Thomas Walker Gilmer (6 April 1802 – 28 February 1844) was Governor of Virginia from 31 March 1840 to 20 March 1841 (succeeding David Campbell and preceding John M. Patton), a member of the US House of Representatives (W-VA 12) from 4 March 1841 to 3 March 1843 (succeeding James Garland and preceding Augustus A. Chapman) and from VA-5 from 4 March 1843 to 16 February 1844 (succeeding Edward W. Hubard and preceding William L. Goggin), and US Secretary of the Navy from 19 to 28 February 1844 (succeeding David Henshaw and preceding John Y. Mason).
Biography[]
Thomas Walker Gilmer was born in Albemarle County, Virginia in 1802, and he practiced law in Charlottesville before serving in the House of Delegates from 1829 to 1836 and from 1839 to 1840. He went on to serve as Governor from 1840 to 1841, opposing the extradition of slave stealers. In 1840, he was elected to the US Congress as a Whig, but he became a "Tyler Democrat" in 1842 due to his support for John Tyler's presidency. He was an avid supporter of the annexation of the Republic of Texas, and he was appointed Secretary of the Navy in February 1844. However, on 28 February 1844, he was one of several notables killed in the USS Princeton disaster, when a bow gun exploded while firing a salute to Mount Vernon.