Thomas Gibbons (1757 - 1826)

Born 15 Dec 1757 in Savannah, Georgia

Husband of Anne Miles (Heyward) Gibbons — married about 1778 in Berkeley, South Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 16 May 1826 at age 68 in New York, United States

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Thomas Gibbons resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Biography

Preceded by 1st Mayor John Houstoun 4th Mayor William Stephens 9th Mayor Matthew McAllister 10th Mayor Thomas Gibbons

Thomas Gibbons 2nd Mayor of Savannah, Georgia March 9, 1791 - March 12, 1792 5th Mayor March 10, 1794 - March 9, 1795 10th Mayor of Savannah, Georgia July 8, 1799 - July 14, 1800 11th Mayor of Savannah, Georgia July 14, 1800 - July 13, 1801

Succeeded by 3rd Mayor Joseph Habersham 6th Mayor William Stephens 11th Mayor Thomas Gibbons 12th Mayor David B Mitchell

Thomas Gibbons is Notable.

Thomas Gibbons was a Georgia colonist.

Thomas was born in 1757 to Joseph Gibbons and Hannah Martin Gibbons in Mulberry Hill, Savannah, Georgia. He passed away in 1826 in New York City, New York due to obesity and being a diabetic.

Thomas was known as a planter, politician, lawyer, steamboat owner and the plaintiff in the Supreme Court Landmark Case of Gibbons v. Ogden.^[1]

His father acquired several thousand acres of land near the Savannah River where he operated a saw mille, grew rice and owned over 100 slaves.

Education and Politics

Thomas was educated at home and studied law. Between 1791 and 1801, Thomas served two terms as Mayor of Savannah, Georgia. ^[2] He was also appointed a Federal Judge.

American Revolution

He was a passive Loyalist during the American Revolution. As a result, his estate was confiscated and he was convicted of treason with other remaining Tories in the area. He was under "house arrest" at his Mother's. In January 1783, Thomas petitioned the Assembly for citizenship which was granted six months later under the stipulation that he could not vote, hold office for 14 years, or practice law. However, in only four years, he was granted full rights and privileges of citizenship. ^[3]

Marriage

Thomas married Ann Miles Heyward ​(m. 1780; died 1820) in 1780. They had three surviving children.

Children

1. Ann Heyward Gibbons (1790–1817), who married John Trumbull (1784–1859), son of Gov. Joseph Trumbull.
2. William Gibbons (1794–1852),[14] who built the Gibbons Mansion in Madison, New Jersey and married Abigail Louisa Taintor (1791–1844).
3. Thomas Heyward Gibbons (1795–1825), who married Mary Dayton, daughter of U.S. Senator and Speaker of the House Jonathan Dayton.

Gibbons v Ogden

Preceding the Gibbons v Ogden case, in 1801, Thomas moved from Savannah to Elizabethtown, New Jersey where he purchased a large private dock facility. His neighbor was NJ Governor, Aaron Ogden. Gibbons and Ogden formed a partnership to operate Steamboats. In 1818, Gibbons broke off his partnership with Ogden, started competing with him and hired Cornelius Vanderbilt as a Captain. (Gibbons would mentor Vanderbilt for the remainder of his life.).

Ogden obtained a license to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey which became a monopoly. Gibbons undercut Ogden's prices which led to Ogden obtaining an injunction in October 1818. This prompted Gibbons to bring legal action to overturn the monopoly. The following is the result of this legal action that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. Gibbons was represented by Daniel Webster and US Atty General William Wirt.

Gibbons vs Ogden was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce, granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, encompassed the power to regulate navigation. The case was argued by some of America's most admired and capable attorneys at the time. Exiled Irish patriot Thomas Addis Emmet and Thomas J. Oakley argued for Ogden, while U.S. Attorney General William Wirt and Daniel Webster argued for Gibbons.^[4]

Gibbons v Ogden Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibbons in 1824. Congress had the right to regulate interstate commerce. The sole decided source of Congress's power to promulgate the law at issue was the Commerce Clause. Accordingly, the Court had to answer whether the law regulated "commerce" that was "among the several states." With respect to "commerce," the Court held that commerce is more than mere traffic—that it is the trade of commodities. This broader definition includes navigation. The Court interpreted "among" as "intermingled with."^[5]

Links

• Gibbons v Odgen, controlling trade between states by Isabell Simone Levinson. Enslow Publishers, Springfield, NJ. 1999.
• Library of Congress: Files Index for Thomas Gibbons
• Manuscripts of Gibbons v Ogden

Sources

1. ↑ Britannica: Gibbons vs Ogden
2. ↑ WikiPedia: Mayors of Savannah
3. ↑ Drew University: Thomas Gibbons
4. ↑ Wikipedia: Gibbons vs Ogden.
5. ↑ US Supreme Court, Volume 22, Gibbons v Ogden

See also:

• Wikipedia: Thomas_Gibbons_(politician)
• Wikidata: Item Q50365663, en:Wikipedia
• Family Search: PID #: L4S1-L4B