"Portrait and Biographical Record of Hunterdon and Warren counties, New Jersey"
Chapman Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1898
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LEVI B. GIBBS, a retired business man residing in Hackettstown, has spent the
greater part of his life in Warren County
and is well known as one of its reliable and enterprising citizens. He was born in what is now
Hope Township October 16, 1818, and is a son
of Christopher and Susanna (Bunting) Gibbs,
also natives of this county. Little is known concerning the remote family history or the date of
its first representation in America. However,
it is supposed that our subject's grandfather,
John Gibbs, was born in Rhode Island, whence
he came to New Jersey and settled upon a farm.
During much of his life he made his home in
Warren County and here he died when advanced
in years. By occupation a farmer, Christopher
Gibbs devoted himself to the cultivation of the
family estate in Hope Township, and here his
death occurred when he was forty-five years of
age. In politics he was a Whig and in religious
belief a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. In his agricultural operations he was
fairly successful and doubtless would have become
well-to-do had his life been spared to old age.
His wife was a member of the Quaker Church
and a faithful adherent to its doctrines. She died
at the age of about seventy.
The boyhood years of our subject's life were
uneventfully passed on the home farm, where he
was reared to habits of industry that proved of
the greatest value to him in after days. At the
age of sixteen, in March, 1836, he began an
apprenticeship in a carriage shop, where he remained until October, 1839, meantime gaining a
thorough knowledge of the trade, which he afterward followed, in the employ of others, for two
years. In 1843 he purchased the carriage shop
in Hope, which he continued to carry on successfully until 1873, during that long period becoming known as an honest and energetic business
man, one who was true to every obligation and
honorable in every transaction. On retiring from
the business, he made his home in Newark for a
number of years, but in 1879 came to Hackettstown, where he has since continued to reside.
March 9, 1842, Mr. Gibbs was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Vanatta, of Warren County,
an estimable lady and one who retained throughout her life the friendship and warm regard of
her associates. She passed away in 1895, leaving
seven children, all but one of whom are now living. When the Republican party was organized
Mr. Gibbs became one of its first supporters and
from that day to this he has never wavered in his
allegiance to party measures and principles.
Under the administration of President Harrison,
he held the appointment of postmaster at Hackettstown, an office that he filled in such an able
manner as to gain the commendation of all,
irrespective of political beliefs.
(c) 2000-2013 American History and Genealogy Project
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