-Republican
Whig
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Profession
| Soldier, Politician
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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 first from 1829 to 1831 and the second from 1837 to 1839. He also served multiple terms in the
United States House of Representatives
.
Early life
[
edit
]
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
in the Forty-third Infantry Regiment from 1813 to 1815 in the
campaign
against the
Creek
during the
War of 1812
. He practiced law as a profession.
Political career
[
edit
]
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
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
.
[1]
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.
[2]
[3]
Worcester was arrested in 1831 and sentenced to four years' hard labor.
[4]
The Cherokee Nation hired a lawyer,
William Wirt
, and sued the state of Georgia in
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
.
[5]
This led to the
United States Supreme Court
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.
[6]
The Cherokee issue was hotly debated in the gubernatorial campaign of 1831.
[7]
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.
[8]
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.
[9]
This process came to be termed the
Trail of Tears
.
Gilmer was a
presidential elector
in
1836
for
Hugh Lawson White
and in
1840
for
William Henry Harrison
.
[10]
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Gilmer died in 1859 in Lexington and is buried in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery in the same city.
[11]
Gilmer County, Georgia
is named for him.
[12]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Gilmer, George R. (1854).
Sketches of some of the first settlers of upper Georgia
. New York: D. Appleton. pp. 332?441
. Retrieved
20 Nov
2018
.
- ^
Gilmer, George R.
"Letter, 1831 May 16, Milledgeville, [Georgia] to Rev[erend] Samuel A. Worcester / George R. Gilmer"
.
State Library Cherokee Collection, The Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN
. Presented in the Digital Library of Georgia
. Retrieved
12 June
2016
.
- ^
Breyer, Stephen (August 7, 2000).
"For Their Own Good"
.
New Republic
. Vol. 223, no. 6
. Retrieved
12 June
2016
.
- ^
Howe, Daniel Walker (2007).
What Hath God Wrought : The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
. New York: Oxford University Press. p.
355
.
ISBN
9780195078947
. Retrieved
12 June
2016
.
- ^
Breyer, Stephen (Spring 2000). "The Cherokee Indians and the Supreme Court".
Journal of Supreme Court History
.
25
(3): 219.
doi
:
10.1111/1059-4329.00009
.
S2CID
142991886
.
- ^
"Act to authorize Georgia Governor George R. Gilmer to take possession of Cherokee lands"
.
1830, Acts 1-165, Enrolled Acts and Resolutions, Georgia Legislature, RG 37-1-15, Georgia Archives
. Digital Library of Georgia
. Retrieved
12 June
2016
.
- ^
Williams, David (1995).
The Georgia Gold Rush : Twenty-niners, Cherokees, and Gold Fever
. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p. 48.
ISBN
978-1570030529
.
- ^
Sleeper-Smith, Susan (2015).
Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians
. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 279.
ISBN
978-1-4696-2120-3
.
- ^
Gilmer, George R. (1854).
Sketches of some of the first settlers of upper Georgia
. New York: D. Appleton. pp. 503?555
. Retrieved
20 Nov
2018
.
- ^
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography
. Vol. I. New York, N.Y.: James T. White & Company. 1898. p. 224 – via
Google Books
.
- ^
"Governor Gilmer's Home historical marker"
. Digital Library of Georgia
. Retrieved
12 June
2016
.
- ^
Gannett, Henry (1905).
The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States
. Govt. Print. Off. pp.
137
.
External links
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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