Lyman Gilmore: Aviation Legend?
Lyman Gilmore gravesite. Photo by Barry Pruett.
Our childhood history books taught us that Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the first powered airplane and conducted the first powered flight on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. While such a fact seems to be common knowledge for most of us, many local residents of Grass Valley, California, respectfully beg to differ. Local legend has it that Lyman Gilmore made the first powered flight from his Gilmore Airdrome in Grass Valley, California, on May 15, 1902 – some 18 months before the famous bicycle shop owners from Dayton, Ohio (see Edw. G. Uren, M.E, “Map of Gilmore Flying Field, 1908,” Nevada City, CA: Searls Historical Library).
Map of the Gilmore Flying Field in Grass Valley, California. Scan from the original, which is located in the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City, California.
Allegedly, there is a notation in Gilmore’s flight logs dated May 15, 1902, corroborating this legend. On June 11, 1935, ten individuals certified that Gilmore flew a powered airplane three miles and achieved a controlled landing in 1902 (C.H. Gilmore, et al, Certification of Lyman Gilmore’s Inventions, June 11, 1935, Nevada City, CA: Searls Historical Library). Locals assert that the Wright Brothers only received credit for the first powered flight because their aviation event was filmed. The argument continues that Gilmore, living in rural California, did not have the wherewithal to look for publicity and that Gilmore did not have any film of his maiden flight. Such local explanations leave out a key detail though: Gilmore did not make his claim until 1935. In any event, the question becomes who is right. Were the Wright Brothers the first to fly an airplane or local legend Lyman Gilmore? While the local oral history tends to favor the latter and after much research at the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City, California, which contains nearly all of the remaining documents of the late Lyman Gilmore, it becomes quite clear that the Wright Brothers, and not Gilmore, conducted the first powered flight. While Gilmore’s remaining documents contain many letters detailing his flights and many designs for aircrafts, there is little concrete evidence that any of Gilmore’s planes ever flew.
Who is Lyman Gilmore?
Lyman Gilmore was born in Olympia, Washington, on June 11, 1876, and came to California in 1894. Gilmore ended up in Grass Valley, California, which is a rural area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains about an hour northeast of Sacramento, California, and about an hour and a half west of Reno, Nevada. Often writing to his mother Sarah in Washington, Gilmore was certainly quite the unique and odd local character (visit the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City to view “Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Sarah A. Gilmore, September 6, 1929”). One local 95-year-old resident, Brita Rozinski, who was actually acquainted with Gilmore, stated that it was common knowledge that Mr. Gilmore was not really that acquainted with a bar of soap. Gilmore could often be seen wandering around Nevada City, California, in his dirty topcoat and his worn out felt hat. Our elderly resident stated that Gilmore would inevitably wind up in the office of his attorney, Mr. Finnegan, who would open all the windows of his office when Gilmore left.
Did Gilmore Fly?
It is here where awkward character Gilmore expresses his love and dream of flight. Gilmore even wrote sonnets channeling Alfred Tennyson in their mutual vision of flight in the future (visit the Searls Historical Library to read “Poem by Lyman Gilmore, 1898”). Gilmore’s documents at the local historical library contain schematics and designs for many of his airplanes (you can also visit the Searls Historical Library to see “Design of Gilmore’s Airplane, April 27, 1898”. In Gilmore’s own writing, “Public Views on Gilmore’s Airplane Works, May 15, 1902,” Gilmore describes the flights of an airplane that he created. His airplane is described as a 32-foot span glider powered by a 20-horsepower steam engine. He states that the airplane took off from a vertical shoot and flew from 100 yards to a mile “under perfect control” on multiple occasions beginning on May 15, 1902 (see “Public Views on Gilmore’s Airplane Works, May 15, 1902,” Searls Historical Library). Within Gilmore’s effects, his writing titled “Gilmore’s Airdrome Grass Valley, Calif., 1907,” Gilmore describes his airplanes which he claims flew, but from the descriptions of the flights, it does not appear that any of the planes flew on their own power. For instance, Gilmore describes a flight on May 15, 1907, during which the airplane reached a speed of 98 miles per hour on the vertical shoot, but Gilmore estimates that the airplane was going about 35 miles an hour when it took off and landed at about 30 miles per hour. Such a description does not seem like a “powered flight” but more of a long glide. While there are a plethora of descriptions of Gilmore’s flights, and even a certification signed by 10 individuals in 1935 that Gilmore flew a powered airplane three miles and achieved a controlled landing in 1902 (C.H., Gilmore, et al, Certification of Lyman Gilmore’s Inventions, June 11, 1935, Nevada City, CA: Searls Historical Library), there is not a single picture or film of any of his flights that can be found. In fact, the aforementioned 95-year-old local resident, Brita Rozinski who has lived in Grass Valley for nearly a century, stated that she had never seen any of Gilmore’s planes fly and did not know a single person who had.
Despite the lack of concrete evidence of Gilmore’s flight, Gilmore petitioned the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, requesting funds from the Guggenheim Fund for the improvement of Gilmore’s Grass Valley Airfield and for additional equipment (“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, September 6, 1929,”). While it is not clear from the documents that his requests were fulfilled, Gilmore did receive a certificate from the fund, signed by Harry F. Guggenheim and Charles A. Lindburgh, recognizing Gilmore for his advancement of powered flight and air transportation.
Certificate from Daniel Guggenheim Fund. Scan from original, which is located in the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City, California.
Also in 1915, Gilmore corresponded with Victor Maxim of Maxim Exhibition Flyers in Reno, Nevada. On July 27, 1915, Maxim wrote to Gilmore asking Gilmore to produce a motor for Maxim’s airplane which needed more power in exchange for 25 percent of the income generated from the airplane. On September 29, 1915, Maxim wrote to Gilmore again in order to inform Gilmore of power issues that Maxim was having with motors and a need for a new propeller design. In an undated letter from Maxim, Maxin is writing to Gilmore asking Gilmore to transport Gilmore’s plane to Reno, Nevada, in exchange for an even split of the income generated from the plane. Maxim asserts that, without an airplane that actually flies, investments in their project are limited.
The Quest for Recognition
In any event and some three decades after the Wright Brothers’ flight, Gilmore seems to have started a quest to receive recognition for being the first to fly an airplane. On May 15, 1933, in his letter to the Library of Congress, John Hix explained the aviation pursuits of Gilmore (apparently with pictures enclosed therewith); however, there are no pictures of any of Gilmore’s airplanes flying. Hix asserts the absence of pictures is attributable to films being given to The Universal Film Exchange and the other being destroyed in Gilmore’s barn fire a few years previous. As stated previously and on June 11, 1935, ten individuals certified that Gilmore flew a powered airplane three miles and achieved a controlled landing in 1902.
Myrtle Lord
Concurrently therewith and having already sent some pictures of his airplanes to her in 1925, Gilmore corresponded continually with Myrtle S. Lord of the Sacramento Union advising Ms. Lord that he will be sending some airplane designs to her in the following days and warning Ms. Lord that, if some of his designs are published, he would be forced to obtain a patent within two years in order to secure his rights to the designs. Even one M.E. Booth sent a letter to Ms. Lord on June 9, 1935, further informing Ms. Lord about failed attempts of Gilmore to construct an airplane in 1910. On June 14, 1935, Gilmore again wrote to Ms. Lord correcting some of the dates from the Booth letter to Lord dated June 9, 1935 and informing Ms. Lord that she should have enough information for her contemplated article on Gilmore.
Again on November 18, 1935, Gilmore followed up with Ms. Lord advising Ms. Lord on designs of new planes that “will” fly in the future. On July 4, 1940, Gilmore again wrote to Ms. Lord, informing her of Gilmore’s desire to build a plane which can fly anywhere between one mile per hour and 600 miles per hour which anyone that could drive a car could pilot. Based on the contents of the letters to Ms. Lord, it does appear that there were likely a few articles written about Gilmore in the Sacramento Union.
Popular Aviation
In November of 1934, Popular Aviation published an article discussing the aviation accomplishments of Gilmore and his brother, Charlie, in Grass Valley, California, at the turn of the 20th century (“The Gilmore Brothers Were Real Pioneers,” Popular Aviation 15 (November 1934): 312). The article explains how the Gilmore’s operated a local farm and put their profits into their aviation inventions. In April of 1936, Popular Aviation followed up with another article discussing the inventions of Gilmore and how his barn burned to the ground in the early 1930’s thus destroying any evidence of Gilmore’s accomplishments. The author of the article asserts that Gilmore built and flew these destroyed aircraft and should have been famous for his accomplishments, but that fame escaped Gilmore (Elam, F. Leland, “Lyman Gilmore, Jr. – Pioneer,” Popular Aviation 18 (April 1936): 247–248). But like previous assertions, there is no concrete proof that Gilmore’s planes ever flew.
The Legend Continues
Without receiving credit for the first powered flight, Gilmore died in 1951. Gilmore is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery located in Nevada City, California. Partially evidencing Gilmore’s destitution at the time of his death, the small headstone simply states, “Inventor, Lyman Gilmore, 1876-1951.” That said, Gilmore’s obituary was published in both the New York Times and the Washington Post. Such obituaries of Gilmore state that Gilmore experimented with heavier than air flight prior to the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903 and founded what seems to be the first commercial airport in the United States in 1907. Neither of the obituaries assert that Gilmore’s planes actually flew.
A few years later, The Morning Union in Grass Valley published a series of articles about Gilmore. On September 11, 1954, the author in an article titled, “Lyman Gilmore Was Far Ahead of World in Designing of Flying Machine,” details Gilmore’s sparse education and his fascination with flight. According to the author, Gilmore invented a glider at the end of the 19th century and even studied the flight of birds in an effort to design airplanes. This article is the first article in a series of articles written by the author and published on each Saturday for three weeks in September of 1954. In following articles, the author details Gilmore’s plane designs from the end of the 19th century and into the very early 20th century. In the third and final article in the series, the author details some of Gilmore’s other inventions and also discusses Gilmore’s opposition to World War I. In fact, Gilmore was also an ardent opponent to World War II as well and even wrote a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill on December 28, 1941. Again, there are no pictures of any of Gilmore’s planes actually flying.
While Gilmore is still a local legend, even having the local middle school bear his name and the athletic teams thereof being dubbed “the Aviators,” there is scant evidence that Gilmore’s plane flew let alone flew prior to the Wright Brothers in 1903.
Sources:
At Searls Historical Library in Nevada City, California:
Edw. G. Uren, M.E, “Map of Gilmore Flying Field, 1908”
C.H. Gilmore, et al, Certification of Lyman Gilmore’s Inventions, June 11, 1935
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Sarah A. Gilmore, September 6, 1929”
“Poem by Lyman Gilmore, 1898”
“Design of Gilmore’s Airplane, April 27, 1898”
“Public Views on Gilmore’s Airplane Works, May 15, 1902”
“Gilmore’s Airdrome Grass Valley, Calif., 1907”
C.H., Gilmore, et al, Certification of Lyman Gilmore’s Inventions, June 11, 1935
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, September 6, 1929”
Harry F. Guggenheim and Charles A. Lindburgh, “Certificate from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics to Lyman Gilmore,” undated.
Victor Maxim, “Letter to Lyman Gilmore, July 27, 1915”
Victor Maxim, “Letter to Lyman Gilmore, September 29, 1915”
Victor Maxim, “Letter to Lyman Gilmore, undated”
John Hix, “Strange as It Seems, May 15, 1933”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Myrtle S. Lord, November 20, 1925”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Myrtle S. Lord, June 9, (no year)”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Myrtle S. Lord, June 11, 1935”
“Letter of M.E. Booth to Myrtle S. Lord, June 9, 1935”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Myrtle S. Lord, June 14, 1935”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Myrtle S. Lord, November 18, 1935”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Myrtle S. Lord, July 4, 1940”
“Letter of Lyman Gilmore to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, December 28, 1941”
Newspaper articles:
“Lyman Gilmore,” New York Times, February 19, 1951, https://www.proquest.com/docview/111850907/25646DE6AD264AB2PQ/1?accountid=12085; “Lyman Gilmore, Inventor and Plane Designer Dies,” Washington Post, February 19, 1951.
“Lyman Gilmore Was Far Ahead of World in Designing of Flying Machine,” The Morning Union (Grass Valley, California), September 11, 1954.
J. Axel Gravander, “Gilmore Drew Advanced Plane Design in 1898,” The Morning Union (Grass Valley, California), September 18, 1954.
J. Axel Gravander, “Gilmore Didn’t Limit Self to Plane Inventing,” The Morning Union (Grass Valley, California), September 25, 1954.
