George Rockingham Gilmer, of Scotch descent, was born in 1790 in the part of Wilkes County that is now Oglethorpe County. Soon after admittance to the bar in 1813, he was appointed 1st Lieutenant in the regular army and served with distinction in the Creek Indian War. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1818, to Congress in 1821, and Governor in 1828, was re-elected to Congress in 1833 and Governor in 1837, and in 1840 was a Presidential Elector for Harrison and President of the Electoral College. A Trustee of the University of Georgia for 30 years, he died here November 15, 1859 and is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery.