Gibbs Family Papers | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The digitized content of the Gibbs Family Papers consists of the papers of the Rowley family, a family related to the Gibbs family. Materials include correspondence, and legal and financial papers from 1838-1863. Justus A. Gibbs was born in Florence, New York, and moved to Illinois in 1836. He became a teacher in Harkness Grove, and then purchased a farm in Elmwood, Illinois. He soon after married Betty Smith in 1838. Ichabod Rowley was one of twelve children of Justus and Betty Gibbs.

The digitized content contains the correspondence, and legal and financial papers of the Rowley family from 1838-1863. Most correspondence is between Dexter M., Eliza H., Helen Rowley, and their Pulsipher family cousins.

The Gibbs Family Papers, 1830-2012 (MS 053) were partially digitized in 2019.  Items are available online at the University of Illinois Digital Library. A preservation copy of the items is available to IHLC and digital preservation staff at the Library Digital Repository: https://medusa.library.illinois.edu/collections/1402