Thomas Walker Gilmer

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Thomas Walker Gilmer

Thomas Walker Gilmer (born April 6, 1802 in Gilmerton , Albemarle County , Virginia , † February 28, 1844 on the Potomac River ) was an American politician . He was governor of the state of Virginia and served as Secretary of the Navy for ten days .

Life

After attending public school, Gilmer studied law , was inducted into the bar, and practiced as a lawyer in Charlottesville . He was married to Anne Baker, the daughter of John Baker , a former Virginia congressman .

politics

From 1829 to 1836 Gilmer was a member of the Virginia House of Representatives ; between 1839 and 1840 he was again a member of this Chamber of Parliament and exercised the office of speaker .

In 1840, Thomas Gilmer was elected the Whigs' candidate for governor of Virginia . He showed great commitment and inspected the condition of roads, schools, canals and railways at his own expense. However, after only one year in office, he resigned on March 20, 1841. He wanted to express his protest against the state legislature, which refused to support him in a political dispute with New York Governor William H. Seward . This should deliver escaped slaves in exchange for a criminal detained in Virginia from New York.

Gilmer switched to federal politics and was a member of the US House of Representatives from 1841 to 1844 . During his second term in office, he started as a Democrat after changing parties. The result was so close that it was challenged by the defeated Whig candidate William L. Goggin , but it held. Gilmer resigned on February 16, 1844; the day before, US President John Tyler had appointed him to his cabinet as Secretary of the Navy . He had previously been one of Tyler's closest allies in Washington and supported the president in his endeavors to highlight the intended annexation of Texas as a great merit of his term in office and thus lay the foundation for his re-election.

On February 19, 1844, Thomas Gilmer took up his post as Minister of the Navy. But only nine days later, on February 28, he was killed when the Tyler Cabinet took the warship USS Princeton for a trip on the Potomac River and a gun exploded. Gilmer died of his serious injuries, as did Foreign Secretary Abel P. Upshur .

Appreciation

With Thomas W. Gilmer, who was buried in his native Virginia, President Tyler lost one of his most important associates. According to some historians, his death delayed efforts to annex Texas.

Two ships of the US Navy were named after Gilmer, in addition Gilmer County in West Virginia and the city of Gilmer in Texas. It is the county seat of Upshur County named after Abel P. Upshur, who died in the same accident .

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personal data
SURNAME Gilmer, Thomas Walker
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH Gilmerton , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 1844
Place of death on the Potomac River