William Gibbons

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William Gibbons (1825 - June 28, 1886) was a pastor and prominent member of the Black community who was once enslaved at the University of Virginia.

Biography

Gibbons was born in 1825 at the plantation that is now Pen Park in Albemarle County.[1] It is likely that he was considered the property of Arthur Gibbons, a relative of the Cabell family in Albemarle. Arthur was a student at the UVA Medical School during the 1842-43 session, which is likely when William Gibbons first came to the University. By 1845, he appears in the records of Dr. Henry Howard, a professor of anatomy. However, he did not work in the Howard household; he was hired out to the home of William McGuffey, whose wife was Dr. Howard's daughter, Laura.[2]

For the majority of his tenure at UVA, Gibbons worked as a butler in Pavilion IX, in the center of life at the University. According to family letters, some members of the McGuffey household may have provided Gibbons with some form of education in reading and writing.[3] In the early 1850s, he married Isabella Gibbons, another member of the enslaved community at UVA. She was already literate when they married, which it is believed she learned from having eavesdropped during classes held in the homes of the man who enslaved her, physics professor Francis Smith. Their literacy and marriage were not legal in Virginia, as the education of enslaved people was explicitly banned in 1829.

There are not many records detailing Gibbons' life during enslavement, but he would go on to state he began preaching to the Charlottesville Black community in one form or another in 1844, possibly as an aid to a white pastor - enslaved people were not allowed to lead congregations at the time.[3] He was regarded as a "general favorite with all classes" and that in Charlottesville, "no man had more friends than he." [1]

Following emancipation, Gibbons sought to continue his life of service. In 1866, he was ordained a minister, and for a time in 1867 served as leader of the First Baptist Church at Delevan. However, his dedication to solely religious service and leadership meant that he was rejected by the more radical and politically active branches of Black community in Charlottesville.[3] Gibbons moved to Washington, D.C. around this time, where in November of 1868 he was appointed the pastor of the Zion Baptist Church. Zion Baptist had only 200 members when he took over the church, though throughout his tenure it would balloon to over 1,700.[1] Although he and Isabella did not live together at this time, as she remained in Charlottesville to teach at the Jefferson School, the two regularly visited one another.

In 1884, Gibbons sought out his first formal education at Howard University's Divinity school as a part-time student. He took classes there for two years, although he unfortunately died on a stroke on June 28, 1886, before he could finish the program.[3]

Gibbons' funeral was a massive event in Washington. His obituary was published on the front page of the Washington Post, and over 10,000 mourners gathered for services in the district.[2] After the service, his body was transported by train to Charlottesville, where a second service was held and where he was interred at Oakwood Cemetery - despite the fact that that cemetery was normally reserved for white residents of Charlottesville.[3]

The University of Virginia named a new residence hall after William and Isabella in 2014. [2]

References