Imlay, Gilbert

Imlay, Gilbert( c.1754–1828),
Revolutionary War captain, adventurer, and author of A Topographical Description of the Western Territory of North America (1792) and The Emigrants (3 vols., 1793), a sentimental romance of the frontier near Pittsburgh, which, in addition to its adventurous quality, champions such social reforms as divorce and the rights of women. During his later life in Europe he lived for a time with Mary Wollstonecraft.