Richard Gilmour

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Richard Gilmour (September 28, 1824 – April 13, 1891) served as the Catholic Bishop of Cleveland, Ohio, from 1872 until his death in 1891. Born in Dumbarton, Scotland, to Reformed Presbyterian parents, his family moved to North America when he was a child. He converted to Catholicism in 1844 and pursued priestly studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he also taught and earned a Master’s degree.

Ordained a priest in 1852, Gilmour worked in Ohio, founding and leading parishes and helping establish schools. He served in Portsmouth, Ironton, Gallipolis, Vinton, Wilkesville, and Cincinnati, and later taught at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West before becoming pastor in Dayton.

On February 15, 1872, Pope Pius IX appointed him the second bishop of Cleveland, and he was consecrated on April 14, 1872. As bishop, he founded The Catholic Universe newspaper in 1874 and took strong stands on school and church issues. In 1877, when county officials proposed taxing Catholic churches and schools, he fought the plan in court and won the case about six years later.

Gilmour also established important charitable and health institutions, including St. Ann’s Asylum and Maternity Home (1873), St. Michael Hospital (1884), and St. John Hospital. In 1882 he condemned the Ladies Land League chapter in Cleveland, a group supporting tenants in Ireland.

Due to declining health, he traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, in March 1891 to recuperate and died there on April 13, 1891, at age 66. He was buried in Resurrection Chapel, and Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio is named in his honor. His motto was Fides Et Caritas — Faith and Love.