Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography

Thousands of short American lives — soldiers, inventors, preachers, governors, novelists — each given a paragraph: born where, did what, and why anyone remembered.

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Gerry, Elbridge – Gibbons, Joseph

Printed page 397 of Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography (1898) · 31 lives

Gerry, Elbridge

signer of the declaration of independence, was born July 17, 1744, in Marblehead, Mass. He was a member of the legislature in 1773, and was appointed on the committee on correspondence. From 1776 to 1785 he was a delegate to the continental congress, and signed the declaration of independence; and also the articles of confederation. He was a representative in the federal congress from 1789 to 1793; and in 1797 was appointed minister to France. He was governor of Massachusetts in 1810 and 1811. In 1813 he was inaugurated vicepresident of the United States; and filled the office until his death. He died Nov. 23, 1814, in Washington, D. C.

Gerry, Elbridge

lawyer, congressman, was born Dec. 6, 1815, in Waterford, Maine. In 1840 he was clerk of the house of representatives of Maine; and in 1843 was elected state's attorney for Oxford county. In 1846 he was elected to the state legislature; and was a representative in congress from Maine from 1849 to 1851.

Gerry, Elbridge Thomas

lawyer, was born Dec. 25, 1837, in New York city.

In 1867 he served the state as a member of the convention to revise the state constitution. In 1874 he was conspicuous in founding the society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and since 1879-has been its president. was

Gerry, James

congressman, born in Maryland. He was a representative in congress from Pennsylvania from 1839 to 1843.

Gerry, Samuel Lancaster

artist, was born May 10, 1813, in Boston, Mass. He was an original member of the Boston Art club, and its president in 1858. Among his works are The Gorge of the Rhine; The Old Man of the Mountain; Pasture Gate; and Land of Beulah.

Gervais, John Lewis

congressman, was born Oct. 8, 1753, in Germany. He was a delegate from South Carolina to the continental congress from 1782 to 1783.

He died Oct. 2, 1798, in Charleston, S. C.

Gescheidt, Louis Anthony

physician, author, was born Feb. 19, 1808, in Germany. He came to this country in 1835, and settled in New York, where he became prominent in his profession, and in 1870 retired with a fortune. He published a work on Diseases of the Eye. He died Aug. 20, 1876, in Hastings, N. Y.

Gest, William H

lawyer, congressman, was born Jan. 7, 1838, in Jacksonville, Ill. He has been engaged in the practice of law since 1862 in his native city. He was elected to the fiftieth congress, and was re-elected to the fifty-first congress as a republican.

Getty, George Franklin

lawyer, was born Oct. 17, 1855, in Grantsville, Md. He received his education at the Smithville academy, Ohio; graduated from the Ohio Normal university in 1879; and from the law department of the Michigan university in 1882. He is one of the leading lawyers of Minnesota, and has a lucrative practice in Minneapolis.

He has been circuit court commissioner; master in chancery, and is general counsel for several of the largest life insurance companies.

Getty, George Washington

soldier, was born Oct. 20, 1819, in Georgetown, D. C. He fought against the Seminoles in 1849-50 and 1856-67; and took part in quelling the Kansas disturbances of 1857-58. During the civil war he attained the rank of brigadier-general.

Getz, J. Lawrence

lawyer, journalist, congressman, was born Sept. 14, 1821, in Reading, Pa. He was for twenty years the editor of the Reading Gazette and Democrat. In 1856 he was elected to the state legislature; and in 1857 re-elected and made speaker of the house. In 1866 he was elected a representative from Pennsylvania to the fortieth congress; and was re-elected to the forty-first and forty-second congresses as a democrat.

Geyer, Henry Sheffie

soldier, lawyer, United States senator, was born Dec. 9, 1790, in Fredericktown, Md. He was an active member of the first two sessions of the state legislature, and was chosen speaker during his second term.

He served from 1851 to 1857 in the United States senate; and while in Washington participated as attorney in the Dred Scott case. He died March 5, 1859, in St. Louis, Mo.

Gherardi, Bancroft

naval officer, was born Nov. 10, 1832, in Jackson, La.

He entered the navy from Massachusetts as midshipman in 1846. He was made lieutenant-commander in 1862.

Ghiselin, George R

diplomat, was born in 1824, in Staunton, Va. During the civil war he was ambassador to England for the southern confederacy. He died Sept. 11, 1890, in New York city.

Gholson, James H

congressman, was born in 1798 in Virginia. He was a representative in congress from Virginia from 1833 to 1835. He died July 2, 1848, in Brunswick, Va.

Gholson, Samuel Jameson

jurist, congressman, was born May 19, 1808, in Madison county, Ky. He was a representative in congress from Mississippi from 1837 to 1838; and was subsequently appointed United States judge for the district of Mississippi. He died Oct. 16, 1883, in Aberdeen, Miss.

Gholson, Thomas

congressman. He was a representative in congress from Virginia from 1808 to 1816.

Gholson, William Yates

jurist, author, was born in 1807 in Virginia. He was an Ohio jurist who published Speeches on Payment of the Public Debt of the United States. He died Sept. 21, 1870, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gianque, Florien

lawyer, author, was born in 1843 in Ohio. He is a Cincinnati lawyer of Swiss descent; and the author of Laws of Election in Ohio; Election and Naturalization Laws of the United States; Manual for Ohio Road Supervisors; Manual for Guardians and Trustees; Manual for Assignees, Insolvent Debtors, etc.; Laws of Ohio Relating to Roads, Ditches, Bridges, and Water- Courses; Manual for Notaries, etc.; and Appendix to Ohio Revised Statutes.

Gibbens, Alvaro Franklin

historian, journalist, poet, was born March 1, 1837, in Parkersburg, W. Va. He graduated in 1860, and received the degree of A. M. in 1865 from Jefferson college, Pennsylvania. He studied law but never practiced; taught in Baptist college of La Grange, Mo., in 1861; was editor of Parkersburg Gazette in 1865; of West Virginia Journal, 1870 to 1876; of State Tribune, 1881 to 1885; elder in Kanawha Presbyterian church; was corresponding member of the international executive committee of the Young Men's Christian association in 1873; was postmaster at Charleston for years; member of the republican state executive committee eight years; contributor to Masonic Review and other fraternal and literary magazines of poems and prose articles; delivered in 1885, at class reunion, the quarter-centennial poem; co-editor of Prominent Men of West Virginia; and editor of a History of Wood County; and is vice-president and charter member of the West Virginia State Historical and Antiquarian society.

Gibbes, Robert Wilson

physician, educator, journalist, scientist, was born July 8, 1809, in Charleston, S. C. He was a physician, educator and journalist of Columbia, S. C.; and the author of Monograph of the Squalidæ; Typhoid Pneumonia; Documentary History of South Carolina; and Documentary History of the American Revolution. He died in 1866.

Gibbes, Robert Wilson

surgeon, was born June 10, 1831, in Columbia, S. C.

He was professor of surgery in the university of South Carolina in 1872-73, and was a frequent contributor to the literature of his profession. He died Oct. 23, 1875, in Columbia, S. C.

Gibbes, William Hasell

soldier, lawyer, was born March 16, 1754, in Charleston, S. C. He was one of the thirty native Americans residing in London who petitioned the king against the series of acts of parliament that were the immediate cause of the revolution. He died in 1831.

Gibbon, John Oliver

soldier, author, was born April 20, 1827, in Holmesburg, Pa. He was a major-general in the federal army during the civil war who published The Artillerist's Manual. He died in 1896.

Gibbons, Abigail Hopper

philanthropist, was born Dec. 7, 1801, in Philadelphia, Pa. She was one of the founders of the Isaac T. Hopper home in New York. She died in 1893.

Gibbons, Charles

lawyer, state senator, was born March 30, 1814, in Wilmington, Del. He was for several years a member of the state senate and its president in 1847; chairman of the first republican state committee; one of the founders of the Union league; and the author of its constitution.

GIBBONS, .

EDWARD, soldier, merchant, state legislator, was born in England. He was a merchant in Boston, and a state representative during 1838-47. He served in the Mexican war during 1849-51 as major-general. He died Dec. 9, 1854, in Boston, Mass.

Gibbons, Henry

physician, author, was born Sept. 20, 1808, in Wilmington, Del. He was a physician of San Francisco, professor in the Pacific Medical college and was the author of an anti-tobacco treatise, Tobacco and Its Effects. He died Nov. 5, 1884, in Wilmington, Del.

Gibbons, James

educator, was born May 18, 1736, in Westtown, Pa. He was a member of the general assembly of Pennsylvania for the three years immediately preceding the declaration of independence. He died Oct. 17, 1823, in Birmingham, Pa.

Gibbons, James

clergyman, author, was born July 23, 1834, in Baltimore, Md. He is a cardinal of the Roman catholic church since 1886; and the author of The Faith of Our Fathers; Our Christian Heritage; and The Ambassador of Christ.

Gibbons, James Sloan

merchant, author, was born July 1, 1810, in Wilmington, Del. He was a prominent financier and philanthropist of New York city. He was the author of The Banks of New York; and The Public Debt of the United States. He wrote the popular war song, We Are Coming, Father Abraham.

Gibbons, Joseph

journalist, philanthropist, was born Aug. 14, 1818, near Lancaster, Pa. He was the first candidate of the liberty party for vice-president of the United States in 1840. He was regarded as one of the founders of the republican party in his native state. He established the Friends' Journal in 1873. He died Dec. 9, 1883, in Lancaster, Pa.

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