My wife and I went on a run with Val and family and Val mentioned that one of her ancestors was a whaler and that they lived on land where his house used to be. That interested me and I thought that I might look up some of her information. This family was on her mother’s side, so I got some basic information from Val on her mother and her mother’s parents.
Here is a yearbook photo of Val’s mom Suzanne:
Ancestry gives these potential parents for Val’s grandparents:
I see that Val’s maternal grandfather’s mother was a Gibbs, so that would be a likely place to look. Here is a photo from March, 1946 from the Birmingham News of Mildred. I know she’s not in the line, but interesting anyway:
William Brainard Greene Born 1923
Here is part of William’s marriage license:
William, a student born in Middletown, NY, marries Suzanne, a dietician born in Detroit. They are married by a Baptist Pastor in Alabama:
In 1930, we see William at age 7 and his mother is listed as a widow. Val tells me William had a twin sister on the next page of the Census for that year:
Note that Myrta’s parents were listed as being born in Massachusetts. So that gets us from Alabama to Massachusetts going back in time. Myrta’s occupation was listed as newspaper reporter in 1930:
In 1925, the father was alive and the family was living at Jackson Ave, Middletown, New York:
Here is a current view of the property shown on Google Maps:
I wonder why William’s father died at such a young age?
Here is Middletown, NY:
In 1940, Myrta is listed as the executive secretary for the American Red Cross:
The family is still living at the same house they lived at in 1925.
Here is some more information about Lawrence Greene posted at Ancestry:
Here is another, much later, account from 1976:
It is interesting that the family was able to stay in the same house despite the fact that Lawrence Greene drowned.
Myrta Gibbs Born 1887
Here is Myrta’s marriage record from Orange County, New York:
Here is Myrta:
According to Ancestry:
Taken from class picture of Middletown Graduating Class – June High School Play, 1909
Myrta Gibbs (Greene) age 13; taken at Mitchell Art Studios in Middletown NY
James Edward Gibbs Born 1857
I decided to accept Ancestry’s hints for Myrta’s parents as the names were the same ones on Myrta’s marriage record:
Here is Edward’s grave stone in Middletown, New York:
This article was posted at findagrave.com:
This notes his father as a whaling captain out of New Bedford. His mother is said to have descended from the Plymouth settler of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Here is James’ wedding record in Middleborough from 1880:
James lists his birthplace as Middleboro and marries at what appears to be a Baptist Church, though in his obituary he is listed as belonging to a Universalist Church.
Here is the 1870 Census where James’ father is listed as a Mariner:
Stephen B Gibbs Born about 1811
On Stephen’s death record, his brithplace is given as West Wareham though I think it should be East Wareham:
He is listed as being a sea captain.
Here is the growing tree:
Here is the marriage of Stephen and Judith:
If I have it right, Stephen is born in Wareham and at some point moves to Nanatucket. At the time of the wedding in 1836, both Stephen and Judith were listed as being ‘of Nantucket’.
This record brings into question Stephen’s middle name:
This lists lists Stephen’s birthplace as East Wareham and shows that he has a son named Stepen Bourne Gibbs.
Here is Stephen in the 1850 Census in Nantucket:
Here is a reference from a Cole genealogy book:
Here is a book from 1912:
Here is another book:
The 1840 Nantucket Census lists Judith as the head of household as Stephen was away at the time of the Census:
This would have been quite usual in Nantucket as there were so many men at sea.
This was the trip where “Capt. Gibbs came home sick”. It is difficult to imagine an ocean voyage under wind power, no electricity or refrigeration lasting nearly 4-1/2 years. During this time, Stephen was away from his wife and son most of the time. I was wondering why Stephen showed up in the 1850 Census in Nantucket if his ship came back in 1851. In another record I saw that Stephen came home early due to his sickness. So that would explain the discrepancy.
Here is the family on June 1, 1855:
I am not sure who the other people were who were living at the house. I assume that Judith is sick at this time. At any rate, she dies 4 months later and is buried in Nantucket:
#3 above is the location of the New North Cemetery.
Judith died of consumption. This is what we would call today tuberculosis.
According to the Stephen Gibbs Bio above, Stephen had two wives named Judith. Sometimes these older genealogies can be a bit inaccurate, but this one seems quite detailed.
I have added the two different marriages to Ancestry:
A year later Stephen is living in New Bedford where he marries his second wife.
Here is an 1840 Registry record of a transfer of property from James Gibbs to Stephen Gibbs:
This is from Book 40.
Book 43 has a complicated deed:
Here is the Gibbs to Gibbs deed:
The property was bounded on the West by New Mill Street. Here is an 1869 Map of Nantucket showing a Mill Street next to a New Milk Street:
The 1887 Sanborn maps are easier to read:
Here we see Mill Street, MIlk Street and New Mill Street in close prozimity to each other. This would give a more precise location to the house abutting New Mill Street.
Here are a few houses on New Mill Street from Google Maps:
It looks like the house to the left had a widow’s walk on the roof.
Where Does the Bradford Fit in?
Val said that her ancestor was Stephen Bradford Gibbs. Yet, I have seen his middle name as also Bates or Bourne. Here is a marriage record from New Bedford in 1856:
This also lists Stephen’s birthplace as Nantucket, which I do not believe to be right. Also of interest is that Stephen is said to be living in New Bedford at the time of his marriage. Here is the rest of the story:
Judith was married to a Bradford previously. This is her second marriage and her parents are listed as Cole.
Also note that the bio above has him dying at his home on High Street. This is a way from Assowompsett Pond where he was believed to have built a home. This does not mean that he did not build a home there, but at the time of his death he was not living there according to the bio.
Here are some records as to the money that Stephen B Gibbs had at the timem of his death. It looks like Stephen believed in spreading out his savings.
It appears that this is likely where he lived:
Here is the intersection of High Stree and Pearl Street:
He must have lived at one of the four houses. This may be the house at 9 High Street:
It looks like I guessed right. Here is Stephen and his wife in 1900 at 9 HIgh Street:
One surprising thing is that Judith reported that she had 10 children, but only three are living.
So Where Are We?
- We have traced Val’s famiy from Alabama back to Middletown, NY and then back in Massachusetts. We found an account of Val’s
- We found Val’s third great-grandfather Stephen B Gibbs
- Stephen was likely born in Wareham, MA and moved with his family to Nantucket where by accounts he was a successful whaler and became a captain.
- Stephen became ill at some point perhaps on one of his trips to the Pacific Ocean and settled down in Middleborough after a brief stay in New Bedford, where he married his second wife.
- I was unable to link Stephen B Gibbs with the property that Val is on by Assawompsett Pond. However, this was just a first look at Val’s genealogy.
Some Things to Look into
These are just a few things I would find interesting:
- A lot more could be done with Registry of Deeds information.
- It would be possible to trace Val’s property back through various owners, assuming that they went through the Registry
- One account of Stephen B Gibbs had him buying a house for his father in Nantucket. It would be interesting to find that record and find out where the house was and see if it still exists.
- It would be interesting to trace some other ancestors back to colonial times to see if Val has any Pilgrim ancestors as Stephen was from Plymouth County.
Gibbs and the NEHGS Register
This is the New England Historical and Genealogical Society Register. They are an important source of good genealogies. Volume 123 from 1969 has a lot on early Gibbs. The article ends at Stephen’s father who was James Gibbs:
James is listed as the fourth child above. Jonathan would have been the right age to serve in the Revolutionary War. I accepted James’ parents hints at Ancestry based on the above:
Here is a burial card for Jonathan:
This would seem to confirm the East Wareham location for this branch of the Gibbs family. Here is some more information from Massachusetts, U.S., Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War:
Here is Jonathan’s grave stone:
Here is where the Agawam Cemetery is in East Wareham:
I am sure that I have driven by this Cemetery.
Micah Gibbs Born 1701
The NEGHS Register from 1969 has a lot of information on Micah:
As Jonathan appears to be the only surviving son, he inherited the father’s lands in Agawam.
Job Gibbs Born 1676
John Gibbs Born 1644
Thomas Gibbs Born 1615
Here are the ancestors of Stephen B Gibbs the whaling captain:
That means that Thomas Gibbs is Val’s 9th great-grandfather.
Summary and Conclusions
- Val has a lot of interesting ancestors. I traced only a few of them.
- I found some connections between my family and Val’s. I had some ancestors who lived in Nantucket also.
- I also had a pilgrim ancestor who lived in Sandwich at the time that Val’s ancestors lived there, so they likely knew each other.
- I focused a lot of Stephen B Gibbs as Val mentioned that he was a whaling captain. Sometimes these family stories turn out to not be true. But this story certainly was true.
- The best way to trace back the land Val lives on is through the Registry of Deeds. This would be through a series of transactions.