Thomas Gilpin (the son of Samuel) was born in the year 1728, on the property where his grandfather had settled. Soon after arriving at age he became the owner of property on the Brandywine, near to Wilmington, where he erected and established extensive mills. In 1752 he visited England for the purpose of obtaining information in regard to its trade with the colonies, which might be useful to him in his future business relations.

In 1764 he married a daughter of Joshua Fisher, then a wealthy and leading Quaker merchant in Philadelphia, which led to his settlement in that city, and his engaging in business.

He possessed a decided taste for scientific pursuits, and devoted much of his leisure to its cultivation. He was one of the original members of the American Philosophical Society, and was very active in investigations which might be useful to his fellow-men. The information which he acquired he freely imparted by correspondence, in papers contributed to the Philosophical Society, and articles published in the journals of the day.

While thus devoting the quiet tenor of his life to his business pursuits, and to acquiring and imparting useful information, and (in accordance with his Quaker principles) taking no part in the struggle which was going on between the colonies and the mother-country, he was, on Sept. 2, 1777, arrested at his place of business in Philadelphia, and placed in confinement, and subsequently, as already observed, exiled to Virginia, where he died March 2, 1778, just six months after his arrest. His constitution was not robust, and the hardships he suffered probably hastened his death.

He was a man of very superior mind, and possessed a character which should have shielded him from the unjust treatment which he received in his last days. His high sense of justice is shown in the fact that the evening before his death, a rough draft of his will being brought to him, in which it was said that "he, was a number of others, had been unjustly banished," he desired the expression to be erased, as it would seem to cast a reflection on the persons who had caused it. He had three brothers, all of whom favored the Revolutionary cause, and two of whom were officers in the American army.

He left two sons, Joshua and Thomas Gilpin, both of whom rose to wealth and distinction. The sons of Joshua were Henry D. Gilpin, Esq., of Philadelphia, a prominent member of the bar; Thomas W. Gilpin, who was many years consul at Belfast; Richard A. Gilpin, formerly of Westtown township, Chester Co.; and Governor William Gilpin, of Colorado, who served in the army of the United States during the Florida and Mexican wars.

The farm in Birmingham where the emigrant ancestor settled remained in the Gilpin family until within a few years. That part of it on which the cave-dwelling was situated is now [1881] owned by Alban Harvey, and that part whereon he erected the frame dwelling by Elias Baker.

In the year 1754 a brick building was erected adjoining this frame one, which was occupied by Gen. Howe as his headquarters while the British army remained in the neighborhood, after the battle of Brandywine, in September, 1777. It then belonged to George Gilpin.

This brick building is still standing, and forms part of the present residence of Elias Baker. The old frame erected by the emigrant was removed about the year 1835, and the present stone addition built on its site. In tearing down the frame building, it was discovered that the outer walls had been filled, in its erection, with adobes, or sun-dried bricks.