Gibbons, Thomas (1757-1826)

Dates

• Existence: 1757 - 1826

Biography

Thomas Gibbons was born at Mulberry Hill, his father's plantation outside of Savannah, Georgia, in 1757. In 1810, Thomas Gibbons moved north and purchased property in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He purchased a large private dock facility in Elizabethtown a few years later. After a failed partnership with Col. Aaron Ogden, Thomas Gibbons purchased the steam ferry Stoudinger in 1817 and began to operate a ferry business between Elizabethtown and New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1818, Thomas Gibbons purchased another steam ferry, the Bellona, and hired young Cornelius Vanderbilt to captain the ship. Impressed with the young captain, Gibbons in time let Vanderbilt manage much of the enterprise's day-to-day operation. Several other steam ferries, including the Thistle, Swan, and Emerald, were purchased by Thomas Gibbons over the next few years.

When Thomas Gibbons began running ferries between New Jersey and New York, legal disputes arose with Aaron Ogden. In order to operate steam ferries on the same route, Ogden purchased a license from the heirs of Robert Livingston, who had with Robert Fulton been granted a monopoly on all steam travel in the area by the state legislature of New York. Thomas Gibbons refused to acknowledge the monopoly. The case eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court, where Thomas Gibbons was represented by Congressman Daniel Webster and Attorney General William Wirt. The ruling of Gibbons v. Ogden came in 1824, with Chief Justice John Marshall declaring the New York monopoly and all such monopolies on interstate waters unconstitutional. Thomas Gibbons passed away on May 15, 1826 in New York. After his death his son William Gibbons managed the company's affairs. William Gibbons was aided in this task by Cornelius Vanderbilt until 1829, when Vanderbilt left to pursue his own interests.

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