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Addison Crandall Gibbs Papers, 1858-1886

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Gibbs, A. C. (Addison Crandall), 1825-1886.
Title
Addison Crandall Gibbs Papers
Dates
1858-1886 (inclusive)
Quantity
4 cubic feet, (9 document cases)
Collection Number
Mss 685 (collection)
Summary
Papers of Addison Crandall Gibbs, Republican governor of Oregon from 1862-1866, consisting primarily of official and business correspondence. Also included are family materials, legal materials, files on the Oregon State Penitentiary, files on public lands, and a scrapbook compiled during Gibbs's stay in London at the end of his life.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Addison Crandall Gibbs, known as the Wartime Governor of Oregon, was born in East Otto, New York, July 9, 1825. He came to Oregon in 1852 and promptly secured a donation land claim at the mouth of the Umpqua River. In 1853, he volunteered for service in the Rogue River Indian War, later serving as a commissioner for the Rogue River Indian Claims. From 1853-1857, Addison served the Umpqua district as a representative in the territorial legislature and as a customs collector.

Gibbs married Margaret M. Wilkins in 1854, while on a trip to New York, then returned to the Umpqua area in 1858. In that year, the Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs made their home in Portland, where Addison began his law practice with George H. Williams. In 1860 he was elected to the state legislature representing Multnomah County. When the Union Republican Party was formed, Gibbs was one of the first to join. He was the party's nominee for governor in 1862 and won the election. He was a strong Union supporter who raised volunteers from around the state for the Union army and was also instrumental in founding the Union League, which opposed the pro-southern Knights of the Golden Circle.

When his term of office ended in 1866, Governor Gibbs returned to his private law practice until 1872, when, by order of President Ulysses S. Grant, he became the U. S. Attorney for the state of Oregon. Returning again to private life and business, he served on the board of Willamette University and traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe. While on a business trip to London, the Governor fell ill with pneumonia and died on December 29, 1886.

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Content Description

The Addison Crandall Gibbs collection contains a large quantity of correspondence, both personal and official, from other individuals to the Governor. Also included is a group of documents from Gibbs's tenure as an appointed or an elected official.

Boxes 1 and 2 are correspondence, arranged alphabetically, to the Governor on various topics dealing with his time as a lawyer, businessman, governor, and Union supporter. The letters range from the late 1850s to his death in 1886. Box 3, while containing two folders of family correspondence, primarily contains documents pertaining to Gibbs's official duties. This includes requests for pardons, Rogue River Commission Claims, the Union League, and public lands information. Box 4 contains two volumes belonging to Gibbs. Volume 1 is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings which Gibbs compiled and commented upon while he was staying in London in 1885. Volume 2 is a letterpress copy book containing letters dealing exclusively with state lands.

Correspondents include: Benjamin Alvord, Jesse Applegate, Asahel Bush, George Byron Currey, Matthew Paul Deady, Benjamin Franklin Dowell, John Miller Drake, James Webster, Perit Huntington, Reuben F. Maury, James Willis Nesmith, William Henry Seward, Leland Stanford, George Henry Williams, and others. Subject include: the Oregon State Militia, the Oregon State Penitentiary, Indian affairs, internal secession movement, land grants, railroad construction, Union League, and other public affairs.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

Also available as Mss 685 Microfilm in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Addison C. (Crandall) Gibbs Papers, Mss 685, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series

  • Series A: General correspondence, circa 1854-1886
  • Series B: Official and family papers, circa 1853-1886
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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Governors — Oregon — Correspondence
  • Indians of North America — Oregon — Government relations
  • Indians of North America — Oregon — Wars
  • Military roads — Oregon
  • Prisons — Oregon
  • Railroads — Oregon

Personal Names

  • Alvord, Benjamin, 1813-1884 — Correspondence
  • Applegate, Jesse, 1811-1888 — Correspondence
  • Bush, Asahel, 1824-1913 — Correspondence
  • Currey, George Byron, 1833-1906 — Correspondence
  • Deady, Matthew P. (Matthew Paul), 1824-1893 — Correspondence
  • Dowell, Benjamin Franklin, 1826-1897 — Correspondence
  • Drake, John Miller, 1830-1913 — Correspondence
  • Gibbs, A. C. (Addison Crandall), 1825-1886 — Correspondence (creator)
  • Huntington, John Webster Perit, 1831-1869 — Correspondence
  • Maury, Reuben F., 1821-1906 — Correspondence
  • Nesmith, James Willis, 1820-1885 — Correspondence
  • Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872 — Correspondence
  • Stanford, Leland, 1824-1893 — Correspondence
  • Williams, George Henry, 1823-1910 — Correspondence

Corporate Names

  • Oregon State Penitentiary — Archives

Geographical Names

  • Oregon — Militia
  • Oregon — History — Civil War, 1861-1865
  • Oregon — History — To 1859
  • Oregon — Politics and government — 1859-1950

Form or Genre Terms

  • Letters
  • Pardons
  • Proclamations
  • Receipts
  • Scrapbooks
  • Vouchers

Collection processed by Timothy G. Elston
1996

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