City Directories and History: GIBBES HOUSE – Constructed circa 1805-10
“Robert Gibbes Jr., a Johns Island planter, lived in the suburban villa on this lot by 1819. The lot had been devised by his mother, Mary, from the estate of her brother, John Wragg. Gabriel Manigault in 1805 acquired a partial interest in this property from John Gibbes, father of Robert Gibbes Jr., but the disposition of his interest and any role he may have had in the construction of this house are unknown. Either Robert Gibbes Jr. or his father built the present plantation style dwelling. Robert sold the property to his brother Benjamin in 1825 and the property remained in the family until 1863. Apparently the late- nineteenth-century owner, William Moran, constructed the small one-story corner store in the front yard of the house. The kitchen building served a commercial use after the Civil War as a German bakery.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston – Author, for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
“The main house is a suburban villa in the Adamesque style, built sometime before 1819. The site was received in 1801 by Mary Gibbes , wife of John Gibbes, as part of her share of the estate of her uncle, John Wragg. The first known occupant of the house was her son Robert Gibbes, Jr. (named for his grandfather, Robert Gibbes , Sr.) , who is listed as living in John Street in the 1819 city directory. Robert Gibbes, Jr. ” a planter” was a descendant of Robert Gibbes (1644-1715), a Lords Proprietors Deputy Landgrave and Governor of South Carolina, and of Thomas Smith, Landgrave and Governor of South Carolina. He sold it in 1825 to his brother Benjamin Gibbes, in whose family it remained until 1863, when it was purchased by William Moran. lt was probably Moran who built the late 19th century commercial/residential structure which is attached to the main house. The present storefront was added in 1893 by John Hollings whose contractor, J.F. Wragge (no relation to the Wragg family) stamped his name and the date on the cast iron.” (Stockton, DYKYC, Oct. 30,1978.; Stockton, unpub. M.S.) – CCPL
Other sources: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61, Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917, Charleston 1861 Census Schedule, and a 1872 Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, S.C. The Hist. Charleston Foundation may also have additional data at: Past Perfect
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