He attended a variety of backwood schools, including Moses Waddell's famous Willington Academy.

Gilmer's career consisted of multiple, alternating, elected positions at the state and federal level.

As governor of Georgia, Gilmer aggressively pursued Indian removal, laying claim to Federal assistance promised by the Compact of 1802.

[1] He initiated the prosecution of Cherokee missionary Samuel Austin Worcester for violation of a law requiring all white persons residing within the Cherokee nation to obtain a license from the governor and to swear to uphold the laws of Georgia.

Gilmer was a presidential elector in 1836 for Hugh Lawson White and in 1840 for William Henry Harrison.