Josiah Willard Gibbs, Sr. (30 April 1790 – 24 March 1861) was a professor of theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and sacred literature at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

.

He was born in Salem, Massachusetts

Salem, Massachusetts

Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...

 and graduated from Yale in 1809. He was a tutor at the college from 1811 to 1815, when he removed to Andover, studying Hebrew and biblical literature. He returned to New Haven in 1824 as professor of theology and sacred literature, a post he retained until his death.

Gibbs was one of the key witnesses in the Amistad trial in 1839 – 1840. He had been able to locate a translator for the defendants' Mende language

Mende language

Mende is a major language of Sierra Leone, with some speakers in neighboring Liberia. It is spoken by the Mende people and by other ethnic groups as a regional lingua franca in southern Sierra Leone....

 by learning to count to ten in that language, and then counting out loud in the harbor of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 until he located a sailor, James Covey

James Covey

James Covey was the interpreter used in the Amistad slave ship case who spoke Mende and possibly other African languages....

, who was from West Africa and was able to understand and translate.

Gibbs was the father of physical chemist, engineer, and mathematician Josiah Willard Gibbs

Josiah Willard Gibbs

Josiah Willard Gibbs was an American theoretical physicist, chemist, and mathematician. He devised much of the theoretical foundation for chemical thermodynamics as well as physical chemistry. As a mathematician, he invented vector analysis . Yale University awarded Gibbs the first American Ph.D...

. Both are buried in New Haven's

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

 Grove Street Cemetery

Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven

Grove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground in New Haven, Connecticut is located adjacent to the Yale University campus. It was organized in 1796 as the New Haven Burying Ground and incorporated in October 1797 to replace the crowded burial ground on the New Haven Green...

.

He was portrayed by Austin Pendleton

Austin Pendleton

Austin Pendleton is an American film, television, and stage actor, a playwright, and a theatre director and instructor.-Life and career:...

 in the 1997 film Amistad.