Sylvester Gilbert was a United States Representative from Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. He was born in Hebron, Connecticut

Hebron, Connecticut

Hebron is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,610 at the 2000 census. Hebron was incorporated May 26, 1708....

. He pursued classical studies and was graduated from Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

 in 1775. Later, he studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, was admitted to the bar in November 1777, and commenced practice in Hebron.

Gilbert was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives

Connecticut House of Representatives

The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...

 1780–1812. He was also the Connecticut attorney for Tolland County, Connecticut

Tolland County, Connecticut

Tolland County is a county located in the northeastern part of Connecticut. As of 2010, the population was 152,691.Counties in Connecticut have no governmental function: all legal power is vested in the state, city, and town governments...

 1786–1807. He was the chief judge of the county court and judge of the probate court 1807–1818 and a principal of a law school 1810–1818. He was a member of the Connecticut Senate

Connecticut Senate

The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 94,600 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits...

 in 1815 and 1816 and was elected as a Democratic-Republican

Democratic-Republican Party (United States)

The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party was an American political party founded in the early 1790s by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Political scientists use the former name, while historians prefer the latter one; contemporaries generally called the party the "Republicans", along...

 to the Fifteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Uriel Holmes

Uriel Holmes

Uriel Holmes was a United States Representative from Connecticut. He was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, and then moved with his parents to Hartland, Connecticut. He attended the common schools and graduated from Yale College in 1784...

and served from November 16, 1818, to March 3, 1819.

After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Hebron. Gilbert was again judge of the county court 1820–1825 and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1826. He died in Hebron, Connecticut in 1846 and was buried in Old Cemetery.