Move to New Jersey

In 1801, Gibbons moved north and purchased a summer house in Elizabethtown in New Jersey,^[1] where he purchased a large private dock facility a few years later.^[3] His neighbor was former United States Senator and New Jersey Governor Aaron Ogden.^[7]

Gibbons formed a partnership with Ogden, to operate steamboats. In 1817 Gibbons acquired a steam ferry, the Stoudinger, built by Allaire Iron Works, as a Hudson River ferry business between Elizabethtown and New Brunswick, New Jersey.^[8] In 1818, he acquired Bellona. Gibbons hired Cornelius Vanderbilt to captain the Bellona.^[1] Over the next few years, he also purchased Thistle, Swan, and Emerald.^[3] Vanderbilt biographer T.J. Stiles described Gibbons as "a staggeringly rich rice planter from Georgia."^[9] Gibbons turned out to be a mentor to Vanderbilt throughout his life.^[9]

In 1818, Gibbons broke his partnership with neighbor Aaron Ogden and started competing with him, just months before Gibbons hired Vanderbilt. Ogden had acquired rights to a steamboat monopoly in New York waters. The monopoly had been granted by the New York State Legislature to the politically influential patrician Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton, who had designed the steamboat. Both Livingston and Fulton had died by the time Vanderbilt started working for Gibbons. The monopoly was held by Livingston's heirs. They had granted a license to Ogden to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey. Gibbons launched his steamboat venture because of a personal dispute with Ogden, whom he hoped to drive into bankruptcy.^{[9]: 37–48} To accomplish this, he undercut Ogden's prices. Ogden then secured an injunction against Gibbons on October 21, 1818. This prompted Gibbons to bring a legal action to overturn the monopoly. The landmark legal case, known as Gibbons vs. Ogden, was fought all the way to the United States Supreme Court, where Gibbons, represented by Daniel Webster and U.S. Attorney General William Wirt, eventually won in 1824.^[1][10][11]

In 1820, six years before his death, Gibbons had built, by William, what is today known as the Thomas Gibbons Range, in Savannah's Ellis Square.^[12] He had owned the lot since 1809.^[13]

Descendants

Through his daughter Ann, he was the grandfather of Thomas Gibbons Trumbull, John Heyward Trumbull, and Hannah Gibbons Trumbull (1813–1876), who married Ralph Henry Isham, and Sarah Backus Trumbull (1815–1903), who married Daniel Coit Ripley (1812–1893).^[14][19] However, due to Gibbon's falling out with his son-in-law, no child of John Trumbull was able to inherit any piece of Gibbon's estate or property as dictated in Gibbons' scathing will.^[5]

Through his son William, he was the grandfather of Sarah Taintor Gibbons (1829–1909), who was married to Ward McAllister (1827–1895); and William Heyward Gibbons (1831–1887), William's only son.^[16] William Heyward sold the family mansion, known as the Gibbons Mansion, to Daniel Drew in 1867 for $140,000. Drew donated the mansion and grounds to found Drew Theological Seminary (now known as Drew University), named in his honor.^[20]