Last night I stumbled onto the Oberlin city website and found a wealth of historical and genealogical material. Among other things, Maria Alexander Gibbs is listed in the city directories from 1873 to 1902—first as "Mrs. M.W. Gibbs," then as "Mrs. M.A. Gibbs." Her daughters Ida and Hattie (Harriet) were sometimes listed as sharing her residence.
I've also found an 1850 Oberlin census that lists several young "mulatto" women from Kentucky named Alexander; I presume they were Maria's sisters or cousins. But I still haven't found any record of her death, or any indication of an occupation. She may have devoted herself to raising the children, and presumably Mifflin Gibbs provided support.
The Gibbses were a remarkable family, and it's frustrating to find so little of their lives is recorded—even Mifflin's life.
I am working on a collective biography of the family of Mifflin Wistar Gibbs and Maria Alexander Gibbs, including their years in British Columbia. Focussing on their daughter, Ida Gibbs Hunt, b Victoria 1862, m William Henry Hunt 1904, d Washington, DC, 1957
Posted by: adele logan alexander | January 24, 2009 at 02:43 PM
My book which focusses on Ida Gibbs Hunt and her husband, William Henry Hunt, is coming out from the University of Virginia Press this month (2/2010). It has lots of information about Ida's parents (Mifflin Wistar Gibbs and Maria Alexander Gibbs) and their decade in Victoria, Vancouver (1857-1868) where Ida was born in 1862. The title is Parallel Worlds: The Remarkable Gibbs Hunts and the Enduring (In)significance of Melanin.
Adele Logan Alexander (alalex@gwu.edu)
Posted by: Adele Logan Alexander | January 31, 2010 at 02:53 PM
Congratulations on your book, Adele! I really look forward to reading it.
Posted by: Crawford | January 31, 2010 at 04:02 PM