William Gibson (1836 - 1922)

Born 1 Mar 1836 in Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died 7 Jun 1922 at age 86 in Hanover, Jefferson, Indiana, United States

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Biography

William Gibson is a part of US Black heritage.

William Gibson is Notable.

William Gibson a.k.a. John Saunders was born a slave^[1] in March^[1] between 1836^[2]-1841^[3] in Kentucky^[4], though he carefully listed his birthplace as Chatham, Ontario in his military enlistment papers. He chose to celebrate his birthday each year on the 1st of March. He was the child^[1] of slaves Sallie and Richard "Dick" Lewis a.k.a. William Gibson Fellow slave Alfred Buckner helped raise him. He was enslaved^[1][5] by Sarah (Taylor) and Kentucky state House representative Gibson "Gip" Mallory" in Oldham and Jefferson Counties in Kentucky. His parents were born slaves in the Virginias^[6]. He was the only member of his family to self-emancipate.

He served with the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War, and briefly as a Buffalo Soldier with the 10th United States Cavalry.

Around his 50th year, he stood about 5 feet and 5 inches (1.65m) tall and weighed about 130 pounds.^[7]

Self-Emancipation

When Gibson was about 7-15 years old, he accompanied his enslaver, Gibson “Gip” Mallory, to the local fairground in Kentucky. Mallory served as his district’s director for the Kentucky State Agricultural Society.

Mallory became enraged when he found the Black child he enslaved was playing with white children at the fairgrounds. Fearing for his life, Gibson’s family helped him escape: his father hid him until his youngest brother Jackson “Jack” Gibson could take him as far as Louisville. Once in Louisville, his father arranged for Gibson’s passage into the north with a local white man known as “John Brown.” Gibson crossed the Ohio River by night on the ice to the free state of Ohio. He escaped north on the Underground Railroad, through Detroit, Michigan, to Chatham in Canada West where he was finally beyond the reach of the Refugee Slave Act of 1850.^[8]

Occupations

• 1900^[9]: Farmer
• 1861, 1863^[3], 1880^[10]: Laborer

He was sometimes paid to husk corn in the fall in Hanover, Indiana.^[1]

Religion

• 1861: Baptist

Residences

• 1920: Owned house on Colored Lane in Hanover, Indiana (widowed) with his widowed son Willie
• 1910: Owned house in Hanover, Indiana with his new wife Carrie and son Leander^[11]
• 1900: Hanover, Indiana with his wife Dorcas and children, next door to his daughter Louisa and her new family^[9]
• 1880: Hanover, Indiana with his wife Dorcas and children^[10]
• 1863: Chatham, Ontario, Canada (military enlistment)^[3]
• 1861: Chatham, Kent County, Ontario, Canada West

Military Service

Private William Gibson was wounded in action during the American Civil War.

Private William Gibson served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 27 Mar 1863
Mustered out: 20 Aug 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): Company D, 54th Regiment MA Colored Infantry

54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Used the name "John Saunders / Sanders" in Chatham and during the war.

During the Civil War, he served as a Private in Company D of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army, the second^[12] regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. He was about 22 years old, single and working as a laborer when he enlisted on 27 March 1863 from Chatham, Ontario. He was wounded on 30 November 1864 at Honey Hill, South Carolina. Mustered out 20 August 1865.^[3]

A Lieut[enant] Spooner came up there to Chatham on the sly, enlisted us at night on the sly, and he got about 35 or so of us and started away in the night with us and we were at Buffalo N[ew] Y[ork] a day or two and at Boston Mass[achusetts] where we were sworn in, came in the evening and enlisted the next morning.^[1]

10th United States Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers)

He also served in Company C of the 10th United States Cavalry, one of the first Buffalo Soldier regiments.^[13] He is the first veteran to be identified as both a 54th Massachusetts soldier and Buffalo soldier.^[14]

Military Pension

Military Pension Application No. 648529 Certificate No. 1030340 (2 April 1888)^[15]

Age-related correspondence November 1914 request, February 1916 response

Age-related pension follow-up April 1914

Declaration for Increase of Pension - obverse, reverse May 1905

General Affidavit of William Haskins - obverse, reverse January 1901

Special Examination by W. L. Sullivan - Index 1900

Special Examination by Benton Halstead - Index 1900

Surgeon's Certificate for Original Pension Claim - obverse, reverse November 1900

Special Examination by J. H. Elliot - Index August 1900

Handwritten note concerning Privates Charles Remond Douglass & Nathaniel Sprague May 1900

List of 54th Massachusetts Comrades February 1900

Special Examination by Edward Pittis - Index February 1900

Special Examination by E.B. Osborne - Index December 1899

Special Examination by Mark J. Maloney - Index November 1899

Special Examination by J.C. O'Connell - Index June 1899

Special Examination by W.S. Bridges - Index May 1899

Special Examination by H.L. Roethe - Index May 1899

Special Examination by D.C. Arnold - Index 1899

Special Examination by A.J. Green - Index 1899

New Law Invalid Pension Claim - Index 1898

List of 10th US Cavalry Comrades 20 September 1898

List of 54th Massachusetts Comrades 20 September 1898

General Affidavit of William Gibson 14 May 1898

General Affidavit of William Gibson 8 January 1898

General Affidavit of William Buckner - obverse, reverse September 1897

Special Examination by Ed. D. Hamner 1895 - Index

General Affidavit of Samuel Sanders - obverse, reverse December 1894

General Affidavit of Private Toussaint L'Ouverture Delany - obverse, reverse March 1894

War Department record of military service September 1892

Original Invalid Pension Claim 1888 - Index

Pension Payouts

6 March 1916: $27

30 July 1912: $21.50

29 March 1911: $15

25 August 1908: $12

26 April 1904: $10

27 August 1901: $8

Race

• 1900^[9], 1910, 1920: Black
• 1880^[10]: Mulatto
• 1861: Colored Person, Mulatto, or Indian

Death

He passed away in 1922^[16] and is buried at Greenbriar Cemetery in Hanover, Indiana.

Descendent Surnames

Hackney

Daughter Louisa married William J. Hackney.

Inskeep

Granddaughter Pauline Hackney married William Inskeep.

Jenkins

Granddaughter Almeda "Meda" Hackney married Herman Jenkins.

Scott

Great-granddaughter Priscilla married Reverend Robert Scott.

Tyree

Granddaughter Pauline Hackney married Mr. Tyree.

Research Notes

Raymoure-1 07:15, 16 October 2019 (UTC): The Special Examination by Benton Halstead indicates that there may have been multiple photographs of William Gibson in 1900, which were taken in Hanover, Indiana.

Raymoure-1 04:05, 19 August 2019 (UTC): Somewhere there may be a photograph of him which is mentioned in the 1900 deposition of Sergeant Garnet G. Cezar in William Gibson's pension files.

Research Done

• Military pension index identified at Fold3.com Raymoure-1 18:56, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
• Does not appear in Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, Indiana Raymoure-1 18:56, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
• One article found searching for William Gibson Hanover at Chronicling America. (see Images) Raymoure-1 19:03, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
• Viewed all records for John Sanders and John Saunders in the Army Register of Enlistments 1798-1914 - no 10th Cav matches. Raymoure-1 00:55, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Projects

• 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Sources

• 1850 United States Slave Schedules United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls. State: Kentucky County: Oldham Division: 2 (may have escaped prior to enumeration)
• 1861 Census of Nova Scotia, Canada. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM): Nova Scotia Board of Statistics, 1861. Enumeration District 1. Page 12. (as John Saunders)
• 1880 United States Federal Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Hanover, Jefferson, Indiana; Roll: 287; Page: 25A; Enumeration District: 118 (as William Gibson)
• 1900 United States Federal Census Year: 1900; Census Place: Hanover, Jefferson, Indiana; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0083; FHL microfilm: 1240380 (as William Gibson)
• 1910 United States Federal Census Year: 1910; Census Place: Hanover, Jefferson, Indiana; Roll: T624_359; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0080; FHL microfilm: 1374372 (as William Gibson)
• 1920 United States Federal Census Year: 1920; Census Place: Hanover, Jefferson, Indiana; Roll: T625_441; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 97 (as William Gibson)
• Emilio, Luis Fenollosa. History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Book Co., 1891 (1st ed.) and 1894 (2nd ed.)
• Find A Grave: Memorial #54078847
• Fold3.com. "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900." National Archives Catalog #2588825. "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, compiled 1949 - 1949, documenting the period 1861 - 1942." Free Access Black History Collection Records 5-28 February 2019.
• Fold3.com. "Records of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored), 1863-1865." National Archives Catalog #577134. "Regimental and Company Books of Civil War Volunteer Union Organizations, compiled 1861 - 1865." Free Access Civil War Records 1-15 April 2018.
• The Indianapolis Journal. Indianapolis, Indiana: 19 Sept. 1901. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
• National Archives Catalog #300020. "Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Veterans of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War With Spain, compiled 1861 - 1934."
• Raymoure, K.A. Wattpad.com. "The Self-Emancipation of Kentucky Slave William Gibson." accessed 24 August 2019.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} military pension files; see also Images with transcriptions
2. ↑ Find a Grave entry
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Emilio, Roster p. 357
4. ↑ 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 federal census
5. ↑ 1850 US Slave Schedules
6. ↑ 1900, 1910, 1920 US Census
7. ↑ 1888 Surgeon's Certificate in military pension files
8. ↑ Raymoure "Self-Emancipation and the Underground Railroad"
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} 1900 federal census
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} 1880 federal census
11. ↑ 1910 federal census
12. ↑ and the first with federal recognition; the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry regiment was against the wishes of the Secretary of War and filled only six companies, but did see action a full year before the 54th
13. ↑ There was also a William H. Gibson in the 10th US Cavalry who enlisted in 1882 and died in San Diego in 1927; not him.
14. ↑ more research needed; basic detail from military pension index card
15. ↑ military pension index
16. ↑ military pension index card