DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Alexander Gilmer, out of Orange County, Texas. Now, some men leave a mark on a place. Sandy Gilmer left several — and fire took a few of them back, but we'll get to that.
Alexander Gilmer was born in Ireland on September 7, 1829. He crossed to the United States in 1846, seventeen years old and ready to work. He settled first in Georgia, where he went to work for his brother John, who held a contract to supply ship masts to the French government.
That's not a bad gig for a fresh arrival. And the brothers didn't stop there — together they constructed a steamboat for use on the Chattahoochee River. The man was building things before most folks his age had figured out what they wanted to build.
Then, in the late 1840s, Sandy Gilmer came to Texas. He landed in Orange and entered the shipbuilding business in association with his cousin George C. Gilmer.
The two of them later opened a local mercantile as well. One family, multiple ventures — the Gilmers were not the kind of men who sat still. When the Civil War came, Sandy Gilmer served as a Confederate blockade runner.
Through his efforts, local cotton and lumber were exchanged for much needed supplies. That word — exchanged — does a lot of work. Running through a blockade to keep a community provisioned takes a particular kind of nerve.
And in 1863 he was present for the Battle of Sabine Pass, one of the more storied engagements on Texas soil. After the war, Gilmer started a sawmill in Orange. And here is where the story gets interesting in the way only Texas business stories can.
Fire found him. And then fire found him again. And again.
And once more after that. By 1899, four of his mills had been destroyed by fire. Four.
Most men would have read that as a message from the universe and gone into a quieter line of work. Sandy Gilmer was not most men. Despite all of it, he became a leading lumberman of the area.
His later holdings included mills at Lemonville and a mill in the Jasper County town of Remlig — which, if you say it slow and then say it backwards, is Gilmer. A man who names a town after himself in reverse is a man who has a sense of humor about his own legacy. His timberland spread throughout the coastal prairie of Texas.
He married twice. By his second wife, Cleora C. Thomas of Orange, he was the father of nine children.
Alexander Gilmer died on July 30, 1906, while on a business trip to New York City. Right to the end, he was working. Born in Ireland, built boats on the Chattahoochee, ran a blockade on the Gulf, watched four mills burn and built more, and put his name — backwards — on a Texas town.
That's a life that earns its marker.
What the marker says
A native of Ireland, Alexander "Sandy" Gilmer (Sept. 7, 1829 - July 30, 1906) came to the United States in 1846 at the age of seventeen. Settling first in Georgia, he worked for his brother John, who had a contract to supply ship masts to the French government. Later the brothers constructed a steamboat for use on the Chattahoochee River. In the late 1840s Gilmer came to Texas and entered the shipbuilding business in Orange in association with his cousin George C. Gilmer. Together they later opened a local mercantile. During the Civil War, Gilmer served as a Confederate blockade runner. Through his efforts, local cotton and lumber were exchanged for much needed supplies. In 1863 he participated in the Battle of Sabine Pass. After the war, Gilmer started a sawmill in Orange. Despite a series of fires which destroyed four of his mills by 1899, Gilmer became a leading lumberman of the area. His later holdings included mills at Lemonville and the Jasper County town of Remlig (Gilmer spelled backwards) and timberland throughout the coastal prairie of Texas. Gilmer died in 1906 while on a business trip to New York City. Twice married, he was the father of nine children by his second wife Cleora C. Thomas of Orange.