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The Gibbons Family Plot
Planted February 9, 2009
Modified March 5, 2010
Madison, NJ
Morris County
The Box is planted on Madison
Avenue in Madison, NJ.
This box is related (Historically
and geographically) to my box “The Drew Acorn” Drew University
started out as the estate of the Gibbons family their family home
(Now Mead Hall) is on the property of Drew University and is a state
and National Historical Landmark.
The father of Williams Gibbons (the builder of Mead Hall) was Thomas
Gibbons. Thomas was the sixth child of Joseph and Hannah (Martin)
Gibbons and was born outside of Savannah, Georgia on December 15,
1757. Thomas Gibbons was a loyalist during the American Revolution,
a factor which helped protect the family plantation during the
fluctuating British/Patriot occupation of the area. After the war,
Thomas Gibbons opened a lucrative law practice in Savannah, in
addition to running the family plantation. He was also involved in
local politics. In the early 1800s, Thomas Gibbons bought a summer
estate in Elizabeth, New Jersey. By 1817 he was running a steam
ferry from Elizabeth Point to New Brunswick -which connected to a
line from Elizabeth to New York City.
Thomas Gibbons had two sons William and Thomas Heyward. At the time
of his death in New York City on May 15, 1826, he had considerably
built up the family fortune, which included rice and cotton
plantations in Georgia and various businesses in the North, he left
a large inheritance to his sole surviving son - William Gibbons.
William Gibbons (1794-1852) attended Princeton College, though he
left early to assist his father with the family businesses. In 1832,
he bought land in Madison, New Jersey, (reportedly at the prompting
of his wife) which he named "The Forest" and built a plantation
style Greek revival mansion in 1833 for his wife, Abigail, and
children: William Heyward, Caroline G., Sarah T., and Isabel.
The Gibbons family took up residence in 1836. William resided in NJ,
all the while managing his southern plantations and real estate
ventures (he sold the steamboat business in 1829) In addition to
running the family businesses, he was active in horse racing and
breeding, Gibbons found success in breeding and racing horses,
producing a national champion, “Fashion”, nicknamed “Queen of the
American Turf.” She astonished the racing world by beating the
stallion “Boston” in 1841, running a record 4-mile race that stood
for more than 13 years.
As a family - the Gibbons enjoyed “The Forest” a mere eight years.
Mrs. Gibbons died in 1844; William continued to live at "The Forest"
until his own death on December 10, 1852 of a heart attack. “The
Forest” was inherited by Gibbons’ only son, William Heyward. At the
time of his father’s death, William Heyward Gibbons (1831-1887) left
Harvard Law School and permanently settled in Savannah, Georgia to
run the family businesses there. His sister, Caroline resided at
"The Forest" until her death in 1857 at 23 years of age, at which
time William Heyward closed up the family home.
William Hayward supported the Confederates in the Civil War. The
families businesses and plantations in the south were lost.
Returning a broken man, he sold the vacant family home in 1867, to
Daniel Drew, a self-made capitalist and devout Methodist, who
purchased the estate for the purpose of establishing the Drew
Theological Seminary, named in his honor. The Gibbons mansion was
renamed Mead Hall, in honor of the wife of Daniel Drew - Roxanna
Mead.
William Heyward Gibbons died in Morristown, New Jersey in 1887.
To The Box!!!!!
To get onto Route 124 from Route 287 it is Exit number 35, take a
right to go right into Madison, you will pass the
Drew Acorn on your way!!
You are looking for one of the oldest cemeteries in NJ The Cemetery
is on the right side of the street coming from the direction of Drew
University (Route 124 Madison Ave, Madison, NJ) you will drive
through the town of Madison look for a cemetery with a wrought Iron
fence and two gates – directly across from the Madison Junior School
there is a blue sign that says Hillside Cemetery Presbyterian Church
of Madison 1747 - you can street park in front of the cemetery.
Enter the cemetery by the gate on the far right if you were facing
the cemetery from the road.
The Graves of many of Madison’s founding and early prominent
citizens are to be found here. The cemetery actually contains two
earlier cemeteries, the oldest sections are on top of the hill –
this is... Bottle Hill Cemetery which surrounded the original
Presbyterian meeting house.
Walk up the hill, the Gibbons family Plot is hard to miss once you
get to the top!! (Actually it’s hard to miss from the bottom!) There
are four large monuments at the very top middle of the hill. The
largest is that of Williams Gibbons, the Next Largest is that of
William Hayward Gibbons. The next in size order is that of Abigail
(Abby) wife of William Gibbons. The smallest is that of Catherine
Gibbons who the last to live in the family home --- Go the grave of
William Heyward Gibbons – the one who sold the family estate! On the
side nearest the chain link fence marking the edge of the cemetery
you will notice a round smooth reddish colored stone at the base of
his monument - reach under the monument to the right of this stone
to find the “Gibbons family Plot” Box (you may want to look first or
poke with a stick)
Please replant with care make sure the box is snugly back in place
Please respect the sacredness of the cemetery & THERE IS NO INK
PLEASE BRING YER OWN!!
You may want to check out the rest of this cemetery it’s very
interesting…
Record your find at
LbNA or
AQ. CYA ON THE TRAIL!!!!
MushrooM :o) |