Mifflin Wistar

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs (1823-1915) was an American-Canadian diplomat, judge and lawyer. As a young man in Philadelphia he was involved in the abolitionist movement. In 1850 Gibbs migrated west during the gold rush, and became a successful businessma in California, and founded Mirror of the Times, one of the first Black owned newspapers in the country. In 1858 Gibbs moved to Victoria, where he prospered as a prominent community leader. In the 1870's he returned to the United States, and became the first black man elected as a U.S. judge, and eventually became a the first African American diplomat.