Lyman Gilmore

     Lyman Gilmore Jr. was born in Calaveras County on June 11th, 1874. He was a tinkerer by the time he could hold a screwdriver in his fist, but his creative ability didn't really appear until he was fourteen when he designed and built a six-foot steamship that was complete in every detail. By the age of seventeen he built a small glider which took off when he ran downhill with it into the wind. This was the beginning and the year was 1891.

  All his life Gilmore maintained that he could visualize in complete detail every one of his inventions and that a voice told him what to build and how to build it. That voice gave him the plans for a single low-wing construction, a monoplane. At the same time he conceived of an all-metal fuselage, an enclosed cabin, and a retractable landing gear. He put these ideas on a master drawing which was signed, witnessed, and dated April 27, 1893.

  During the following years he had many other inventions but his strange ideas and uncooperative behavior mad him a ridiculed and isolated man. Such and attitude prevented him from actually accomplishing as much as he could have. Under different circumstances, we could have had the use of the airplane a full generation earlier. In addition, Gilmore actually had no business sense, but posed a suspicious nature and an almost childish proprietary attachment to his inventions. That, sadly, is why he did not realize any financial gain from his efforts and why the world did not gain the use of many of his creations.

  He was a likable character, and all recognized him by his shoulder length hair and flowing beard, which he never allowed anyone to cut after her was thirty five years old. It was frequently told that he had vowed not to cut or trim his beard or hair until he had completely mastered the air. He always chuckled because the true story was that he contracted the flu in Alaska and a doctor told him that log hair and a beard would prevent a recurrence. Usually he wore an old shabby felt hat, baggy trousers, scuffed shoes and a tattered coat that reached to his ankles.

  On February 4th, 1951 Layman had a heart attack, While in the hospital attendants cut off his long beard and hair. He was also very much upset when he discovered that they had burned the old long coat he always wore. Understandably so. There was $15,000 sewed in the lining. He died on February 18th, 1951, and is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery.

  Lyman Gilmore owned several mines around Iowa Hill, including the Gilmore Mine. He divided his time between Iowa Hill where he mined for gold to support his aviation experiments and Grass Valley where he built Gilmore Flying Field in 1907. In 1922 he along with Joseph Walton purchased the General Grant Mine. The papers show that one portion of the mine was purchased from Mary Sprague for $15,000 and the other portion from Ben Rossi for $22,000.