George Gibbs receipt (RLC.Ms.516)

Biographical note

George Gibbs (1776-1833) was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on January 7, 1776, the son of Mary Channing and George Gibbs, Jr. (1755-1803), a wealthy merchant. While a young man traveling abroad to learn the mercantile business, Gibbs developed a strong interest in mineralogy thereby devoting much of his time and money to the collection of minerals. By the time Gibbs returned to Rhode Island, he had the largest and most valuable mineral collection seen in the United States up to the time with more than twenty thousand minerals. He first exhibited his massive collection in Newport and gained the attention of Benjamin Stillman, a professor at Yale University. In 1811, Gibbs agreed to put some of his collection on exhibit at Yale and eventually sold his collection to Yale in 1825 for $20,000. George Gibbs died on August 6, 1833.