George Gibbs lived in China. Studied in Paris. Gibbs knew Fenimore Cooper, and Samuel Mitchill. Luther Bradish was his son-in-law.

Through this relationship, Bradish would have had easy access to Samuel Mitchill. This could be how Martin Harris ended up visiting Mitchill in NY.

The Last of the Mohicans Written at Gibbs’ Home

Gibbs was born at Newport, Rhode Island. He served his business apprenticeship in Canton, China, before studying in Europe. He was first at Lausanne and then in Paris where he  studied mineralogy under Heinrich von Struve and became friends with the leading European mineralogists of the day. He continued his travels and by the time he returned to Rhode Island he had collected the largest and most valuable collection of minerals ever seen in the States. His 20,000-piece collection that he kept in his mansion in Newport included the 4,000-piece collection of Jean Gigot d'Orcy (1733–1793) and the 6,000-piece collection of Gregoire de Razumowsky. In 1805, he was given the rank of Colonel on being appointed aide-de-camp to the Governor of Rhode Island. In 1811, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 1822, he was elected Vice-President of the New York Lyceum of Natural History. In 1825, he sold his entire mineral collection to Yale University for $20,000, but this did not stifle his interest. The mineral "Gibbsite" is named for him and he published articles both in the American Mineralogical Journal and the American Journal of Science. He lived between Sunswick in New York and his other mansion in Newport. He married Laura, daughter of Oliver Wolcott Jr., U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and they were the parents of seven children.

George Gibbs in early life was sent to China as supercargo in one of the ships of Gibbs and Channing, as his father intended that his son should succeed him in his business. However, a life of cultivated leisure attracted the young man strongly and upon returning from China he went to Europe, where he spent some years in study. While in France he had the opportunity of meeting many important and interesting people of the Directoire, among whom may be mentioned Mme. Recamier. He returned with a very fine collection of minerals, derived from the purchase of two noted European cabinets. The whole comprised over r 0,000 specimens, making it, at the time the largest collection in America.