Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs

Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, Class of 1852, was born the son of free parents in Philadelphia in 1821. Mr. Gibbs apprenticed in the carpenter trade until he went to Dartmouth College at age twenty-one. He was the third black to graduate from the College in 1852. Jonathan C. Gibbs studied for two years at the Princeton Theological Seminary after graduating from Dartmouth. Mr. Gibbs opened a private school for freedmen in Charleston, South Carolina after which he went to Florida. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1868 as one of eighteen black delegates. Mr. Gibbs was then appointed as Secretary of State and served until January of 1873. Later that same year, he was appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction where he served until his death. Mr. Gibbs was also instrumental in introducing the bill which established what is now known as Florida A&M University. Jonathan C. Gibbs died suddenly at his desk. The documented cause of death is a stroke but speculation produces the possibility that he was poisoned. He was not much liked by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Documentation shows that he often slept in his attic in the event of a KKK attack. Mr. Gibbs died on August 14, 1874 in Tallahassee, Florida at age forty-eight.

(Ed. Note: The letter to the left was written by Mr. Gibbs in 1869 and details his accomplishments to date. Please see Ms. 869357.5. Click image for larger version.)