Marston, Gilman, 1811-1890

Biography

Gilman Marston was born August 20, 1811 at Orford, New Hampshire. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1837, and received a law degree from Harvard Law in 1840. He was admitted to the Rockingham County (NH) Bar and established a practice at Exeter, NH, in 1841. Marston entered politics in 1845, being elected a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and serving four one year terms from 1845 to 1849. Later, in 1850, he was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention. Marston was elected as a Republican from New Hampshire's 1st District to the 36th and 37th Congresses (March 1859-March 1863) and was a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln and the war effort. His service in Congress was interrupted by military service.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he helped recruit the 2nd NH Volunteers and was named the regiment's colonel. He was present at the First Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861. After the Battle of Gettysburg, where Marston's regiment suffered sixty percent casualties, he was directed to establish a prison camp in Maryland, which later became known as Point Lookout. In 1865, Marston resigned from military service due to illness and went back to politics, taking his seat in Congress on March 4, 1865.

Marston was elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress (1865-1867) and failed to win re-election. He went back to his practice of law at Exeter, NH. In 1870, he declined an appointment of Governorship of Idaho Territory. Marston served again in New Hampshire State Legislature for at least the years 1872-1873, 1876-1878. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1876 to the Forty-fifth Congress and was a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1876. On March 4, 1889, Marston was appointed by NH Governor Charles H. Sawyer to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate and served until June 18, 1889. He died on July 3, 1890 in Exeter, NH.

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