History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 152

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

was delivered on the 1st of April, 1795, but not until the committee had executed to him a covenant that the prop- erty should be used for the educational purposes for which he had sold it to the Yearly Meeting.

There is little in the daily life of an unostentatious Chris- tian countryman that can furnish material of much interest to those who are not of his own family, and yet the influ- ence of such men is the silent power which, more than any other instrumentality, elevates the character of the society in which they live. No man of his time did more for his neighbors by the mere force of his excellent example than James Gibbons (3). Resolute, fearless, and self-sac- rificing, no selfish considerations stood in his way if any good work called for the support of good men. One anec- dote will illustrate his character in this respect. It was once the custom among the farmers of Chester County, while the work of the harvest was going on, to provide rum or spirits for the refreshment of the harvesters. The effect of this was bad in every respect; for every man and boy asserted his right to his ration of rum; and from this use of rum came profanity and quarrels, and habits of drinking that made drunkards. Mr. Gibbons determined to break loose from the custom, and announced that no rum should be used on his plantation. He had a large quantity of wheat to cut. In those days they used the sickle. He could find no reapers. No man would work for him with- out his customary rations of rum. All the wheat in the county had been gathered but that one field, in which Mr. Gibbons and his little boy were at work, makiog but a slight impression upon it. " What are you going to do with your wheat, friend Gibbons?" inquired a young farmer who was riding by. "Oh," he answered, "my son and I will gather what we can, and the fowls and birds will take care of the rest." The next day the neighboring farmers invaded his place with their teams and rakes and sickles, and the crop was saved. There was no difficulty after that in excluding rum from the harvest-fields of Chester County.

He was very well known among the people as a man of great learning. While the British army was yet in the county, after the battle of Brandywine, some officers were one day making themselves merry at a wayside inn where Mr. Gibbons frequently stopped, when passing, to water his team. They were criticising the ignorant country boors who were engaged in the rebellion against their king, and running the inn-keeper pretty severely, who happened at that moment to see Mr. Gibbons, at some distance, driving up the road. Turning to his guests with assumed indig- nation, he said, "I'll wager twenty pounds that the first farmer who drives past this house can speak more languages than the whole kit and crew of you put together !" " A bet !" they cried, and the money was staked. Soon after, Mr. Gibbons stopped, as usual, and one of the party, sa- luting him in French, was civilly answered in the same tongue. Another, in very bad Spanish, asked him if he was a Frenchman, and he answered, in very good Spanish, that he was born in Chester County, and had never been in France. There was a pause in the conversation, and, put- ting their heads together, a quotation was aimed at him from one of the Satires of Horace, and they found, to their amazement, that this plain-looking farmer was a good Latin

scholar. By this time the farmer perceived that he was on trial, and he put them completely to rout by a volley of Greck, which none of them could understand. The happy inn-keeper won his bet, and the Chester County farmer went his way, little suspecting that this odd trial of tongues had cost the enemy twenty pounds.

A well-educated officer in command of a foraging party from the British army entered the residence of Mr. Gib- bons, and found him in his study. Saluting him rather familiarly, and looking at the shelves, well filled with books, he remarked, " You are a clergyman, I fancy ?" " No, I am not," was the reply. " A doctor, perhaps ?" "I am not a doctor." " Pray, then, what is your profession ?" "I am a Chester County farmer." The stranger mean- while was thumbing over some of the books, and answered, " But these are not farmers' books !" " What dost thou know about them ?" Mr. Gibbons inquired. "Oh," replied the stranger, " they are old and familiar friends !" A long and very pleasant conversation ensued on the subject of education in England and America, and when the stranger rose to take his leave, he extended his hand and said, " This has been the most agreeable hour I have spent in your country. I did not expect to find classical scholars in the woods of America." The party retired from the farm leaving his property untouched. But it was thoroughly pillaged by others before the invaders left the county.

A British officer having met with Mr. Gibbons after the battle of Brandywine, and surprised at his linguistic knowl- edge, expressed the opinion, in a letter written home to England, that it would be in vain to prolong a struggle with men who, owning the soil, themselves drew from it by the labor of their own hands an independent subsist- ence, whilst they cultivated literary pursuits and classic tastes.

James died on his farm, in Birmingham township, on the 17th of October, 1823, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, surviving his wife about eighteen months, who died on the 30th of March, 1822, at the age of eighty-six years. They had twelve children,-six sons and as many daugh- ters. Three of their sons survived their parents.

COL. WILLIAM GIBBONS, son of James and Jane (Sheward) Gibbons, was born in the township of West- town in 1737, and in 1761 married Susanna, daughter of George and Jane Ashbridge, of Goshen. Settling at first in Philadelphia, he afterwards resided in Thornbury,-1766 to 1769,-and then removed to West Nantmcal, where he and his brother Thomas had inherited 1200 acres of land from their father. For a short time after the breaking out of the war he was located on the Susquehanna River, at or near the site of Harrisburg, but returned to Birming- ham prior to 1783, in which year he was elected sheriff of Chester County as the successor to Col. John Gardner, his former neighbor in Nantmeal, giving Cols. John Hannum and Thomas Cheyney as his sureties. While he was in office the seat of justice in the county was removed from Chester to West Chester, and in September, 1786, it be- came his duty to remove the prisoners from the old jail at Chester to the new jail at the Turk's Head, in Goshen.

In 1790, Col. Gibbons was a delegate from Chester County in the convention which framed the State consti-

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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.

tution of that year. In 1791 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Mifflin to succeed Caleb Davis as prothonotary and clerk of the courts of Chester County, where he approved himself an excellent officer during a period of nine years.

He commanded a company of militia in the battle of Brandywine ; was a brave and daring soldier, and rose to the rank of colonel. During the war he sold a valuable farm, and refused to accept in payment anything but Con- tinental money, on the ground that it was the money of his country, and what was good enough for his country was good enough for him. The money depreciated and became worthless. The purchaser afterwards proposed to make good the loss, but the gallant colonel peremptorily refused the generous offer. In 1794, when volunteers were called for to suppress the Whisky Rebellion in Western Pennsyl- vania, the old colonel, then in his fifty-seventh year, enlisted as a private in Capt. McClellan's company of volunteer cavalry ; went through the campaign, and at the close of it resumed his duties as prothonotary. He died on the 30th of October, 1803, aged about sixty-five years, leaving the character of a just, patriotic, and upright man.

His patriotismn will be well illustrated by the following letter to Col. John Gardner :

" PAXTON, March 9, 1779.

"FRIEND AND GOOD NEIGHBOR GARDNER,-There is that greedy, extorting disposition amongst us here, even of those who call them- selves Whigs, and some Tories und Jew Whigs, that grain is very hard to be purchased ; some denying that they have any to spare, othars say that it is promised; some will not sell unless for the rising price, until they call for their money. So that nesr home I cannot purchase gruin for my family, and have not two weeks' hrend for my house. Therefore I request you to get my grain threshed for me and keep it, only what you may need for your own use. And pray do me the favor to request my good neighbors, John and Jared Irwin, to keep what appertains to me.

" I have offered Col. Grenawalts and other men of distinction what commissions they would please to charge to huy grain for me. They say they can do nothing in that way unless I can furnish hard money, of which I have none. I intend soon going to Lebanon, and getting Col. Grenawalts along with me, to go through that neighborhood, and if possible to purchase what grain muy suffice my family until har- vest ; and if I am so happy as to succeed, shall then be willing to sell what grain I have with you.

"I do not expect my wheat yielded well, but hope I have a con- siderable quantity of rye, which is good enough for me, and, I sup- pose, for any man that sets a right value on his liberty, if the fortune of war gives that turn to our affairs. Sooner would I ent rye hrend to my dying day than mennly surrender my liberty and sell posterity. With sincerity do I wish this may find you and all my former good neighbors in good health, und unanimous. for the support of the Ameri- can States.

" I remain with sincere regard your friend, "WILLIAM GIBBONS."

Among the Gardner papers is a receipt signed by Wil- . liam Gibbons, Oct. 29, 1783, in the prison at Chester, for a number of prisoners therein named.

THOMAS .GIBBONS, youngest son of James and Jane, married Mary Brinton, daughter of James and Mary Brin- ton, of Pennsbury, born 8, 5, 1750, died 1825. They resided in East Bradford, on the farm now of their grand- son, William Gibbons. Their children were James, Joseph, William, Thomas, Jane, Ann, and Mary, all of whom died young or unmarried except James, a physician, and Wil- liam.

DR. WILLIAM GIBBONS, the youngest son of James .

Gibbons (3) and Eleanor, his wife, was born in Philadel- phia, during the temporary residence of his parents in that city, on the 17th of August, 1781. His father's intentions respecting his education are expressed in a will written by himself, dated July 29, 1796, when William was about fifteen years old. After a bcquest to him of a thousand pounds in gold and silver money, together with all his Greek, Latin, French, and mathematical books and sur- veying instruments, he adds,-

" As I had intended myself to instruct my said son William in the rudiments of the Greek, Latin, and French languages, and also in mathematical learning, in order the better to qualify him for the practice of physic, to which I have in my own mind destined him, I now transcribe these thoughts in hope that my said son will have due re- gard to them, as a special token to him of his father's last wishes for his welfare."

He then proceeds to make ample provision for his educa- tion accordingly. But, contrary to his apparent expectations, the testator lived twenty-seven years after the date of this will, and not only had the pleasure of carrying out his in- tentions successfully and making a good scholar of his SOD, but also of seeing him, while yet a young man, in the foremost rank of the profession which he had so judiciously chosen for him. On the 14th of May, 1806, he married Rebecca Donaldson, the youngest daughter of David Don- aldson, of Wilmington, Del., a soldier of the Revolution, who entered the ranks as a volunteer.

Dr. William Darlington, in his " Notæ Cestrienses," gives the following sketch of the early carcer of Dr. Gib- bons :

" When William arrived at the appropriate age he hegan the study of medicine under the tuition of Dr. Jacob Ebrenzeller, an expert Revolutionary surgeon, residing in the borough of West Chester. The latter portion of his medical pupilage was under the direction of Dr. John Vaughan, au estimable physician in Wilmington, Del.

" At the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, in the winter of 1802-3, William Gibbons, William Baldwin, and the com- piler of these Notes first met as classmates, and, finding themselves to be congenini spirits, soon contracted an intimate friendship of life- long duration. At that period it was not usual fur country lads en- gaged in the study of medicine to aspire to the Doctorate, or to per- severe until they obtained that degree; but this trio, all from Chester County, discovering that, as far as they could ascertain, no student of the county had been ambitious enough to acquire the title of M.D., thay all resolved to obtain it, if practicabla; and learning that one of the declared objects of the honor conferred upon successful candi- dates wns, in the language of the diploma, 'ut . . . a Literatorum vulgo secernerentur,' Gibbons jocosely declared that, so far as he wns concerned, he was resolved tu be one of those who would go for the ' secernerentur!' In fact, all three of the friends united in the dec- laration; obtained the degree, and were among the earliest from the county so tu nspire and to succeed. Dr. Gibbons gradunted in the spring of 1805, und the subject of his well-written inaugural thesis wns ' Hypochondriasis.'

"Ilaving reached the goal of his student ambition, he returned for a season of relaxation to the home of his parents, who then resided near the ancient village of Dilworthstown, in the county of Chester. Here he remained until the summer of 1806, when he purchased n farm in Kennet township, near the southern border of Chester County.

"On this beautiful property he became an amateur agriculturist and practicing physician, until the ensuing spring of 1807, when the death of the lamented Dr. Vaughan created a medical vacancy in Wilmington, which several young physicians attempted to fill, but which was eventually occupied by Dr. Gibbons, who, on the invitu- tion of friends, removed to Wilmington, where he continued during

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the remainder of his life, in the acceptable exercise of his arduous profession. In this position the doctor settled down to the business of his calling, and was speedily recognized as ameng the most emi- nent and reliable members of the faculty. His active mind soon en- gaged him in soientifio research, philological studies, and the aoqui- sition of languages, among which was the Hebrew tongue, wherein he obtained to a remarkable proficiency. He had also a decided taste for the natural sciences, became especially fond of the culture of or- namental plants and choice fruit-trees, and was among the earliest in prometing associated efforts for the extension of those interesting de- partments of knowledge, one of which was the establishment of the 'Delaware Academy of Natural Science,' of which he was presiding officer."

About the year 1821 the Rev. E. W. Gilbert, a young and very able minister of the Presbyterian persuasion, was called to one of the churches of that denomination in Wil- mington. His knowledge of Friends and their doctrines and discipline was rather limited, and he was quite sur- prised to find them so numerous and influential in that place. He conceived it to be his duty to convince them that their notions on the subject of religion were erroneous and heretical. As he could not reach them from the pul- pit, he undertook the task with his pen through the public press, and commenced a series of letters addressed to " The Society of Friends," which he published in the Christian Repository over the signature of " Paul." His third letter elicited a reply from " Amicus," who took up the cause of the Friends, and the controversy continued for two years. It commenced in what seemed to be a kindly and charitable spirit ; it ended, as all such controversies do, in a spirit of enmity which separated the disputants wider than ever, each being fully convinced that the other was hopelessly blind to the truth. After the close of this correspondence, Dr. Gibbons (who was erroneously supposed to be " Ami- cus") assumed the vindication of the doctrines of Friends in a series of letters addressed to the Presbyterians over the signature of " Vindex," which established his reputation as „one of the most able and vigorous writers of the day. Mr. Gilbert and his congregation, which was a large one, became very much embittered in their feelings towards Dr. Gib- bons particularly and the Quakers generally, and there was very little social intercourse between the two sects. This unhappy condition continued for several years, but was at last providentially terminated by a touching incident. Dr. Gilbert, then one of the most distinguished ministers of the church, was taken ill, and continued to grow worse and worse, until his life was despaired of. The attending phy- sician desired a consultation, and asked that Dr. Gibbons should be called to the case for that purpose. The family consented. He answered the call promptly, and on reach- ing the residence of the dying man, found the rooms crowded by sad and weeping members of his congregation waiting to hear the last words of their beloved pastor. They left the house reluctantly by the doctor's very earnest request. The consultation was held. The treatment was changed. The patient lay for hours in the very arnis of death, the Quaker doctor watching by his side, hoping and praying that a life so useful, which had not reached its full maturity, might yet be saved. Feebly the pulse moved. Faintly the breath told that it was yet lingering in the wasted frame, and the goud physician hoped on. There they were, side by side, the earnest antagonists in that

polemic strife which had alienated families and brought no soul to God, the one almost unconsciously awaiting the final summons, and the other exhausting his professional skill to avert it, with a hopeful and hearty appeal to the Supreme Physician to perfect his remedies. Presently the pulse quickened and grew stronger and stronger ; the patient felt a fresh throb of life; his eyes opened and fell upon the face of a benefactor beaming with pleasure and cheerfulness and praise, and " Paul" and " Vindex" were ever after life- long friends.

The pen of Dr. Gibbons was afterwards the efficient weapon against a band of social reformers, led by Robert Dale Owen and Fanny Wright D'Arusmont, a woman of remarkable force and persuasive eloquence. They were the editors of a periodical published in the city of New York, called The Free Inquirer, which had a large circulation in the Middle States and in Ohio. It not only dissemi- nated infidel and atheistic doctrines, but assailed the sanc- tity of the marriage contract, and advocated the right of the husband or the wife to dissolve it at pleasure. Mrs. D'Arusmont, who was separated from her husband, lectured on these subjects in most of the principal cities and towns of the country, attracting large audiences, and scattering the poison broadcast wherever she went. For this purpose she visited Wilmington, and Dr. Gibbons was among those who denounced her mission publicly, and did what they could to defeat it. This led to an attack upon him in the columns of The Free Inquirer, to which he re- plied in a pamphlet entitled " Exposition of Modern Skep- ticism." It was published first in Wilmington, and was reprinted in New York and Cincinnati, and extensively cir- culated and read wherever the infidels had obtained a foot- hold. The object was to awaken a righteous indignation in the public mind against them and their immoral teachings, and their assaults upon the Christian religion ; and this was so successfully achieved that they could not obtain a respectable audience in Wilmington after its publication, and the seed they had sown there never took root. Dr. Gilbert received a copy of it from the author, his old an- tagonist but now his personal friend, and did him the honor to read it from his pulpit to his congregation. For this valuable service to the cause of Christianity and publio morals, Dr. Gibbons received many letters of thanks and congratulation from ministers and others of various religious denominations in different parts of the country.

He took an active interest in promoting the education of the African race, and was one of the founders and man- agers of a school in Wilmington for colored children, which was in successful operation for many years. This being the intermedial town between the North and the South, it offered peculiar facilities for the kidnapping of free people of color. Dr. Gibbons was an active member of a society organized for their protection, which saved and rescued many of them from the slave-markets of Baltimore. He was also the president of the first State Temperance Society of Delaware. Ile was never idle. His residence, a short distance from the improved parts of the town, embraced several acres of land, chiefly occupied by ornamental and fruit-trees of many varieties, the latter all of his own raising and grafted with his own hands. In the mansion which he

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built here soon after his marriage he and his noble wife raised a family of thirteen children, all of whom witnessed the death of their honored father on the 25th of July, 1845, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. His widow survived him nearly a quarter of a century, and died on the 30th of January, 1869, at the age of eighty-three years. Eleven of her children were living at the time of her death.

Rebecca Gibbons was the founder of the original House of Industry, now known as " The Home for Aged Women," in Wilmington, to which she gave constant encouragement and support. At her death the board of managers passed appropriate resolutions expressive of their high regard for her valuable services and sorrow for her loss.

Among the children of William and Rebecca Gibbons are Hon. Charles Gibbons, of Philadelphia, and Elizabeth, wife of Hon. Washington Townsend, of West Chester.

John Gibbons, son of James and Eleanor, married, 10, 15, 1801, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Ann Cope, of East Bradford, and was the first steward of the county alms- house ; afterwards residing at New London Cross-roads, and in Cecil Co., Md., for a few years, they removed finally to Tompkins Co., N. Y., where he died in 1847, leaving several children.

Eleanor Gibbons, his sister, married John Parry, and was the mother of Gibbons Parry, now of Florida, Ohio.

LIEUTENANT WILLIAM GIBBONS, a son of the second Joseph, was one of the young men of Chester County who was honorably distinguished in the war for independence. He belonged to the Sixth Pennsylvania Regiment, and was selected by Gen. Wayne to lead a forlorn hope of twenty men in the most brilliant and daring exploit of the war,- the capture of the enemy's fortress on the Hudson River, at Stony Point. The approaches to the enemy's works were obstructed first by a deep morass, and then by double rows of abatis in front and flank. It was the duty of Gibbons to cross this morass with his men, remove the abatis and other obstructions, and thus open the way for the assaulting party, consisting of one hundred and fifty volunteers, with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, con- stituting the van of the right column. A like duty was assigned to Lieut. Knox, of the Ninth Pennsylvania Regi- ment, with twenty men, who preceded the van of the left. The order for the assault was given at midnight on the 15th of July, 1779, with specific and pointed orders that there was to be no firing on the enemy, but that the whole depend- ence of the assaulting columns was to be placed on the bayonet alone. Gibbons moved across the morass with his twenty men. A terrific and incessant fire of musketry and grape-shot was opened from the fortress on the advancing heroes. Not a shot was returned. Encouraged by the resolute lieutenant, not a man flinched from his duty. Seventeen of the twenty fell, killed or wounded, but Gib- bons accomplished his work, and the assaulting column, following him, forced its way by the bayonet alone through the fire and into the fortress, and in the very centre of the works met the van of the left, which had been equally successful. The garrison surrendered at discretion. Gen. Wayne's official report of the capture of Stony Point may be found in the 8th volume of The Remembrancer, p. 368, etc., and also the resolutions of thanks passed by Congress

on the 26th of July, 1779, for what they distinguish as " a glorious enterprise." Among the resolutions is the following :

" Resolved, That Congress warmly approve and applaud the cool determined spirit with which Lieut. Gibbons and Lieut. Knox led on the forlorn hope, hraving danger and death in the cause of their country."

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 152

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162