Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/295

 GIBBONS

GIBBONS

parochial schools in Petersburg and Portsmouth, Va.; and enlarged St. Joseph's female orphan asylum, Richmond, Va. In 1877 Archbishop Bayley asked to have Bishop Gibbons appointed his coadjutor. On May 20, 1877, he was nomi- nated and on July 29, 1877, was made titular bishop of Jinopolis, with right of succession to the primatial see of Baltimore. Archbishop Bayley died, Oct. 3, 1877, and by virtue of his nomina- tion, Bishop Gibbons became archbishop of Balti- more and at the age of forty-three he was the highest ecclesiastical dignitary of the Roman Catholic church in the United States. He headed the delegation of American prelates who visited Rome in 1883 to represent the affairs of the churcli in the United States at the Vatican, and to outline the work of the third plenary council, to meet in 1884. Pope Leo XIII. ap- pointed Archbishop Gibbons to preside over the council and showed him other favors. The Amer- ican college in Rome, the property of the Amer- ican residents in Rome and of the Catholics in the United States who had contributed to its erection and maintenance, was confiscated by the Italian government and Archbishop Gibbons made the matter the subject of a pastoral on his return home. In directing the proceedings of the third plenary council, he co-operated in the enactment of many important new decrees, made necessary by the progress and development of Catholicism in America; and these acts and decrees were, after mature deliberation, approved by the ecclesiastical authorities. Leo XIII. exi>ressed his approval of the action and course of Arch- bishop Gibbons and created him cardinal, June 7, 1886. The twenty-fifth anniversary of his or- dination as a priest, June 30, 1886, was selected by him as the date on which he would be invested with the insignia of the rank of cardinal. The occasion was one of pomp and brilliancy, and an embassy from Leo XIII. brought the following message: "Present to Cardinal Gibbons our af- fectionate paternal benediction. We remember him with the most cordial esteem and believe we could not confer the hat upon a more worthy prelate." Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis reji- resented the Pope and bestowed the insignia of his office upon the newly made cardinal. Cardi- nal Gibbons sailed for Europe, Jan. 29, 1887, to receive the apostolic benediction and to be admitted to membership in the college of cardi- nals, the twenty-fifth in succession. While in Rome he interpreted to the Pope the democratic spirit of American Catholicism in respect to the labor organizations in the United States and the exact relation existing between the employers and the employed. He was installed as pastor of his titular church, March 2.5, 1887. and was assigned to the church of Santa Maria in Tras-

tevere, a church of great antiquity, on the Tiber. He reached America on his return. Nov. 10, 1887, and was received by his people with manifesta- tions of profound respect. He laid the corner- stone of the Catholic university of America in Wa.shington, D.C., May 24, 1888, dedicated the divinity building, Nov. 13, 1889, and was chan- cellor of the institution from its foundation. On November 1 1-12 he assembled a Catholic congress at Baltimore made up entirely of laymen, the first of its kind in the existence of the church. He published; Faith of Our Fathers (1876); Our C'hrisliini Ilcritfifje (1889); and Tfie Ambassador of Christ (1890).

GIBBONS, James 5loan, philanthropist, was born in Wilmington, Del., July 1, 1810; son of Dr. William and Rebecca (Donaldson), grand- son of James and Eleanor (Peters) Gibbons; and great^ grandson of John Gibbons and Marjory his wife, eminent members of the Society of Friends, who settled near Chester, Pa., in 1681. He attended private schools in Wilmington and began business life in Philadel- phia, Pa., as a merchant. In 1835 he removed to New York city where he became interested in financial subjects. He was one of the leaders in the anti-slavery agitation, was connected with his father-in-law, Isaac T. Hopper, in the publi- cation of the Anti-Slarery Standard, and was disowned from the Society of Friends for support- ing a paper " calculated to excite discord and disunity among Friends." His house was one of the first that was sacked by the mob at the time of the draft riots in New York city. He was prominent in many philanthropic movements, notably in seeing that friendless criminals had counsel, and was the originator of the movement for the preservation of the forests, which led to " Arbor Day." On Feb. 14, 1833, he was married to Abby, daughter of Isaac Tatem and Sarah (Tatum) Hopper of Philadelphia. He contrib- uted to various literary and financial periodicals and in July, 1862, on the occasion of Lincoln's calling for 300,000 volunteers to join the army, wrote IIV? are Cnining, Father Abraham. He also wrote The Banks of New York, their Dealers, the Clearimj- House, and the Panic of 1857 (1808); and riie Public Debt of the United States (1867). He died in New York city, Oct. 17, 1893.

GIBBONS, Joseph, philanthropist, was born near Lancaster, Pa., Aug. 14, 1818; a descendant of John Gibbons, an English Quaker, who settled in Pennsylvania about the time of Penn. Joseph vpas graduated from JefTerson medical college, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1845. He became interested in the anti-slavery movement and with his father aided over one thousand slaves to escape by means of the Underground Railroad. He also spent much time and money in advancing