This is one of only two known photographs of our ancestor, Mary Lavinia Gibson, shown here in a very old portrait with her father, James Ambrose Gibson. The original has no indication of date, but Mary passed away in March 1893, at the age of 26, so it was probably taken in the early 1890s, at the latest. Most likely it was taken in the mid 1880s.
As we can see, this photo didn't make it to the present in very good shape, but we are still thankful to have it! James Ambrose, in particular, has suffered some damage in this image, but we have other, better quality images, and from these we can say for a certainty that this is a portrait of the man and his oldest child. The original was most likely an old tintype and this is a photo of that original.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003