Thomas Gilman

Thomas Gilman (1830–1911), nicknamed Uncle Tom Gilman, was an American freedman, miner, farmer, and businessperson. He was an enslaved African American who self–purchased his freedom from mining during the mid-19th century, and notably contributed to African American history in California.

Biography Thomas Gilman was Black and born enslaved in 1830, in Tennessee, U.S. however, Joseph Gilman continuously tried to delay his manumission, until the self–purchase was finally recorded by the state court in August 1852.

Gilman spent the remainder of his life in Tuolumne County in his small cabin located on the Sonora–Shaws Flat Road, where he engaged in mining and farming. and he is buried at the Shaw's Flat Cemetery.

Legacy The California State Library holds the Thomas Gilman Papers, 1853–1907. "Uncle Toms Drive" in Sonora, California was named in his honor.