Nicholas Gilman

On August 3, 1755, in Exeter, Province of New Hampshire, Nicholas Gilman was born into a merchant family already active in colonial affairs. He entered business young and then served in the Continental Army's quartermaster and commissary world as the war demanded organized supply. Wartime administration taught him the practical weakness of the Confederation.

Gilman represented New Hampshire at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and then served in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate during the republic's formative decades. In Congress he supported Alexander Hamilton's funding and banking measures, helping tie New England commercial interests to the new federal state. His service stretched from ratification through the War of 1812 era.

Gilman's career demonstrated how supply officers and merchants from the Revolution became legislators in the constitutional order. His support for national finance also helped entrench the federal credit system that distinguished the 1790s from the failed Confederation.