Re: Thomas Gibbs, Greenwich MA
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In reply to:
Thomas Gibbs, Greenwich MA
Rose Miller 3/15/02
This doesn't exactly answer your question, but does give the origin of the family and some other clues for research.
From "Quabbin The Lost Valley," compiled by Donald W. Howe, The Quabbin Book House, Ware, Mass. 1951. Pages 283-4:
"The story of the Gibbs family is an important part of early Greenwich, or Quabbin, as it was known during the settlement period. It not only embraces the Greenwich area of Swift River Vwlley but also much of Pelham where the family sided with Daniel Shays during the Rebellion. The family came originally from England, though much of the distaff side is Scotch.The first mention of the family in America, according to the genealogy of Harry A. Cheney, who permitted his records of the Gibbs to be used in this book, it when Matthew Gibbs settled in Charlestown, Mass. in 1650.
Thomas Gibbs, a grandson of Matthew, the first to be associated with Greenwich, was a native of Brookfield, participated in the Indian wars, and was one of the men to receive a land grant in Quabbin.Thomas was born in 1689 and was married twice.His first wife, a Brookfield woman, died in 1717.His second wife, Sarah Woolcott of Brookfield, was the mother of nine children, the births being recorded in Brookfield.It was after the birth of the last child, Solomon, in 1736, that Thomas Gibbs came to Greenwich.
Most of the members of the family married mates of Scottish ancestry, and the size of the group partially accounted for the report that Quabbin consisted mainly of Gibbses. Thomas, the Greenwich settler, built the first "water mill" in town, and church records show he died at the age of 82 years.Two granddaughters of Thomas died on the same day, according to a headstone in Quabbin Park Cemetery.Another girl had died two days prior to the two children.This was in 1803.They were the children of Israel and Silence Gibbs.A stone at Quabbin Park shows Israel Hinds Gibbs, who was born in 1805, died September 5821 (sic); the stone cutter erred in not making it 1848.
Israel, the victim of the stonecutter's mistake, was himself of that profession.He was a giant in stature and was reputed to have cradled the greatest number of acres of rye in the valley.His feats of strength were widely known throughout the valley area.Israel left Greenwich for Pelham but later went to Worcester where he was a master stonecutter.He was buried in Northbridge, but apparently the body was later transferred to Greenwich and then to Quabbin Park.
The rest of the Gibbs section refers to Israel's family. A granddaughter of Israel, Mabel, married Harry A. Cheney, and he is the author credited in the first paragraph.
If I stumble across any more information, I'll post it for you.
Regards,
Shari Strahan