Alexander Gilmer

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Alexander Gilmer (September 7, 1829 – July 30, 1906) was one of the United States’ most successful timberland owners in his era. Born in County Armagh, Ireland, to George and Jane Gilmer, he moved to Georgia at 17 with his brother to build ship masts for France. They also built a steamboat to work the Chattahoochee, but it sank, leaving him nearly penniless. In the late 1840s he moved to Orange, Texas, where he started in the shipbuilding business with his cousin George C. Gilmer, then went into mercantile trading until the Civil War. He also served in the war as a Confederate blockade runner at the Battle of Sabine Pass.

In 1866, Gilmer started his first sawmill and would eventually own mills and lumberyards in up to ten communities. One operation, Remlig (Gilmer spelled backward), became a large business in Jasper County. He faced several setbacks, including four devastating fires that destroyed his Orange mill, after which he rebuilt his main operation at Lemonville in northern Orange County.

Gilmer married twice. His first wife, Etta Reading, died within the first year of their marriage. His second wife, Cleora C. Thomas, bore nine children, two of whom died in infancy. In his final days he traveled to San Antonio for health reasons, then made a last business trip to New York City, where he died on July 30, 1906. At his death he was the second-wealthiest man in Orange, Texas. The Texas Historical Commission has a marker honoring his contributions. Some of his papers were saved from a storefront in Orange and are now at the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, including personal letters, business logs, and political letters.