[3][1] After two years of mining, he was able to purchase his freedom,[2][4] however Joseph B. Gilman tried to continuously delay the purchase of freedom, until the self–purchase was recorded by the state court on August 1852.

[1][5][6] Gilman spent the remainder of his life in Tuolumne County in his small cabin located on the Sonora–Shaws Flat Road, mining, and farming.

When he reached an age in which he could no longer farm, his local friends supported him.

The California State Library holds the Thomas Gilman Papers, 1853–1907.

[8][2] "Uncle Toms Drive" in Sonora, California was named in his honor.