page_title: American Independence Museum
section_title: Ladd-Gilman House
hierarchical_section_title: American Independence Museum / History / Ladd-Gilman House
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the Ladd-Gilman House, Exeter, New Hampshire, from the book Historic Homes of New England, Mary Harrod Northend, Little, Brown &amp; Company, Boston, 1914. Retouched by MarmadukePercy
context_page_description: The American Independence Museum is a historic house museum located in Exeter, New Hampshire. Its 1-acre campus includes two buildings: the Ladd-Gilman House, a registered National Historic Landmark built in 1721 by Nathaniel Ladd, and the Folsom Tavern, built in 1775 by Colonel Samuel Folsom. The museum was opened in 1991 after a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence known as a Dunlap Broadside was found in the Ladd-Gilman house, 200 years after its arrival in Exeter. It is the centerpiece of the museum’s collection. The museum’s mission is “Connecting America’s Revolutionary past with the present.”
context_section_description: The Ladd-Gilman House was the home of an 18th-century merchant family whose members played key roles in the birth of the United States. Nicholas Gilman, Sr. served as the New Hampshire state treasurer during the American Revolution when the capital of New Hampshire moved from Portsmouth to Exeter. Eldest son John Taylor Gilman read the Declaration of Independence to the citizens of Exeter in 1776 and later became New Hampshire governor for 14 non-consecutive terms between 1794 and 1805, and then again in 1813 to 1816. Nicholas Gilman, Jr. was a member of the Continental Army and a signer of the U.S. Constitution. In the early 20th century, the Society of the Cincinnati of New Hampshire purchased the building from the Gilman family and used the building as its meeting house, before converting the building into the museum. There are 7 rooms in the house open to the public for tours, with later additions now housing museum administration and a research library.
caption: The Ladd-Gilman House, circa 1914
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