Chapters: "A Friend" - an essay on the life of Daniel Gibbons by his daughter-in-law, Phoebe Earle Gibbons --- Anecdotes by an unknown friend --- Joseph Gibbons (1818 to 1883 ) obituary from the Lancaster New Era --- Tribute to Levi Johnson by Marianna Gibbons as printed in Lancaster New Era --- Excerpts pertaining to Levi Johnson from the diaries of Phoebe Gibbons and Marianna Gibbons --- "The Underground Railroad " a paper written by Marianna Gibbons Brubaker --- Newspaper articles : "County Duck Farm Unique in Pennsylvania " ; " Underground Railroad stop Holds Pre-Civil War Proof " ; " The Gibbons House . "
Phebe Earle Gibbons was from a prominent Quaker family. The diary covers years 1849, 1854, 1855, 1856 and 1857. "MRS. PHOEBE EARLE GIBBONS, a lady of literary tastes, was born in Philadelphia, August 9th, 1821. Her father,Thomas Earle, was a man of great note in his day, and in1840 was the first candidate of the Liberty party for Vice President. The subject of this sketch was well educated in select schools in Massachusetts, and taught in Mr. Picot's French school in Philadelphia and elsewhere for some years. In 1845 she was married to Dr. Joseph Gibbons of Lancaster County. In 1861 she began the study of Greek, with Professor William M. Nevin, of Lancaster. A portion of the Odyssey, translated by her was published in the Ladies' Friend of Philadelphia. A small medical work was translated by her from the French, for Lindsay and Blakistoa, which was published in 1866. She has also translated a portion of the Herman and Dorothea of Goethe. At different times she has written articles for magazines. In 1872 she published a small volume, entitled " Pennsylvania Dutch," a portion of which originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. Mrs. Gibbons is an active member of the Lancaster Linnaean Society. She is a lady of varied acquirements and marked intellectual capacity." [Biographical History of Lancaster County by Alexander Harris.]
