William Gibbons, born around 1825 in Albemarle County, Virginia, was an African American who was enslaved by a professor at the University of Virginia. Despite his beginnings in slavery, Gibbons rose to prominence as a Baptist minister in Charlottesville and later in Washington, D.C.
Not much is known about William Gibbons’ early life, including the identity of his parents or his first enslavers. However, in the 1840s, he was sold to Dr. Henry Howard, a professor of anatomy and surgery at the University of Virginia. Gibbons, like many enslaved Africans at the time, was forced to labor for free at the university, where slaves played a vital role in maintaining the institution’s operations.
In the early 1850s, Gibbons married Isabella Gibbons, another enslaved woman at the university. Isabella served as a cook for Professor Francis Smith, a faculty member at the university. Together, they had four children, including a daughter named Bella.
After his time with Dr. Howard, Gibbons was hired out to another prominent university professor, William McGuffey, who, ironically, was the chair of moral philosophy. Gibbons served as a butler in McGuffey’s household, performing duties typical of an enslaved domestic worker.
Isabella Gibbons
Gibbons’ journey to freedom is largely tied to the events of the American Civil War which started in 1861 over the moral issue of slavery. With the abolition of slavery, Gibbon and countless other slaves were finally liberated. However, freedom did not erase the scars of their past. Gibbons, like many former slaves, had to carve out a new identity and role in a society that had long denied his humanity.
Upon gaining his freedom, William Gibbons turned to religion, which had long been a source of hope and strength for him; and like other Black worshippers in Virginia, he too began clamouring for the right to worship separately from the white churches, where they were relegated to balconies and treated as second-class congregants.
This desire for autonomy led to the formation of independent Black congregations. Many churches in Virginia split into separate Black and white congregations, though initially, Black churches were still required by law to have white ministers and trustees.
In 1866, a year after the civil war that brought significant legal changes which allowed more freedom for Black leadership in religious spaces, William Gibbons was ordained as a Baptist minister and took on the role of pastor at the First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, the city’s first Black church. Under his leadership, the church acquired its own building, a former hotel known as the Delevan Hotel, and was renamed Delevan Baptist Church. Gibbons played a crucial role in helping his congregation, many of whom were formerly enslaved, adjust to their new lives as free citizens. His wife, Isabella, also contributed to the community by teaching at a school for formerly enslaved children, which was located in the basement of the church.
In 1867, Gibbons moved to Washington, D.C., where he became the pastor of Zion Baptist Church. Under his leadership, the church flourished, growing from 200 to 1,700 members. His powerful sermons and strong leadership drew large crowds, and he became a respected figure in the Black community in Washington.
William Gibbons passed away in June 1886, leaving behind his lovely wife and children. His funeral in Washington, D.C., was attended by over 5,000 mourners, as reported by the national republican newspaper. The entire board of Zion Baptist Church accompanied his remains to Charlottesville, where he was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. After his wife Isabella’s death in 1890, her remains were also transported to Charlottesville and interred beside her husband.
