Rev. Henry Gibbs

Henry, the son of Henry Gibbs of Salem, who was the son of Rev. Henry Gibbs of Watertown, the son of Robert Gibbs of Boston.  Married Mercy Prescott (1755-1781), daughter of Benjamin Prescott & Rebecca Minot. He settled at Salem after graduating from Harvard College in 1766; had five children of whom Prof. Josiah Willard Gibbs of Yale College, born April 30, 1790, was one.   Mr. Gibbs was b. May 7, 1749; died  Jan. 29, 1794 in his 45th year. 

Biography

The third Henry Gibbs (1749-1794) inevitably followed his father to Harvard. His education was financed by the pooled resources of his recently impoverished family with some additional assistance from the college and from scholarships. Henry received his degree in 1766 after a strong academic career and went on to teach school at Rowley, Newcastle, N.H., and Lynn, before returning to Salem as a merchant. A moderate Loyalist, Gibbs survived the most radical period of the Revolution with his affairs intact and married Mercy Prescott in 1781. Henry died in 1794, Mercy in 1809, leaving a legacy of children to Yale College, rather than Harvard. (1)

Sources

1. Gibbs family papers, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
2. A golden legacy to the Gibbs family in America. By Montgomery B. Gibbs, Columbus Smith, Acting Gibbs Association of Vermont page 57
3. Bigelow Society
4. Findagrave