In the late 1800s the machinery manufacturer and reseller W. H. Gibbes & Co. was established, probably by Wade Hampton Gibbes, Jr. with financing from Wade Hampton Gibbes, Sr. W. H. Gibbes, Jr.'s son, Alexander Mason Gibbes, joined the business at age 17 and by about age 21 was running the business and his father was county chairman and land commissioner. We do not have a lot of information on what they manufactured in those early years, but by 1903 they were manufacturing a shingle machine.

In about 1904 the business had reorganized as Gibbes Machinery Co. By 1908 they were manufacturing shingle machines and edgers. They were selling sawmills, lath mills, swing saw, and heavy and light planer-molders but it seems mostly likely that they were just dealers for these products (they were definitely a dealer for American Saw Mill Machinery Co.) Gibbes' machinery lineup lasted into the 1920s. Meanwhile, the Gibbes company was involved in automotive maintenance and dealership, becoming a Packard dealer and then a VolksWagen dealer and manufacturer of modified VW trucks and wagons.

Gibbes Machinery was a seller of steam and gasoline engines. They also sold small gasoline engines made by Reeves Pulley Co., and they may have made engines in-house as well.

Information Sources

• 1902 book Men of the Time: Sketches of Living Notables. A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous South Carolina Leaders.

  Gibbes, Alexander Mason.—Son of Major W. H. Gibbes, of Columbia. He was born December 11, 1877, at Columbia, South Carolina. He attended the graded schools of Columbia and spent a short time at the South Carolina College. At seventeen years of age he left college to assist in the machinery business of W. H. Gibbes & Company, and in a few years became manager. By his robust business acumen he has developed an immense trade; and though a modest young man, working in his own sphere, he is, at the age of twenty-three, regarded as one of the soundest business men in the Capital City.

  ...Gibbes, Wade Hampton.—Merchant. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, April 3, 1837. Prepared for college, by James H. Carlisle. Remained one year and a half, at the Arsenal in Charleston, preparatory to entering West Point, where he graduated in June, 1860. On November 14, 1860, he married Jane Allan. Resigned as lieutenant in United States army December 20, 1860. On the day that South Carolina seceded, was appointed lieutenant of the South Carolina Regulars; resigned to go to the army in Virginia. Served with Wise, in West Virginia, as major of artillery, Confederate States of America. Served as commander of conscript camp of Columbia part of 1861, then with Kirby Smith, in Kentucky; one year as commander of the post at Wilmington, North Carolina, and with Longstreet's corps, as major of artillery, from the Wilderness to Petersburg. Desperately wounded, and surrendered with Lee's Army at Appomattox. County treasurer of Richland, ten years; post-master four years and a half. Director of Central Bank twenty-one years. Member of the city council.

  Gibbes, Wade Hampton Jr.—State agent of the Equitable Life Insurance Company stationed at Columbia. Son of Alan Mason and Jane Gibbes. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, October 14, 1861. Acquired his education from the Carolina Military Institute, and South Carolina College. Married Heloise Weston, January 3, 1896. Formerly proprietor and manager of the supply business of W. H. Gibbes & Co. County chairman of Richland County, and member of the sinking fund commission of land.

  We could not find any information on Alan Mason; we conjecture that he was married to Jane but died while Jane was pregnant; she married W. H. Gibbes before the baby was born and the baby was named after Gibbes.
• 1903-07-30 Manufacturers Record.

  Engine.—W. H. Gibbes & Co., Columbia, S. C., are in market for a 125-horse-power detached engine, side-crank, with automatic governor, or with throttling governor; second-hand. Give full description.

• 1903-08-06 Manufacturers Record, in an article on "Trade Prospects in the Cotton Belt" (pages 40-41).

  John A. Hamilton, Jr., W. H. Gibbes & Co., machinery, Columbia, S. C.: "Our sales for the first six months of this year show an increase of about 50 per cent, over sales for the same period last year, and the indications are that trade will continue good throughout the year. The industrial development in this State has been very marked, numerous enterprises having been established, and others are being projected, with every assurance of success.

• 1903-10-15 Manufacturers Record has an illustrated article on the "Gibbes Portable Shingle Machine" from "W. H. Gibbes & Co., Columbia, S. C., manufacturers and dealers in saw and shingle mill machinery and mill machinery generally."
• April 1905 Packages.

  Gibbes Machinery Co., Columbia, S. C., is interested in securing plan for a tight barrel factory, with capacity for about 25,000 tight barrels yearly. The company wants ground plan, showing size of building, with foundation, machinery arrangement and an idea of power and dry kiln required.

• An ad in the June 1907 The Southern Planter from American Saw Mill Machinery Co. lists their agents in the Southern U.S., including "Gibbes Machinery Company, Columbia, S. C."
• May 1907 The Southern Planter has an ad from American Saw Mill Machinery Co. that lists Gibbes Machinery Co. as an agent for their sawmills.
• 1907-11-14 Manufacturers' RecordSkew Machinery.—Gibbes Machinery Co., 854 West Gervais street, Columbia, S. C., wants to correspond with makers of machinery for manufacturing meat skewers.
• 1908-07-09 Manufacturers' Record has a small ad: "Gibbes Machinery Co. / Founders and Machinists / Power Plants a Specialty / Steam and Gasoline Engines; Portable and Stationary Boilers; Sawmills; Edgers; Planers; Moulders; Lath, Stave and Shingle Mills; Grinding Mills; Ginning Machinery; Brick-making Outfits. / Anything in Machinery / Write for Catalog "G." Columbia, S. C."
• 1908-11-19 The Iron Age.

  The foundry of the Gibbes Machinery Company, Columbia, S. C., was destroyed by fire November 9.

• 1908-12-03 The Iron Age.

  The Gibbes Machinery Company, Columbia, S. C., is rebuilding its foundry, which was recently destroyed by fire, and has purchased practically all the equipment it will require.

• 1908-12-24 The Iron Age.

  Woodworking Machinery.—Gibbs Machinery Company, Columbia, S. C. Circulars. These illustrate and describe briefly the Gibbs sawmill, which is made in all the standard sizes; a portable shingle machine, an improved gang lath mill and bolter, a swing cut-off saw, a planer, matcher and molder for heavy work, and the Little Giant planer and molder for use in small planing mills and carpenter and cabinet shops.

• May 1912 The Concrete Age has an ad for a concrete mixer from Milwaukee Concrete Machinery & Mixer Co., which lists "Gibbs Machinery Co." of Columbia, S. C., as a representative.
• 1913-11-13 Farm Implement News has an ad for gasoline engines made by the Reeves Pulley Co., and Gibbes Machinery Co. of Columbia, SC, is listed as a "distributing jobber".
• November 1914 Packages has an ad from Gibbes Machinery Co., listing used veneer machinery for sale.
• 1915-09-30 Farm Implements lists "A. M. Gibbs, Gibbs Machinery Company, Columbia S. C." as a new member of the National Gas Engine Association.
• November 1917 The Wood-Worker has an ad for McDonough Manufacturing Co.'s new 54-inch resaw, and "Gibbs Machinery Co., Columbia, S. C." is listed as a dealer.
• Seen on eBay: 1919 letterhead for "Gibbes Machinery Company / Manufacturers and Jobbers / steam and gasoline engines, boilers, ginning machinery, saw mill and woodworking machinery, silo fillers, lighting plants, automobiles and accessories, motor car parts. / Gibbes' shingle machines, Gibbes edgers, drag saws, etc., threshers, corn mills, L. S. baling presses, machine tools, tractors, machine and repair shops and foundry."
• 1919-12-13 The Country Gentleman has an ad for American Saw Mill Machinery Co. that lists Gibbes Machinery Co. of Columbia, S. C., as a distributor of their sawmills.
• 1921-10-20 The Iron Trade Review.COLUMBIA, S. C.—The Gibbs Machinery Co. is changing its machine shop to electric drive and is installing special machinery to repair cotton gins, etc.
• There is a 1988 book by A. Mason Gibbes: Gibbes Machinery Company : a History, which we have not seen and seems not to have been published. The University of South Carolina's library possesses the only copy we could locate.