This page contains several documents of the Gibson Family transcribed from copies of the originals. Comments are made after each, if warranted. The links below can be followed to the document of your choice:
This letter was written by Samuel Anderson Gibson, in Bell County, Texas to Matthew Gibson, in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri sometime during the 1870s. We don't know what specifically is being discussed here, but it appears to be related to the settlement of some property dispute. At the time, Samuel Gibson would have been the oldest surviving member of the original Gibson family which moved from Rutherford County, Tennessee to Neosho, Newton County, Missouri. He left Newton County shortly after the Civil War and moved his family to Birdsdale, Bell County, Texas. It is possible he had some remaining stake in the original family property in Newton County, Missouri that is being discussed here:
Well Matthew you go to Nate and Willey tell them to have that land sold at Bullicks
sale for cash and divide it into 7 shars then yoy hve got it then the deed I gave
would ne nul and void and the note I hold against you would be the same as nothings
then you can send me my part taking out the $85 because we would have to give a deed to
who ever may buy it as to the money sent me it took it all to pay Esters cancer
bill it would be useless to send it back to you any way [there was about 1/2
of a line that was unreadable on the original] as well as they can as to the other airs
they will have to take just what falls to them They have no room to
grumble it surprised me to hear of the death of Nancy well Matthew the
old stock will soon ne gone but there is young enough coming on to fill their places the
Boy hare had an offer for our plas $2500 -- 1000 in money and the balance in land at 100
dollars per acre they won't take is old Bill
Tingle still living I heard he was geting snakes in his boots rite soon
Sam
ps when you write tell us how Ambrose is geting on I recon you don't no much
about the old disipe well Matthew I don't know what is going to become of this world
anyhow all kind of develment going on in every way you can think of murder shooting
hanging drowning rapes stealing there was a man shot heare the other day rite
through the head and through the neck and is now going aroud with the ball in his
head they got it out of ----- I would get that business fixed up as soon as I could
I will cose for this time rite soon
Your Brother
Sam Gibson
The following text was taken from a copy of the ordination of James Ambrose Gibson as a Deacon in the Indian Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church on 6 October 1889:
Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Eugene Russell Hendrix one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
under the protection of Almighty God, and with a single eye to his glory, by the
imposition of my hands and prayer, have this day set apart James Ambrose Gibson for
the office of a DEACON, in the said Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, a man who, in the judgment of the Indian
Mission Conference, is well qualified for that work; and he is
hereby recommended, to all whom it may concern, as a proper person to administer the
Ordinance of Baptism, Marriage, and the Burial of the Dead, in the absence of an Elder,
and to feed the flock of Christ, so long as his spirit and practice are such as become the
Gospel of Christ, and he continueth to hold fast the form of sound words, according to the
established doctrines of the Gospel.
In Testimony Thereof, I
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 6th day of October, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight nine. Eugene R. Hendrix
Done at Atoka, Ind. Ter.
Clara Gibson wrote the following letter from the Oklahoma Confederate Home in Ardmore, Oklahoma to "dear daughter." Whom she was writing to is unknown, but clearly it was one of her children who had an interested in obtaining the benefits of being on the Indian rolls. While it is not very long, it contains some very useful information.
Sept 22 - 1933
Dear daughter. Am feeling fine, got your letter this morning. All the old people are
real well. And it is cooler at nights now so we rest good. Hope you are well. Am
sending the names you ask for and hope you get the money.
My grandfather's name was Ben Hodge. And my grandmother name was Mary but I don't know her
maiden name but she was 1/2 Cherokee and my fathers Reuben Hodge. And my mothers maiden
name was Cynthia Ann Collins. My maiden name was Clara Hodge.
I don't know the name of the Town, but we went to Webber Falls to trade. I was so small
when I left - I can't remember, but the first I can Remember we were in the Cheroke [sic]
camps, and this camp was in no mans land near the Kansas line.
Write me often
Lots of love
Mother Gibson
This letter was written to Matthew Gibson. At the time this letter was written, he was believed to be the last surviving member of the original Gibson family that had moved from Rutherford County, Tennessee to Newton County, Missouri. He would have been 69 years old. From the contents of the letter [contents exactly as original], clearly all was not well with the Gibson family in Oklahoma:
Moral Okla
May the 18 1894
Dear Uncle
I seat myself to inform you that we are all well at present hoping when this comes to hand
it will find you all well Uncle Matthew I dont want you to send that money to no one
but me My Soninlaws and son is trying to undermind [sic] me and take my propreiety
[sic] away from me and my children You send the money to me Lidda Gibson and tell me
what to do with it the reason I say this Mr. Gibson said he wanted me and fore [sic]
youngest children to have it Tell sister Caty and Luvinea about there [sic] brothers
death My oldest daughter Mary died the 29th day of March and left six little
children We are trying to farm a little We have had plenty of rain here
Cops [sic] look well it is getting late I will give you all of the perticulars [sic]
of Mr. Gibson death when I hear from you So good by from Lidda Gibson to Mathew
Gibson
The following was recorded by Marjorie Campbell, a descendant of Samuel Anderson Gibson. Here she recalls the Gibson "family tradition" handed down over the generations:
This information was given to me in July of 1972 by Mable Gibson, 75. She was
having some trouble with remembering recent things, but seemed to be quite sure of her
facts of her early childhood memories of "family." I believe it to be
quite accurate, as it matches very closely, the stories I recall being told by her and my
grandmother, Mable's sister, Daisy Grace Gibson Rundall, when I was quite young.
"Jim and William Gibson, two big, strong men, left Ireland to avoid compulsory
military service. [Marjorie later communicated that they sailed on the ship Hopewell
in 1767. She seems quite sure of her information but there are numerous Jim and
William Gibsons on ship rosters during this period so am not sure where she acquired this
information] Storms were bad, the boat proved to be leaky and they took to the life
boats which were also leaky but equipped with hand pumps. All on board had finally
given up and resigned themselves to a watery grave, except for the Gibson brothers and a
preacher. Finally even the preacher gave up, but the Gibson brothers kept pumping
and they finally landed safely. The preacher made all get down on their knees and
pray to God for their safe arrival. He said if it had not been for the Lord and the
Gibson brothers, we would all have drowned. Our line of the family stems from the
brother William. Mable was not sure where they landed, but probably in the
Carolinas. [We have tax and court records to show that a James Gibson and a William
Gibson acquired land in Craven County, South Carolina in the late 1760s and then in Rowan
County, North Carolina in the 1780s where the Bellahs were at this time also; therefore we
feel we are onto to right Gibson family. What we question is that this particular
William is the one who married nancy Bellah because assuming he was in his early 20s in
1767 and he died in Neosho in 1844, he could hardly have walked to Missouri in 1842.
We have felt that at least one more generation figures in this and Moses and Amanda
would be that generation if we can find some more information to confirm this.] They
went to Tennessee to work for another Irishman, ____ Bellah [Moses].
William married Bellah's
daughter, Nancy.
The Bellahs were quite well off financially and gave each of them a Negro slave as a
wedding present. It was the custom to give the bride a female slave near her own
age, and the groom a male slave near his own age. The Negro man was valued at
$1,000, the Negress less. It was the custom of slaves to take the family name, in
the case "Gibson." They farmed in Tennessee for several years,
having a total of 10 children. The Negro couple had 9 children, thus a family of 19
children, black and white.
They migrated to Missouri, date not known [1842 according to records in Neosho Historical
files]. They had only 2 wagons, so they rode when they could, but walked most of the
way. Missouri was swampy [Neosho doesn't appear to be swampy so they may have
stopped off for a few years somewhere else in Missouri before going to Neosho.]
After a short while William and the oldest son, Billy, died of Malaria. [According
to information in Neosho the oldest son, Moses, died. William's grave is in the
Gibson Cemetery on what was once the Gibson farm bit it unmarked but there is a space next
to Nancy's grave which has no stone and we would assum William is buried there.]
Nancy was left with the Negro couple to care for the farm and the brood of children.
She was a good manager and the slaves were good help, so they managed to hold the farm
together.
The Civil War came, and being too poor to leave the farm, Nancy and the family watched the
war being fought back and forth 3 times over their land. Pa, Mable's father, Jim
Gibson [James
Logan Gibson], was 14 when the Civil War was over. Jim was a self-taught
musician and could play almost any instrument. Mable said she remembered as a child,
watching him play an old banjo, playing old songs of the South, the tears streaming down
his face, as he remembered his home, the Negro children he grew up with, and his family,
which he never saw again after he came to Oregon, except for one brother, Sam who came for
a visit about 1922.
Samuel's brother, John, was hanged in his own yard by lawless neighbors, for his land.
His wife and children begged and pleaded, but were ignored. There was no law
in the area for several years so nothing was ever done about the murder. This was
too much for the aging Nancy, and she died soon after [John was hanged on December 30,
1865 and is buried in Gibson Cemetery with stone still there but laying on the ground.
Nancy died on June 4, 1866 and is buried there.]
After the Civil War, the slave were freed but Nancy's slaves begged to stay with the
family and were kept, all sharing what little was to be had. When Texas became a
state [1836], they migrated to Texas [actually arrived in Bell County, Texas early 1870s]
to help settle it. This was shortly after Nancy's death. "They" were
Samuel
A. Gibson, son of Will and Nancy, and his wife, Esther Frances, and their children.
Most of the men in the family were carpenters, but farmed too, as it was necessary
to live. In Texas the family consisted of Jim, the oldest, Tom, Dick, Dudley, John,
Sam, Sallie and Edith, who died at age 12. There other girls died in infancy.
The Gibson brothers built many buildings in Temple and Belton and also in Fort Worth,
Texas. They were also musicians and played for many of the country dances in Bell
County during the late 1800s. Jim was postmaster of the little town of Birdsdale
until it was incorporated into the City of Temple in the early 1880s."
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003