GIBSON FAMILY
The Gibson family probably descended from Elizabeth Chavis. On 28 March
1672 she made a successful petition to the General Court of Virginia to
release her son, Gibson Gibson, who had been unlawfully bound by Berr.
Mercer to Thomas Barber who had gone to England leaving the boy with
Samuel Austin [McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council, 302-3]. Her children
were
1 i. ?Hubbard Gibson, born say 1665.
2 ii. Gibson Gibson, born say 1667.
1. Hubbard1 Gibson, born say 1665, was probably identical to Hubert
Gibson who appeared in Charles City County Court on 24 March 1691/2
and on 3 August 1693 when he sued John Hardiman for riding his
horse to its death [Orders 1687-95, 394, 454, 463]. He was listed
in the 1704 Rent Roll for Prince George County [des Cognets,
English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records]. In 1721 he was called
Hubbard Gibson when he was taxed on 370 acres and one poll in
Chowan County, North Carolina [Haun, Old Albemarle County NC
Miscellaneous Records, 330]. On 13 November 1727 he bought an
additional 100 acres on the north side of the Roanoke River in what
was then Bertie County. He was probably an elderly man by that time
since his daughter, Mary, cosigned this deed with him [DB B:324].
The land was situated on the south side of Cypress Swamp in what
became Northampton County in 1741. A little over 6 months later on
11 July 1728 he and his sons, Edward Gibson and Hubbard Gibson,
Jr., sold 370 acres in Bertie County on the north side of the
Roanoke River, explaining in the deed that the land had been
granted to Hubbard's deceased son, John, by patent of 10 August
1720 [C:37]. The family probably moved to South Carolina with
Gideon Gibson in 1731. Hubbard probably died before 1742 when Mary
Gibson of Amelia County, South Carolina, sold the 100 acres she and
Hubbard purchased in Northampton County [1:58]. His children were
i. John1, born perhaps 1685, a joint plaintiff with Adam Cockburn
in a Chowan County suit for a debt against Thomas Crank in
October Court 1718 [DB B-#1:45]. He was granted 370 acres on 5
April 1720 on a bank of Falling Run in the part of Chowan County
which later became Northampton County, but was not listed in the
Chowan County Tax list with his father who was taxable on this
land in 1721 [Patent 3:15, #1601]. He was said to have been
deceased in his father's deed of sale of this land on 11 July
1728 [Bertie DB C:37]. However, he may have been the same as
John2 who was still living in the same area later that year on
28 October 1728 [C:52].
ii. Edward, born before 1706, taxed in 1721 in the same district as
his father, witness to the 15 October 1732 Edgecombe deed of
William Sims to James Millikin for land on the south side of
Quankey Creek [1:20]. He may have been the father of another
Edward Gibson, (a Mulatto) a stout well-set Man, with short
black curly Hair who escaped prison in South Carolina according
to the 19 May 1767 issue of the South Carolina Gazette [Jordan,
White Over Black, 174].
iii. Hubbard2, Jr., born before 1706, taxed in 1721 in the same
district as his father.
iv. Mary, born perhaps 1705, cosigner of a Bertie County deed with
her father on 13 November 1727 [B:324]. She was living in Amelia
County, South Carolina, in 1742 when she sold this land in what
was by then Northampton County [1:58]. She recorded a plat for
200 acres on Flat Creek in Craven County, South Carolina, on 27
January 1756 [Colonial Plats 6:389].
2. Gibson Gibson, born say 1667, was released from his unlawful
apprenticeship to Thomas Barber on 28 March 1672. In 1704 he was
listed in the Quit Rent Rolls with 150 acres in James City County,
called Gibey Gibson [VHM 31:156]. He may have been the father of
3 i. Gideon1, born say 1700.
3. Gideon1 Gibson, born say 1700, settled near the Roanoke River in
North Carolina about 1720. He purchased 200 acres in what was then
Chowan County on the south side of the Roanoke River on 24 July 1721
[C-1:142]. He acquired seven slaves and over one thousand acres of
land in present day Halifax County, North Carolina, and on the north
side of the Roanoke River in Northampton County. Sometime before 22
October 1728 he married Mary Brown, born about 1705, the white
daughter of a prosperous planter, William Brown. She (and each of her
6 brothers and sisters) received 150 acres from her father by his 15
December 1718 Chowan County will which was proved in July 1719 [SS
841]. Gideon and his wife, Mary, sold this 150 acres "bounded
according to the Will of William Brown Gentl decd..." on 22 October
1728 [Bertie DB C:36]. He must have impressed the other prosperous
free African Americans in that area of North Carolina because three
of them named their children after him: Gideon/Gibby Chavis, Gideon/
Gibby Bunch, and Gibson Cumbo. Many of the well to do Gibson and
Bunch families married whites and were considered white after a few
generations.
He sold 108 acres of his land on the south side of the Roanoke River
in the first few months of 1730 in what was then Bertie County
[C:276] before moving to South Carolina with several of his relatives
who were living on the other side of the Roanoke River in present-day
Northampton County. They came to the attention of the South Carolina
Commons House of Assembly in 1731 when a member announced in chamber
that several "free colored men with their white wives" had immigrated
from Virginia with the intention of settling on the Santee River"
[Jordan, White Over Black, 171]. Governor Robert Johnson of South
Carolina summoned Gideon Gibson and his family to explain their
presence there and after meeting them reported,
I have had them before me in Council and upon Examination find
that they are not Negroes nor Slaves but Free people, That the
Father of them here is named Gideon Gibson and his Father was
also free, I have been informed by a person who has lived in
Virginia that this Gibson has lived there Several Years in good
Repute and by his papers that he has produced before me that his
transactions there have been very regular, That he has for
several years paid Taxes for two tracts of Land and had seven
Negroes of his own, That he is a Carpenter by Trade and is come
hither for the support of his Family. ... I have in
Consideration of his Wifes being a white woman and several White
women Capable of working and being Serviceable in the Country
permitted him to Settle in this Country [Box 2, bundle: S.C.,
Minutes of House of Burgesses (1730-35), 9, Parish Transcripts,
N.Y. Hist. Soc. by Jordan, White over Black, 172].
Like the early settlers of the North Carolina frontier Governor
Johnson was more concerned with the Gibsons' social class than their
race.
Both Gideon Bunch and Gideon Gibson were in South Carolina when they
sold their adjoining Halifax County land to Montfort Eelbeck of
Halifax, and both families were taxed in 1755 as "free Molatas" in
Orange County, North Carolina [T&C, box 1].
Gideon and his wife, Mary, recorded the birth of their child,
William, in the Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw on 9
October 1744. However, Mary may have died soon afterwards since
Martha Gibson was the mother of his children born on 29 July 1745 and
thereafter [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 15,
20]. As "Gideon Gibson of Pe De South Carolina" he sold part of his
Northampton County land on 16 November 1746 and the remainder on 15
February 1749 [1:280, 383]. In South Carolina he recorded a plat for
200 acres on the northwest side of the Peedee River in Craven County
on 13 April 1736 [Colonial Plats 4:320] and 200 acres on the south
side of the Peedee on 1 January 1746/7 [Ibid., 4:397]. According to
Gregg, he was granted 550 acres in April 1736 and settled in Hickory
Grove near Sandy Bluff in present day Marion County [Gregg, History
of the Old Cheraws, 73; Sellers, History of Marion County]. On 29
November 1750 he received a grant for 450 acres in Persimmon Grove
on the Little Peedee River in Craven County [Royal Grants 4:296].
Land which had been surveyed for him in North Carolina on the north
side of the Little Pee Dee River was mentioned in a 17 November 1753
Bladen County land entry [Philbeck, Land Entries: Bladen County, no.
904]. On 13 July 1755 he was granted administration on the estate of
James Rowe "late of Prince George's parish planter as greatest
creditor," and on the same day he was granted administration on the
estate of Matthew Driggers also as greatest creditor [Record of Court
Proceedings, 35, 97, 127]. On 2 September 1755 he recorded a plat for
200 acres on the southwest side of the Peedee River adjoining Jordan
Gibson [Colonial Plats 6:45]. On 15 January 1760 he was paid 343
pounds by the Public Treasurer for supplying the militia in the
campaign against the Cherokees [Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the
South, 936]. On 15 February 1765 he was granted administration on the
estate of John Herring and appointed guardian to John, Peter, Mary,
and Hester G___eys of Prince George's Parish [Record of Court
Proceedings, 97]. On 25 July 1767 as a leader of the Regulators,
Gideon was involved in a skirmish with a constable's party near
Marr's Bluff on the Peedee River. The incident brought matters
between the Governor and the Regulators to a head. The South Carolina
Gazette, which like the government was far removed from the location,
reported in the 15 August 1768 edition that there were two parties
of Regulators. One was made up of people of good principle and
property, and the other made up of a
gang of banditi, a numerous collection of outcast Mulattos,
Mustees, Free Negroes, etc. all horse thieves from the borders of
Virginia and other Northern Colonies ... headed by one Gideon
Gibson...
Perhaps in a move to divide the two parties Governor Bull pardoned
all those involved except
those persons concerned with the outrages and daring violences
committed by Gideon Gibson and others upon George Thompson, a
lawful constable, and his party, in the actual execution of a
legal warrant, at or near Mars Bluff, in Craven County, upon the
25th day of July last. ... 6 August 1768 [Council Journal, no.
34, 208-211].
Colonel Gabriel Powell, sent to arrest Gideon, arrived with 300 men,
but to his utter humiliation, his men sided with Gideon saying he was
"one of them" [Hooker, The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the
Revolution, 177]. Powell resigned his commission and made a racist
attack on Gideon Gibson in a discussion of the incident on the floor
of Commons. Apparently, he fared little better amongst his colleagues
of the Commons than he had in the back country. There are no minutes
of the session, but a prominent Charleston merchant, Henry Laurens,
was present and described the discussion years later in a letter to
England:
Reasoning from the colour carries no conviction ... Gideon Gibson
escaped the penalties of the negro law by producing upon
camparison more red and white in his face than could be
discovered in the faces of half the descendants of the French
refugees in our House of Assembly... [Wallace, David Duncan, The
Life of Henry Laurens, (N.Y. and London, 1915) by Jordan, White
over Black].
Gideon was described by Gregg as
a man of very marked character, of commanding influence, and
prominently connected with the leading events of the region in
which he lived.
He was shot dead by his nephew, Colonel Maurice Murphy, during an
argument over Murphy's mistreatment of an elderly Tory during the
Revolutionary War [Gregg, History of the Old Cheraws, 354]. His
children were
4 i. ?John3, born perhaps 1730.
ii. ?Jordan1, born perhaps 1730. He was listed in the accounts of
the Public Treasurer on 29 October 1759 for supplying the
expedition against the Cherokees with 18 horses which he
apparently failed to deliver [Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the
South, 937]. He was granted land in what was then Bladen County,
North Carolina, on the east side of Mitchel's Creek in present
day Robeson County near the South Carolina border which he sold
on 25 September 1761 [Bladen DB 1738-79: 85]. He may have been
the father of Jordan Gibson, Jr., who recorded a plat for 150
acres adjoining Jordan Gibson, Sr., on the southwest side of the
Peedee River in Craven County, South Carolina on 26 January 1765
[Colonial Plats 8:20]. He sold 200 acres in Anson County, North
Carolina, on the north side of the Pee Dee River on the Falling
Creek branch of Hitchcock's Creek to Benjamin Deas on 15
November 1768 by deed witnessed by Gideon Gibson [7:224], and
he sold another 300 acres in Anson County in the same area on
2 May 1777 [7:320]. Perhaps he was related to Thomas Gibson
who purchased land in this same area of Anson County on eight__
August 1761 [6:190]. According to Gregg, Jordan went to the West
as a companion of Daniel Boone. He was among those "killed by
Indians" in North Carolina on 7 January 1788 [NCGSJ IX:236].
iii. ?Luke, listed in the accounts of the Public Treasurer of South
Carolina, paid 4.17.6 pounds on 31 October 1759 for unspecified
services to the battalion in the expedition against the
Cherokees [Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the South, 936].
iv. William, born 15 September 1743, son of Gideon and Mary,
baptized 9 October 1743 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince
Frederick Winyaw, 15].
v. Sarah, born 29 July 1744/5, daughter of Gideon and Martha,
baptized 20 October 1745 [Ibid., 20].
vi. Gideon2, born 12 March 1750, son of Gideon and Martha, baptized
2 June 1753 [Ibid., 34]. On 21 September 1773 he was accused
before the court in Charleston of having assaulted James McCasey
the previous month in Georgetown [Judgment Roll 1774, Box 99B,
23A]. He received about 39 pounds for providing provisions to
the militia between 1780 and 1782 [Accounts Audited, no.2786].
vii. Reuben, born 29 November 1751, son of Gideon and Martha,
baptized 29 May 1753 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick
Winyaw, 32].
viii. ?Stephen. According to Gregg, Gideon had three sons, one of whom
was Stephen who became wealthy and moved to Georgia about the
year 1800. The Hon. Thomas Butler King married his daughter
[Gregg, History of the Old Cheraws, 74].
ix. ?Roger, another son of Gideon who went West before the
Revolution [Ibid, 74].
x. ?Daniel, head of a Georgetown District, Prince Fredericks
Parish, household of 6 "other free" in 1790.
4. John3 Gibson, born perhaps 1730, and his wife, Jemima, were living in
South Carolina when the birth of their children was recorded. Their
children were
i. Gibson, born 25 February 1749, baptized 29 May 1753 [NSCDA,
Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 33].
ii. John4, born 6 January 1753, baptized 29 May 1753 [Ibid.].
Perhaps he was the John Gibson who was head of a Charleston
District, St. Bartholomew's Parish, household of 7 "other free"
in 1790 [SC:36].
5. John2 Gibson, born perhaps 1705, received a grant for 328 acres on
the south side of the Roanoke joining John Lowe, Jackson, and the
swamp on 1 December 1727 [Patent 3:249, #2552]. He was a witness to
the 12 August 1728 Bertie County deed of William Whitehead to Edward
Bass for land near Urahaw Swamp [C:135]. He may have been Gideon1's
brother or cousin since it appears he was living near Gideon's land
in Northampton County which Gideon purchased on 7 August 1727 and
sold on 15 February 1749 while a resident of South Carolina. John2
purchased 335 acres in Bertie County on the north side of Cashie
River and Wahton Swamp near the Northampton County line on 28 October
1728 [C:52] and was a resident of Bertie on 28 October 1731 when he
sold 250 acres in Bertie County on Elk Marsh by an Edgecombe County
deed [1:7]. Perhaps he was the John Gibson who recorded a plat for
300 acres in Congrees Township, Berkeley County, South Carolina, on
3 February 1735/6 [Colonial Plats, 4:43]. On 5 February 1756 he made
a deed of gift of his household goods in Northampton County to his
son, George Gibson [2:251]. His children were
6 i. George1, born perhaps 1730, died in 1776.
ii. ?William, born perhaps 1732, a resident of Northampton County
on 18 February 1755 when he purchased 100 acres on Burnt Coat
Swamp in the part of Edgecombe County which became Halifax
County in 1758 [2:186].
iii. ?Charles, born before 1739 since he was taxable in 1750 in John
Wade's list for Granville County [CR 44.701.23]. This part of
Granville County became Orange County in 1752 and Charles was
"a Molata" taxable there in 1755 [T&C Box 1, p.19]. He received
a grant for 190 acres on the south side of Bear Swamp in
Northampton County on 9 August 1786 and sold it two years later
on 31 December 1788 [8:169]. He was head of a Northampton County
household of 7 free males and 2 free females in Captain
Winborne's District for the state census in 1786 [Census p.29].
He was living in Wayne County, North Carolina, in August 1818
when he made a declaration to obtain a pension for Revolutionary
War service. He claimed that he enlisted for 9 months in the
Tenth Regiment at the courthouse in Northampton County, North
Carolina. However, there was no record of his discharge or
service [M805-355, frame 0055]. Perhaps he was the same Charles
Gibson who applied for a pension from Hawkins County, Tennessee,
at the age of 92 years on 19 January 1839. He claimed to have
been born in Louisa County, Virginia on 19 January 1739 and
entered into the service in Salisbury, North Carolina. His
neighbors, Jordan and Jonathan Gibson and Benjamin Collins,
testified on his behalf [Ibid., frame 0062].
6.. George1 Gibson, born perhaps 1730, was a taxable in 1750 in John
Wade's list for Granville County [CR 44.701.23]. This part of
Granville became Orange County in 1752, and George was a "Molata"
taxable there in 1755 [T&C Box 1, p.19]. By 19 November 1757 he had
married Elizabeth Lowe, a white woman of Northampton County, daughter
of John and Sarah Lowe. She was mentioned in her father's will of
that date. By the terms of this will his wife received a slave and
he was allowed to continue to live on 150 acres of land in
Northampton County [WB 1:41]. While resident in Northampton County
he purchased 439 acres on Quankey Creek in Halifax County on 5 June
1761 and sold it for the same price 2 years later on 17 January 1763
[7:318; 8:209]. While residing in Orange County on 18 July the same
year, he sold two slaves and sixteen head of cattle (which he
received from his mother-in-law's estate) to his brother-in-law,
Thomas Lowe, of Northampton County [3:622]. On 26 May 1770 he
purchased 150 acres on the west side of Flat River in Orange County
from (his uncle?) Thomas Gibson. His 5 November 1775 Orange County
will was proved in May 1776 [A:195]. He named his (then) wife, Mary,
and mentioned but did not name his "Sons and Daughters now living in
the County" and provided for the schooling of his unnamed younger
children. Joel Gibson and Lucrecy Collins were witnesses; Thomas
Gibson, Sr., was executor. After his death Mary entered 300 acres on
Greens Creek and Rutledges Creek in Caswell County on 13 January 1779
on a line agreed between William Hog and Julius Gibson [Pruitt, Land
Entries: Caswell County, 75], and she entered 200 acres in Caswell
County on the South Hyco Creek bordering Orange County on 26 July
1779 [Pruitt, Land Entries: Caswell County, I:89]. She was taxable
in Caswell in 1790 [NC:79]. The inventory of her Caswell County
estate was recorded by Joel Gibson in 1795. The inventory mentioned
James, John, and Richard Gibson [WB C:118]. Perhaps George Gibson's
children were
i. Andrew, born perhaps 1755, a Caswell County taxable in 1777. He
entered 100 acres on both sides of Kilgore's Bridge in Caswell
County on 25 August 1778 [Pruitt, Land Entries: Caswell County,
47]. He may have been the Andrew Gibson who was appointed Tax
Collector for Chatham District of Orange County at the 29 August
1782 session of the County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.
He was a juror on 26 November 1783. In 1790 he was counted as
white in the Tenth Company of Wilkes County, head of a household
of one male over 16, 3 males under 16, and 6 females [NC:123].
He was head of an Ashe County household of 7 "other free" in
1800 [NC:79].
ii. George2, born perhaps 1757, a Randolph County taxable in 1779.
iii. John6, born in Orange County, North Carolina on 16 September
1760 according to his father's family bible. He grew up in
Guilford County, North Carolina where he entered the service.
He moved to Tennessee in 1805, and was living there on 16 July
1833 when he made his pension application. He was a horseman
employed in collecting cattle for the use of the army [M805-355,
frame 0197]
iv. Thomas2, born in Randolph County, North Carolina, on 15 November
1763. When he was 18 years old he volunteered in Guilford County
and served for two years. He was allowed a pension while a
resident of Randolph County. He died 15 October 1850 leaving his
children, David, Joseph, Hannah (wife of P.M. Nixon), Mary (wife
of John H. Hill), and George Gibson [M805-355, frame 0409].
v. Wilbourne, born in Guilford County in 1763 according to his
father's family bible. He was drafted into the service in
Randolph County in 1781. He applied for a pension while residing
in Ripley County, Indiana, on 15 May 1838. His wife, Rebecca,
died 3 March 1839, and he died on 4 April 1843. His only heirs
were his daughter, Mary Ann Lewis and her husband, George W.
Lewis, who were living in Ripley County, Indiana, on 19 October
1852 when they applied for a survivor's pension [M805-355, frame
0411]. There is a marriage bond recorded for him in Stokes
County on 20 November 1797 with Thomas Hill bondsman, but the
bride's name was not recorded. His 16 year old son, Hezekiah,
was bound to James Reed in Burke County in October 1804 "due to
abandonment" [Wills, Administrations, & Orphans, 1791-1810, 511
by N.C. Genealogy XIX:2827].
vi. Julius, a Wilkes County taxable in 1784.
vii. Lucrecy Collins.
7. Thomas1 Gibson, born perhaps 1720, was taxable in Granville County
with Charles and George Gibson in John Wade's list in 1750 [CR
44.701.23]. He received two patents for a total of 250 acres in
Granville County on Flat River on 2 May 1752 [Hoffman, Granville Land
Grants, 31-2]. Orange County was formed from this part of Granville
County in 1752, and he was head of an Orange County household of 3
taxable "Molatas" in 1755 [T&C, box 1, p.19]. This land was on Flat
River adjoining Charles Gibson, Moses Ridley, and Thomas Collins
[Bennett, Abstract of Loose Papers in Granville Proprietary Office,
34, 43]. On 26 May 1770 he sold three tracts of land on the west
side of Flat River "part of 606 acres which the sd. Thos. Gibson
purchased of Earl Granville:" 100 acres to James Williams [3:468],
150 acres to George Gibson [3:622], and land to Joel Gibson [3:471].
He received a grant for 150 acres in Wilkes County on the north side
of Obed's Creek on the South Fork of New River on 3 November 1796
[A:142] and sold 100 acres of this land on 18 January 1800 [A:147].
He probably died about 1802 when (his son?) Joel sold land in this
same area. His children may have been
i. Major, born before 1746, "a Molata" taxable in 1755 in Orange
County [T&C Box 1, p.19], and a taxable in Randolph County in
1779. He was counted as white in the 1790 Burke County census,
head of a household of 2 males and 3 females in the Eighth
company [NC:109]. He was taxable in Burke County on 55 acres and
no polls in 1794 (since he was over 50 years old) [Huggins,
Burke County, N.C. Records, IV:110].
ii. Joel, born about 1750, purchased land in Orange County from (his
father?) on 26 May 1770. He was a Caswell County taxable in 1777
and 1786. He was counted as white in Tenth Company of Burke
County in 1790, head of a household of one male over 16 and one
female [NC:123]. He sold 200 acres in Ashe County on Obed's
Creek on 29 January 1802 [A:213] and another 100 acres on 6
March 1804 [B:311]. He bought 50 acres on the north bank of the
South Fork of New River in Ashe County on 13 July 1804 and sold
it a year later on 5 March 1805 [B:339]. He was head of an Ashe
County household of 2 "other free" in 1800 [NC:78] and was
counted as white in Wilkes County in 1810 [NC:853]. He may have
been the Joel Gibson who applied for a pension in Henderson
County, Kentucky, on 25 April 1825 at the age of 75 for service
in the First North Carolina Regiment. His wife was deceased at
the time and all his children but one were married and away from
home. He was supported by his son, Bailey Gibson, who had
numerous small children to support [M805-355, frame 0162].
iii. John5/Jack Gibson, born perhaps 1756, a Caswell County taxable
in 1777, 1784, and 1786. He was head of a Wilkes County
household of 2 "other free" and 1 white woman over 45 years of
age in 1810 [NC:853]. The white woman was probably Milley Gibson
who made a Wilkes County deed of gift of 2 tracts of land in
Burke County on 27 February 1818. The land was to be held by her
son, Drury, in trust for her son, Isom, when he came of age
[I:138].
iv. Nathan, born before 1776, head of a Burke County household of
6 "other free" in 1800 and 12 "free colored" in Haywood County
in 1830.
v. Archibald, who was counted as white in the Tenth Company of
Wilkes County, head of a household of one male over 16, one
under 16, and 9 females in 1790 [NC:123] but counted as "other
free" in 1800, head of an Ashe County household of 7 [NC:78].
vi. Jordan2, head of a Tenth Company, Wilkes County household of one
white over 16, 3 under 16 and one white female in 1790 [NC:123].
vii. Dorothy, head of a Tenth Company, Wilkes County household of two
males over 16, two males under 16, and two females in 1790
[NC:123].
viii. Ezekiel, born perhaps 1763, head of a household of one white
male over 16 years in the Tenth Company of Wilkes county in 1790
[NC:123] and head of an Ashe County household of 3 "other free"
in 1800 [NC:78].