Author: Gilman, Samuel Foster
Biography:
GILMAN, Samuel Foster (1791-1858: ANBO)
He was born in Gloucester MA to Frederick and Abigail (Hillier) Gilman. Following his graduation from Harvard in 1811, he worked in a bank, taught school, and began his regular contributions to periodicals. In 1817 he returned to Harvard as a tutor in mathematics while he studied divinity and prepared for the Unitarian church ministry. (His most familiar work is the commencement song "Fair Harvard," composed in 1836.) In 1819 he married Caroline Howard, and in the same year accepted the position of pastor to the Second Independent Church in Charleston SC, the only Unitarian congregation in the state at that time. There he lived for the rest of his life. His wife also made her name as a writer--mostly after 1835--as did their daughter Caroline, one of five children. After his death (on a visit to Kingston MA), she stayed on in Charleston till about 1870 and then moved back to Cambridge MA and to other family homes; she died in 1888. (ANBO 6 Jan. 2019; Appleton)