Mifflin Wistar Gibbs (April 17, 1823 – July 11, 1915) was an American-Canadian politician, businessman, and advocate for Black rights. He became the first Black person elected to public office in British Columbia on November 16, 1866, upon winning a seat on the Victoria City Council.
Early life
Born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania, he moved to California as a young man during the
Gold Rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
. Angered by discriminatory laws passed in 1858, he and several hundred other American blacks moved that year to
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, British Columbia, Canada, where he worked for ten years.
After the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Gibbs and many of the other black settlers returned to the United States. In the late 1860s, he settled in the capital city of
Little Rock
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
, Arkansas, and became an attorney. He was active in
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
politics, and in 1873 Gibbs was elected as a city judge, the first black judge elected in the United States. In 1897, in the
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
administration, he was appointed as
American consul to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
Gibbs was the second of four siblings, the eldest being his brother
Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs
Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, II (September 28, 1821 – August 14, 1874) was an American Presbyterian minister who served as Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of Florida, and along with Josiah Thomas Walls, U.S. Congres ...
. Their father was a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
minister.
As a young adult, Gibbs became active in the
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
movement and worked for
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
.
[Martha A. Sandweiss, "Book review: 'Parallel Worlds: The Remarkable Gibbs-Hunt and the Enduring (In)significance of Melanin' by Adele Logan Alexander"](_blank)
''The Washington Post'', May 16, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2015 He was also involved in the Philomatheon Institute of Philadelphia, a literary organization which included Douglass,
Charles Burleigh Purvis,
William Whipper
William Whipper (February 22, 1804 – March 9, 1876) was a businessman and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist in the United States. Whipper, an African American, advocated nonviolence and co-founded the American Moral Reform Socie ...
, and Izaiah Weir.
[Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p597-602] Philadelphia had long had a flourishing free black community, as people had found work there even before the revolution and slavery was abolished after the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
.
Emigration to California
Like tens of thousands of other men, Gibbs joined the California Gold Rush,
having arrived in San Francisco in late 1850. He sought work as a
carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
, a trade that he had pursued in Philadelphia, but was discouraged by the racial discrimination that he faced. He then partnered with Nathan Pointer to sell clothes and then with Peter Lester to import boots and shoes. In 1851, he and Jonas H. Townsend, W. H. Newby, and William H. Hall, published the ''Alta California'',
"the state's only African-American newspaper."
He was later a proprietor, publisher, and contributor to another paper, the ''
Mirror of the Times
The ''Mirror of the Times'' was an African-American newspapers, African American weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. It was published during the mid-1850s, though its exact foundation and dissolution dates are not known (roughly found ...
''.
[Harcourt School Publishers, Reflections: California: A Changing State Grade 4, Steck-Vaughn Company, 1st edition (January 1, 2003), ] He was active in statewide conventions of black people in 1854, 1855, and 1857, and together with Lester, stood against
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
es in San Francisco.
In 1858, he and other American blacks were angered when the
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...
passed discriminatory laws intended to discourage blacks from entering or staying in the state: they were deprived of the right to own property and were disqualified from giving evidence against a white person in court. All black people in California were required to wear distinctive badges.
[CHARLES HILLINGER, "MINERS LEFT U.S. FOR CANADA IN 1858/ Blacks Found Gold Couldn't Buy Freedom"](_blank)
, ''B.C. Times'' (Vancouver), n.d., p. 5, at ''The Black Community in the History of Quebec and Canada,'' 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2015 Angered by these developments, Gibbs and two other African-American men went to British Columbia to meet with Sir
James Douglas, governor of the province, to learn about the treatment of blacks in Canada. Douglas assured the men that they would be treated like other residents in this frontier area.
Canadian Career
Starting in 1858, Gibbs led an estimated six hundred to eight hundred African Americans,
many with families, from California to British Columbia, where some settled on
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...
.
They comprised a major portion of the early frontier community.
["Chap. XXX: Some Colored Pioneers"](_blank)
n.d., p. 4 at ''The Black Community in the History of Quebec and Canada,'' 1996. Retrieved January 5, 2015 Gibbs became a naturalized British citizen in 1861, together with fifty-two other American blacks from the emigrant group.
Gibbs worked as a merchant and also became involved in politics during his ten-year stay in Canada.
In the
1860 Vancouver Island Legislative election, the vote of the black community in the election for the Vancouver Island Legislative Assembly defeated
Amor De Cosmos
Amor De Cosmos (born William Alexander Smith; August 20, 1825 – July 4, 1897) was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He served as the second premier of British Columbia.
Early life
Amor De Cosmos was born William Alexander Smith ...
.
Victoria City Council
Gibbs ran in 1862 in the first race for a
Victoria City Council
The Victoria City Council is the governing body of the City of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
The council consists of the mayor plus eight councillors. A deputy mayor is appointed monthly
Monthly usually refers to the scheduling of somethin ...
seat; he placed seventh in this race, having missed winning a council seat by four votes.
He was elected to
Victoria City Council
The Victoria City Council is the governing body of the City of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
The council consists of the mayor plus eight councillors. A deputy mayor is appointed monthly
Monthly usually refers to the scheduling of somethin ...
in 1867 and served in that body until 1869.
Confederation Movement
In 1868, Gibbs was the
Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island.
The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled b ...
delegate to the Yale Convention, an important step toward British Columbia's decision to join Canada in the
confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
.
[ History of British Columbia#Entry into Canada .281871-1900.29]
Return to United States
After about a decade, Gibbs returned to the United States and settled in Little Rock. He read the law to become an attorney and passed the bar examination in 1870. Becoming active in the
Republican Party, he was appointed to a number of judicial and government positions, including county attorney of
Pulaski County.
In 1872, he was a delegate to the
National Convention of Colored men
The Colored Conventions Movement, or Black Conventions Movement, was a series of national, regional, and state conventions held irregularly during the decades preceding and following the American Civil War. The delegates who attended these convent ...
in
, Louisiana.
In 1873, Gibbs was elected city judge as a Republican,
the first black judge elected in the United States.
[Joel Dreyfuss, "A Black Power Couple in the Early 20th Century"](_blank)
''The Root'', May 28, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2015
In 1876, he was elected president of the National Convention of Colored Men at
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, Tennessee, and in June of that year he was appointed register of the
United States Land Office
The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...
at Little Rock. He was a delegate to the
1876
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
* February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...
,
1880 Republican National Convention
The 1880 Republican National Convention convened from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Delegates nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York as the offic ...
, and
1884 Republican National Convention
The 1884 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Chicago, Illinois, on June 3–6, 1884. It resulted in the nomination of former House Speaker James G. Blaine from Maine for presiden ...
s, and was a member of the "immortal 306" who supported
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
's failed candidacy for a third nomination at the 1880 convention in Chicago, Illinois. In 1882, Gibbs was elected to the Little Rock Bar Association.
He became wealthy through his law practice and real estate investments. In 1897, Gibbs was appointed American consul to Madagascar. As an aide, he hired a friend of his daughter Ida,
William Henry Hunt, whom he mentored. Hunt became the first African American to have a full career as a diplomat for the United States.
Gibbs returned to the United States in 1901. He was selected as president of a largely African-American bank in Little Rock.
M. W. Gibbs High School, a high school for African-American students, and Gibbs Elementary School, also originally for African-American students in segregated Arkansas, were named after him.
Personal life
Gibbs was married and had two daughters with his wife, the former Maria Ann Alexander, during the decade they lived in British Columbia. The family relocated to
Oberlin, Ohio, in 1869 where both daughters later attended college. Mary Ann had attended
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
from 1852 to 1854. Daughter Ida Alexander Gibbs (1862–1957) earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. Her sister,
Harriet Gibbs Marshall went to the Oberlin Music Conservatory, where she completed the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in music in 1889. She became an accomplished concert pianist, author, and educator.
Ida met and became friends with William Henry Hunt, whom Mifflin Gibbs hired as his aide in
Tamatave
Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...
, Madagascar. Hunt was appointed to succeed Gibbs as American consul in Madagascar and had numerous assignments after that. He served until 1932.
[Martha A. Sandweiss, "Book review: 'Parallel Worlds: The Remarkable Gibbs-Hunt and the Enduring (In)significance of Melanin' by Adele Logan Alexander"](_blank)
''The Washington Post'', May 16, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2015
In 1902, Gibbs purchased a property at 902 T Street, NW in Washington, D.C., at which his daughter, Harriet Gibbs Marshall, ran the Washington Conservatory of Music there, one of the most successful female-owned businesses in the United States at the turn of the century.
Gibbs died at 92 in Little Rock, Arkansas on July 11, 1915, . He is buried at
Oakland-Fraternal Cemetery.
Legacy
In 2016, the City of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
declared November 19 'Mifflin Wistar Gibbs Day' in recognition of Gibbs becoming the first black person elected to public office in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. In 2019, a plaque was unveiled in his honour at Irving Park in Victoria as well as a study room called the 'Mifflin Wistar Gibbs Study Room' in the city's public library.
See also
*
List of African-American jurists
This list includes individuals self-identified as African Americans who have made prominent contributions to the field of law in the United States, especially as eminent judges or legal scholars. Individuals who may have obtained law degrees or ...
*
List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Arkansas
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Arkansas. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state t ...
References
*Gibbs, Mifflin Wistar. ''Shadow and Light: An Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century.'' Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.
*McGinty, Doris E. "The Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression," Black perspectives in music, vol 7, no. 1, spring 1979.
External links
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Wistar Mifflin
1823 births
1915 deaths
Arkansas state court judges
Arkansas lawyers
American bankers
American diplomats
Journalists from California
American emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia
African-American people in Arkansas politics
Lawyers from Philadelphia
Pre-Confederation British Columbia people
Black Canadian politicians
Victoria, British Columbia city councillors
Arkansas Republicans
Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas
Politicians from Philadelphia
Black Canadian businesspeople
Canadian people of African-American descent
19th-century Canadian merchants
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
History of Black people in British Columbia
19th-century American judges
19th-century American lawyers
19th-century American businesspeople