Page:The American Review Volume 02.djvu/95

1845.] late Joseph Gibbons, formerly of Georgia, then of New Jersey, and proprietor of another ferry from Elizabeth-town to New York, which had been rendered worthless, from his inability to compete with that which enjoyed the privilege of running steamboats under a license from the New York monopolists. Mr. Gibbons was a lawyer and a capitalist, and was, moreover, distinguished by certain personal characteristics, which rendered him altogether as fit an antagonist as could have been raised up to encounter single-handed the combined forces of Messrs. Livingston and Fulton, their associates, assigns, and licentiates. As a lawyer, he was of opinion that the monopoly was unconstitutional; as a capitalist, he was enabled to engage and persevere in an expensive and tedious litigation; and as a man, he was neither to be conciliated nor intimidated. He rejected all overtures to a treaty of peace and partition; and being confirmed in his opinions, and encouraged by the counsel he consulted, he resolved to run a steamboat on his ferry, in defiance of the monopoly. Upon her seizure, he contested its validity through the State Courts, and up to the Supreme National Tribunal, where alone the controversy could be finally settled, and there it was put to rest, by a decision in his favor.

This detail seems necessary, to complete the history given in your article, and by inserting this communication in your next number, you will contribute to the fuller information of your readers, and oblige

 

 VOL. II.—NO. I.