From the December 20, 2020, Adirondack Almanack "Uncovering the mysteries behind a bridge's remains" by Mike Prescott.
Robert Codgell Gilchrest was of a wealthy, well-connected Charleston, S.C., family and born kin 1829. His father had received a federal judgeship from President Martin Van Buren and owned an opulent home. Each summer his family journeyed north to avoid the hot and dangerous Charleston summers.
They would stay with his mother's relatives in the Great Northern Wilderness of New York.
Hus father, Robert Budd Gilchrest had married his first cousin, Mary Gilchrest in 1827. At the time it was not uncommon for first cousins to marry to consolidate family wealth. She was related to the Thurman family of the southern Adirondacks, and it is through marriage and family connections that Gilchrest inherited thousands of acres in the Adirondacks upon his mother's death in 1869.
As a young man of great wealth the young Robert led a privileged life. He graduated from the College of Charleston, studied law and took up a lucrative law practice. He joined the city's militia group, the Washington Light Infantry.
During this time, the nation became more divided.
--Old Secesh
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