Gibbons, William Heyward, ca. 1831-1887.

Savannah, Georgia resident and owner of Shaftesbury Plantation (a name generally applied to three island rice tracts called Shaftesbury, Mansfield, and Cypress Plantations) and Fairlawn Plantation (four mainland tracts called Fairlawn, Whitehall, Orange Valley [later Caton], and Pine Land) located in Chatham County, Georgia. William Heyward Gibbons (ca. 1831-1887) inherited his plantations from his father William Gibbons (d. 1852) who had augmented properties inherited from his father Thomas Gibbons (d.1826). Gibbons was a Major in the Confederate Army and suffered damage to his property and lands as the result of the Civil War. R.G. Cole and C.A.J. Sweat were managers of Shaftesbury Plantation.

Gibbons willed his plantations to his favorite nephew William Gibbons Lathrop (d. 1894). In 1879 C.A.J. Sweat took charge of Fairlawn and it was incorporated into Shaftesbury Plantation. R.G. Cole was a manager of Shaftesbury Plantation.