Oliver Wolcott Gibbs was born in
New York City in 1822 to George and Laura Gibbs. His father, Colonel
George Gibbs, was an ardent
mineralogist; the mineral
gibbsite was named after him, and his collection was finally bought by
Yale College. Oliver was the younger brother of
George Gibbs and older brother to
Alfred Gibbs, who became a
Union Army Brigadier General during the
American Civil War. Alfred Gibbs son, John Blair Gibbs, was the Acting Assistant Surgeon killed in the
Battle of Guantánamo Bay during the
Spanish–American War. His mother was a granddaughter of
Founding Father Oliver Wolcott, who served as
Governor of Connecticut and was a signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence. Entering
Columbia College (now
Columbia University) in 1837, Wolcott (he dropped the name "Oliver" at an early date) graduated in 1841. Having assisted
Robert Hare at
University of Pennsylvania for several months, he next entered the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, qualifying as a doctor of medicine in 1845. That same year, he was elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society. Gibbs became the
Rumford professor at
Harvard University in 1863, a post he held until his retirement in 1887 as
professor emeritus. After retirement, he moved to
Newport, Rhode Island, where he worked for about a decade in his own private laboratory. Gibbs's research was mainly in analytical and
inorganic chemistry, especially the
cobalt-amines,
platinum metals, and complex acids. Gibbs was also the founder of
The Union League Club in New York City. In 1862 he proposed to fellow
Sanitary Commission Executive Committee member
Frederick Law Olmsted that a patriotic club be formed in New York City and in January 1863 formally proposed the same to leading men in
New York City, resulting in the formation of
The Union League Club in February 1863. == Commemorations ==