# Gilson — In the Midst of Life character guide

> Gilson in In the Midst of Life by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Gilson, the dead Gilson, the late Mr. Gilson, Milton Gilson

**First appearance:** 0042-the-famous-gilson-bequest

## Snapshot

A dead man whose grandiose will sets off years of litigation, mendacity, and moral rot in a mining town that cannot let his estate rest.

## Who they are

Milton Gilson leaves behind a will that turns a whole region into a battlefield of lawyers, false witnesses, and inflamed opinion, reaching into press, pulpit, and street corner. His monument on Mammon Hill stands as a pompous rebuke to the 'viper brood' of heirs until a flooded creek topples it and exposes the decayed coffin beneath. Even in death he drives the story's central spectacle of greed and small-town corruption, and his exhumed grave becomes the image of what his fortune has done to everyone still living.

## Relationships

### [Mr. Brentshaw](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters/mr_brentshaw)

_social_

Gilson and Brentshaw are acquaintances, their interactions likely casual and within a shared social circle.

## In the story

### [The Famous Gilson Bequest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/the-famous-gilson-bequest)

The deceased man at the center of the story, accused of horse theft and hanged; his posthumous will sparks a legal frenzy.

### [A Watcher by the Dead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/a-watcher-by-the-dead)

The deceased man whose corpse Jarette is left to guard.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters/gilson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters