George C. Gilman Jr.

George C. Gilman Jr. was a Billerica soldier of the Civil War who was killed at the battle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 5, 1862. His name is cut on the Soldiers' Monument on the Common, the white granite shaft crowned with the figure of a soldier that the town dedicated on October 8, 1873; later lists of the names give it as George E. Gilman.

He was of the family of George C. Gilman, who came from Malden in 1856 and bought for $2,700 the old Shedd farm of 58 acres on the road now called Allen Road, with the William French House on it. The elder Gilman, a yeoman, was a deacon of the First Baptist Church and served the town on committees; with his wife Sophia H. Gilman he sold the farm in 1869.

The younger George was mustered on November 24, 1861 into Company D of the 30th Massachusetts Infantry, which sailed in January 1862 for the Gulf of Mexico. He was killed at Baton Rouge on August 5, 1862, after nine months in the army.

References

1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 284: the Soldiers' Monument and its twenty names
2. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 287: Record of Soldiers and Sailors from Billerica in the War of Rebellion
3. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 302: deacons of the First Baptist Church