Theodore K. Gibbs commissions (RLC.Ms.537)

Biographical note

Theodore K. Gibbs (1840-1909) was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1840 and was the youngest son of Rhode Island Governor, William Channing Gibbs (1790-1871) and Mary Kane (1800-1873). Gibbs enlisted in the United States Army in October 1861 as the second lieutenant of the 1st Regiment of the United States Artillery and served throughout the American Civil War (1861-1865). He was appointed first lieutenant on February 20, 1862, and earned his next two rankings for the injuries he suffered and his gallantry during the Battle of Olustee, Florida, in February 1864 and the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, in June 1864. He resigned from the Army on May 1, 1870, with the rank of major. Gibbs and his wife, Virginia Barrett (d. 1926), maintained homes in both New York City and Newport. Thomas K. Gibbs died on January 16, 1909.