George Gibbs (1735-1803)

He started his career as a grain merchant at Newport, Rhode Island, before founding the shipping firm of Gibbs & Channing which at its peak owned 75-ships that traded with all corners of the world. For a period, he was the business partner of Captain Joseph Anthony before taking his brother-in-law, Walter Channing, on as his partner in 1792. In 1787, he married (as his second wife) Mary Channing and they were the parents of the celebrated mineralogist, George Gibbs III, and William C. Gibbs, Governor of Rhode Island. They lived in the house opposite the Old Mill a Newport.