Author: Gilmer, William
Biography:
GILMOR or GILMER, William (1775-1829: ancestry.com)
The original American Pains of Memory, inspired by Robert Merry's (q.v.) poem of the same name, was published anonymously in 1807 and reprinted in 1808 with a slightly revised title. MS notes by family members in two surviving copies provide an authoritative attribution. The author was William Gilmor (sometimes spelled Gilmer or Gilmore), son of Robert and Louisa (Airey) Gilmor, born in Caroline County MD on 10 Dec. 1775. His father was a wealthy Baltimore merchant and in due course William joined the family firm. On 15 Apr. 1799 he married Mary Ann Smith in Northampton VA; they went on to have a large family, with at least nine children who lived to maturity. He died in Baltimore on 6 Sept. 1829 after a short illness. There is a portrait of him, dated 1803, in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. (ancestry.com 15 Oct. 2025; American and Commercial Daily Advertiser 7 Apr. 1829; "William Gilmore" si.edu 15 Oct. 2025; Rutledge, Anna Wells, "Robert Gilmor, Jr., Baltimore Collector," Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 12 [1949], 35 n. 4; information from AA) HJ
Other Names:
- William Gilmor