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Papers of the Gilmer family, 1823-1857, Accession # 10898, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
This collection was given to the Library by Mrs. Frank Gilmer of Charlottesville, Virginia, on January 24, 1990.
This collection consists of ten items, 1823-1857, n.d., pertaining to the Gilmer family of Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, and Illinois. Letters are chiefly from Frederick George Gilmer to his father, John Thornton Gilmer, in Adams County, Illinois. There are also letters from Dabney P. Jones and Sally T. (Gilmer) Gray. On October 12, 1823, Dabney P. Jones, of Lexington, Georgia, writes concerning religion, politics, crops, family, and life in general in Georgia. He discusses the state's congressional election between [Joel?] Crawford and [ ] Clark; and reveals that their youngest son was named Thornton Gilmer after the recipient. On April 22, 1836, F. G. Gilmer writes from Prospect Hill, Kentucky, relating news of friends' and family members' health. On May 4, 1839, F. G. Gilmer details his wife Sarah Jane's poor health. There are also three letters, 1840, 1854, and 1857, from F. G. Gilmer in Illinois and Missouri. In addition, there is a 27-page typescript of an undated history of the Gilmer family by Thomas Lewis Gilmer; the lives of Frederick George Gilmer and his son, Thomas Lewis Gilmer, are detailed. Topics discussed are slavery, tobacco cultivation, the Civil War, education, and the practice of dentistry in Illinois and Missouri.