Thomas Lewis Gilmer
Born in Lincoln County, Missouri in 1849, Thomas L. Gilmer received his D.D.S. degree in 1882 from the Missouri Dental College and his M.D. degree from the Quincy College of Medicine in 1885. Gilmer’s study of dentistry and medicine was not surprising; he was a member of the fifth generation of his family to practice medicine in America. Gilmer’s great-great-grandfather George Gilmer had begun his practice in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1731.
Gilmer practiced medicine and dentistry in Quincy, Illinois from 1876 to 1889. After receiving his medical degree, Gilmer served as Oral Surgeon at St. Mary’s Hospital in Quincy and taught microscopy and histology at the Quincy College of Medicine. Gilmer moved to Chicago in 1889, serving as adjunct professor of Oral Surgery at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery (1889-90). In 1891 Gilmer was instrumental in the establishment of the Northwestern University Dental School, serving as its third dean and professor of Oral Surgery. Gilmer was a founder of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, serving on its board of governors and as its president. Northwestern University awarded Gilmer an honorary Sc.D. degree in 1911.