Pioneer Information
Gilson was born into slavery in the early nineteenth century. While the circumstances of his birth remain uncertain and his tombstone indicates that he was born in 1824, evidence suggests that he was born around 1808 and purchased by Janet Livingston Montgomery in 1910. Montgomery relied on enslaved peoples to perform a wide range of duties at her Hudson River estate in Red Hook, New York, named Montgomery Place after her death. Slavery was abolished in New York State in 1827 and in approximately 1835 Gilson was appointed head gardener of the Montgomery Place estate, where he oversaw the nurseries for 50 years. As head gardener Gilson was highly regarded by the Livingston family as well as by contemporary horticulturists. He developed two plant varieties that were named in his honor: a pink, double flowering begonia (Begonia ‘Gilsonii’) and a red-leaved iresine (Iresine herbstii ‘Gilsoni’).
In 1874 Gilson purchased land in Red Hook, where he established a commercial nursery, and concurrently purchased property in nearby Rhinebeck, New York. He retired as head gardener at Montgomery Place in 1885 and bought a residence in Red Hook, where he lived with his mother, Sarah Gilson, and sister, Cornelia Gilson. Alexander Gilson died in 1889 and is buried in the Red Hook Methodist Burial Ground.
