Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-10-14
INFLAMMATION. Ihursear. Dol. a. lS96.
rhs l.n,e wiIlIam G. albbona.


The LATE winIaU 6. Gibbona.
en- the midst Of life we are in death"
ia proverb Of which the people Of Viii
raiugton were called upon yesterday
week to witness an exemplifcstion
IN the sudden removal from their midst
OF one, of whom IL is but simple truth to
say, his place cannot be filled. For over
80 years Mr.. Gibbons hAd gone up and
down among us in the plenitude Of
vigorous life and health, a life with which |
most important business interests, affect
ing 10 a greater or less degree the well |
being of very large number |
OF our people, We're bound up,
were inseparable part aud parcel Com
ing to this city in HIS early !
manhood, fresh from the puternal farm,
he, by virtue of his indolnitable energy
and inherent brain power, become, almost
from his very advent, au approciablc
factor in the growth and Development Of
the community. AS he grew up into Tie
full stature of his vigorous manhood, it
is no fulsome eulogy TO say that he
pulled, not only the particular msnufac-
turing establishment with which he
identified himself, but the city Of Viii
mington, up with him. He made the
Pussy & Jones Company known through
out tho world, and voyagers in distant
seas often saw tho name of his adopted
for the first time upon the vessels
which hat, been sent thither from the
works of which no had made himself the
heart as well as the head.
We might we'll pause here to point the
youth of Wilmington to the moral which
the grand fruition of such a life-the
life prominently of self.made man
points; the powertulness with which it
teaches over again to all of them the old
lesson that "where there is will there is
way" Mr.. Gibbons was not the creature
of circumstances. Had he been, the
world would never have heard of him.
On the contrary he was n man, (and
therein lay the secret, not alone of his
own advancement but of the large in
fence which he grew to WELD, an in
fuence not bounded by local lines but
which became national in its scope,) who
rose superior TO circumstances. If they
did not seem to favor him. and that they
did not OF the start will be clear TO every
young man who peruses the story of his
life, he did not allow that to daunt
h.. He grappled with those disfavor-
ing circumstances and made them yield
he changed them from hindrances tc
helps. Lacking the opportunity in boy
natural talents so well fitted him, he mad
his way in early manhood o where tacil
tiles for repairing this drawback were
be had and securing clerical employmer
there, drew upon the evening hours fC
his appointed duties in order to civ
hours of daylight to the hard labor requ
site to familiarize him thoroughly wit
the practical part of the business Of whic
he was to become the leading spirit.
was in this way, by sheer hard, perseye
ing application and not by any favor
fortune, that Mr.. Gibbons made himsel
what he was recognized in high quartz
to be, the foremost scientific iron shi
builder in America.
And this was the man, one whom N
alone his native city but his country cou
i'll afford to spare, who went forth fro
the bosom of his family, in apparent
ralual haaiyH and strength on HI lai
o.drn Quincy to Ills office yestef5
ternoon. On the way thither death sto
in his path. Those mysterious bands,
which the profoundest philosophers a
scientists can tell us so little, that bind
earth for q season the undying man "
inhabits the corporal framework throu
which he is known during Ills stay Ii,
to us, suddenly snapped, and we speak
the friend, the public benefact N IN
large a sense of the word, that we ht
known here, as no longer Of earth
But his works will live after him I
solid, enduring good that lie ms wrous
has madehis name imperithable uisact
life was inseparably woven into his eli
history. OF his private life we rep
what we Baid yesterday, that those v
knew him best were his warmest frien
The ways Of Providence are inscruta
tomortal ken, but, trusting in The Wi8d
that doeth NIL things Well We lay t
humble tribute on his tomb.
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