Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa W. S. Dunbar & Co., Chigago - 1889 [page 451-453] GILMAN BROTHERS — The most extensive firm of stock shippers and dealers of Cherokee County is composed of CHARLES W. and JOHN H. GILMAN, of whom a brief biographical sketch has been attempted. They are the only sons that grew to maturity out of a family of seven children; four died in childhood, and one sister, LUCY ELLEN, wife of WILLIAM COFFIN, Esq. died at the age of twenty-five years, in Wisconsin, in 1870. Their parents were EBEN B. and CATHERINE (BARKER) GILMAN. The father was a native of Massachusetts, and died at the age of thirty-eight years. The mother was born in Maine, and thirty years after her husband's decease was again married to Mr. F. P. FERGUSON; they removed to Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, in 1868, and she is still living there, aged sixty-eight years. The home of the GILMANS was in Lynn, Massachusetts, where the father was engaged in the manufacture of shoes. In this old town of historical interest, amid the din of countless thousands of spindles and the hum of numerous manufactories, the brother first saw light. CHARLES was born April 30, 1841, and JOHN, December 10, 1844. Growing up in their native city they became accustomed to the rush and bustle of a busy city. At the age of sixteen years CHARLES entered one of the shoe factories, and for two years was employed as a cutter. Then when the news of the gold discovery fired the youth all over the land with excitement, and thousands started for "California's Golden Shore," he decided to seek his fortune there; so, at the age of eighteen years, when life's prospects are tinged with most glowing colors, he boarded an ocean steamer at New York, and in a few months stood upon the shore that proved the last resting place of many a young man full of ambition as he himself. He went to the "diggins" in Trinity County, and for two years passed through the average miner's experience. Then the news of a gold find in Washington Territory sent him, along with hundreds of others, to that field, and he spent one season on Granite Creek, and then passed over into the Boise Basin in 1862, in company with a party of eleven other miners. He remained there for three years, at the end of which time he visited his old New England home, having met with a fair degree of success in his search for gold. He passed the winter of 1864 at home. JOHN was anxious to accompany his brother on his return to the Rockies the next spring. Up to this time he had remained in the town in which he was born. At the age of sixteen years he had entered the office of The Bay State, and worked at the front for two years, when he entered a shoe factory and for several years worked at his machine, his specialty being heel work. The two brothers started out together, and reaching the mining region of Idaho they remained to- gether one summer, when CHARLES took a trip to the Coeur d'Alene country, where he fell in company with a Mr. DAVIDSON from Montana, who reported new finds in that region. A party of eight was at once formed, and away they went to Montana, reaching McClellan's Gulch when not more than fifty miners had begun prospecting there. He was soon joined by JOHN, and they remained in that section of country for two years; being among the first there they passed through all the exciting times that followed the finding of gold in Montana. In the spring of 1868, having made and saved quite a nice little fortune, they decided to become again identified with the States, and accordingly abandoned the mines and excitement of mining life. They returned to New England, but the same season migrated to Wisconsin and purchased a farm in partnership, on which they lived for three years. Becoming restless, and ping for "old times," they sold out and started for the Pacific slope. Coming through Iowa, they stopped to see friends near Aurelia, and becoming fascinated with the beauty and fertility of Cherokee County, decided to remain there, and purchased the land that they now own. They have a splendid tract of 560 acres lying in the Maple Valley, four miles southeast of Aurelia. It is well improved with pleasant homes and comfortable surroundings. The GILMAN brothers are known far and wide as extensive stock shippers; they are constantly buying and selling, and feed on their own farm from 250 to 350 head of cattle annually. The are men who stand high in business circles, and their integrity is never called in question. In politics they stand with the Republican party. CHARLES W. GILMAN was married in Chicago, January, 1869, to Miss ADDIE P. GILMAN, of Lynn. They have had four children: ELLEN F., IRENE, HATTIE and INEZ. Mr. C. W. GILMAN was county supervisor for one term, and his associates on the board speak of him as being the clearest headed man in matters of business of public interest. He is also president of the Maple Valley Mutual Insurance Company. JOHN H. GILMAN was united in marriage in Wisconsin, September 13, 1871, to Miss MARTHA H. HURLBURT, who was born in Ver- mont, Oct 1, 1849. Their family consists of ARTHUR H., born December 13, 1872; FANNIE E., born December 5, 1874; HARVEY E., born March 17, 1879; EVA IONE, born March 31, 1881, and HARRY L., born November 28, 1888. The GILMAN brothers command the respect of all those with whom they are thrown in contact, and are among the most energetic and push- ing business men of the county. Of strong social dispositions, both are members of the I.O.O.F. lodge of Aurelia, and with their amiable wives and interesting children form a little circle that is a credit to Cherokee County. ===========================================================================