Henry Bell Gilkeson (June 6, 1850 – September 29, 1921) was an American lawyer, politician, school administrator, and banker in West Virginia.

Following the death of John Collins Covell in 1887, Gilkeson served as the principal of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind until 1888.

[16] Gilkeson left his lucrative law practice and accepted the position under the condition that he serve as interim principal while the Board of Regents sought a more suitable candidate to build upon Covell's initiatives and reforms.

[13][14] Gilkeson believed that only administrators and educators fluent in sign language should be appointed to serve in the School for the Deaf, and during his tenure as principal he found that personnel who relied on interpreters did not receive "satisfactory results".

[13][14][15] While the Board of Regents was pleased with Gilkeson's performance as principal and wished for him to stay on in the position, but he preferred to return to his professional law and political career in the end.

[16] Gilkeson resumed the practice of law and pursued a political career, but he continued his involvement with, and advocacy for, the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind, especially through his influence as a prominent lawyer and state legislator.

[4][9][13] His law office was located on Main Street in Romney, two blocks from the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

[13] Due to his preeminence in the legal field and high standing in the community, Gilkeson served as dean of the Hampshire County Bar Association.

[24] On August 13, 1890, the Twelfth Senatorial District Democratic Convention nominated Gilkeson to fill the vacant West Virginia State Senate seat of Samuel Lightfoot Flournoy.

[29] In 1892, Gilkeson was appointed to the Committees on the Judiciary, Public Buildings and Humane Institutions, Federal Relations, Forfeited, Delinquent, and Unappropriated Lands, and Clerks Office.

[30] In addition to serving in the state senate, Gilkeson also held the position of mayor of Romney, West Virginia, beginning in 1885.

[31] Gilkeson served on the board of directors as the first president of the Bank of Romney after it was granted its charter by the West Virginia Legislature on September 3, 1888, and was opened later on December 20, 1888.

[2] Gilkeson is interred with his wife Mary Katherine and son Henry Jr., at Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney, West Virginia.

[6] Gilkeson was active in the Presbyterian Church in Hampshire County and served as a trustee for the Presbytery of Winchester along with Samuel Lightfoot Flournoy.

[8][40] In 1881, Gilkeson and his fellow trustees were instrumental in securing from Amos L. and Allie G. Pugh a house and a large, partially wooded land lot in Capon Bridge for use by the Presbytery as a centrally located manse in Hampshire County.