Commodore Perry Gibbs was born in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky near Paintsville in Johnson County on March 18, 1880. He was the son of Abraham and Matilda Jane Gibbs, the seventh of 13 children. His father served four years in the Civil War and afterward became a minister of the United Baptist Church, preaching for more than 50 years. Young Perry received little formal instruction and by age 12 could barely read or write. But an ankle injury and infection kept him from working for more than a year, and he devoted the time to educating himself. He entered Berea College in Kentucky at age 18.
He married Flora E. Newman (1881-1968), a teacher in Ripley County, Ind., in 1907. He then entered Moores Hill College, united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and received a local license to preach. After serving churches in Shelbyville and Morgantown, he entered Garrett Biblical Institute, graduating in 1914. During World War I, he spent a year working for the YMCA in France. He served Grace M.E. Church in Franklin from 1923 to 1926. During his next appointment, North Church in Indianapolis, he realized his health was weakening. He died Feb. 20, 1934, at the Methodist parsonage in Decatur, Ind. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw, Ind. He left his widow and three children. His accomplishments included rebuilding the church at Oak Grove after it burned, redecorating the church at Morgantown, helped pay off the debt for a new building at Jeffersonville, remodeled the North Vernon church after it was damaged by a tornado, oversaw the construction of Sibert Hall in Franklin, and helped raise $100,000 for construction and improvements to North Church.
He married Flora E. Newman (1881-1968), a teacher in Ripley County, Ind., in 1907. He then entered Moores Hill College, united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and received a local license to preach. After serving churches in Shelbyville and Morgantown, he entered Garrett Biblical Institute, graduating in 1914. During World War I, he spent a year working for the YMCA in France. He served Grace M.E. Church in Franklin from 1923 to 1926. During his next appointment, North Church in Indianapolis, he realized his health was weakening. He died Feb. 20, 1934, at the Methodist parsonage in Decatur, Ind. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw, Ind. He left his widow and three children. His accomplishments included rebuilding the church at Oak Grove after it burned, redecorating the church at Morgantown, helped pay off the debt for a new building at Jeffersonville, remodeled the North Vernon church after it was damaged by a tornado, oversaw the construction of Sibert Hall in Franklin, and helped raise $100,000 for construction and improvements to North Church.
Commodore Perry Gibbs was born in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky near Paintsville in Johnson County on March 18, 1880. He was the son of Abraham and Matilda Jane Gibbs, the seventh of 13 children. His father served four years in the Civil War and afterward became a minister of the United Baptist Church, preaching for more than 50 years. Young Perry received little formal instruction and by age 12 could barely read or write. But an ankle injury and infection kept him from working for more than a year, and he devoted the time to educating himself. He entered Berea College in Kentucky at age 18.
He married Flora E. Newman (1881-1968), a teacher in Ripley County, Ind., in 1907. He then entered Moores Hill College, united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and received a local license to preach. After serving churches in Shelbyville and Morgantown, he entered Garrett Biblical Institute, graduating in 1914. During World War I, he spent a year working for the YMCA in France. He served Grace M.E. Church in Franklin from 1923 to 1926. During his next appointment, North Church in Indianapolis, he realized his health was weakening. He died Feb. 20, 1934, at the Methodist parsonage in Decatur, Ind. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw, Ind. He left his widow and three children. His accomplishments included rebuilding the church at Oak Grove after it burned, redecorating the church at Morgantown, helped pay off the debt for a new building at Jeffersonville, remodeled the North Vernon church after it was damaged by a tornado, oversaw the construction of Sibert Hall in Franklin, and helped raise $100,000 for construction and improvements to North Church.
He married Flora E. Newman (1881-1968), a teacher in Ripley County, Ind., in 1907. He then entered Moores Hill College, united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and received a local license to preach. After serving churches in Shelbyville and Morgantown, he entered Garrett Biblical Institute, graduating in 1914. During World War I, he spent a year working for the YMCA in France. He served Grace M.E. Church in Franklin from 1923 to 1926. During his next appointment, North Church in Indianapolis, he realized his health was weakening. He died Feb. 20, 1934, at the Methodist parsonage in Decatur, Ind. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw, Ind. He left his widow and three children. His accomplishments included rebuilding the church at Oak Grove after it burned, redecorating the church at Morgantown, helped pay off the debt for a new building at Jeffersonville, remodeled the North Vernon church after it was damaged by a tornado, oversaw the construction of Sibert Hall in Franklin, and helped raise $100,000 for construction and improvements to North Church.
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