Carlisle Weekly Herald (Carlisle, PA), Friday, October 16, 1812; pg. 3
MARRIED - On Thurfday (sic) the 8th inft. (sic) by the Rev. H.R. Wilfon (sic), John B. Gibson, Efq. (sic) to Mifs (sic) Sarah Galbraith, daughter of A. Galbraith, Efq. (sic) decd. all of this place.
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From the History of Perry County, Pennsylvania
**Perry County's Noted Men**
Perry County soil has been the birthplace and the early home of three different men who have became the chief justices of three different states of the Union. Chief Justice John Bannister Gibson, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was one of the greatest to serve in that high office.
His ancestry on his father's side were from Ireland, and emigrated to this country late in the Eighteenth Century, settling at Lancaster, where George Gibson I, built the first public hostelry, keeping tavern for a time. The earliest record of the family shows that in the year 1730 Governor Hamilton was instructed by the proprietors of the province — the Penns — to lay out the city of Lancaster "at or near the tavern of George Gibson," who was the grandfather of the chief justice. This tavern bore the sign of the "Hickory Tree," being located by the roadside, at the point where grew a large hickory tree. There the son, George Gibson II, was born.
The son later located at Silver Springs, Cumberland County, where he purchased a mill. After a time he married Ann West, a daughter of Francis West, who at the time of the outbreak of the American Revolution was judge of the Cumberland County Courts. George Gibson II, removed to what is now Perry County and settled on lands of his father-in-law. He was the father of four children, of whom the eldest, Francis was born before coming north of the mountain, and his greatest distinction was service as register and recorder of Cumberland County for a term. The second son, George, became Commissary General of the United States Army. A third son, William Chesney, became a miller, later going to sea. The fourth son, John Bannister Gibson, born November 8, 1780. A daughter died in infancy. The father, George Gibson II, removed to Sherman's Valley, in 1773, the year following his marriage. Unfortunately the mother, Ann West Gibson, did not live to see her son's elevation to high position. She died in 1809, and her son Francis leased the mill to Jacob Bigler (father of the two governors), and removed to Carlisle, where he remained for many years, later returning there, where he died March 18, 1856, aged 82 years.
John Bannister Gibson's boyhood home, which occupied a site near the mill, was located in the wooded section of present Spring Township, near the Carroll Township line, almost on the banks of Sherman's Creek, with the towering peak of Mt. Pisgah immediately facing it, and below a mighty boulder jutting to the very edge of the waters of the creek, and known to this day as Gibson's Rock. Amid this wild and picturesque section he first beheld the light of day and heard the clatter of the mill and the swish of the waters.
Ann West Gibson, an educated and talented woman, to whom he was indebted for much of his early education. With the determination that her sons should not degenerate she built a school house near the homestead and there, herself, became the teacher. His preparatory education was received at the preparatory school attached to Dickinson College, where he later graduated.
When Gibson was a student at college he drew the attention of Judge Hugh H. Brackenridge, who noticed the "country boy" and invited him to use his fine library. Through his long life he often mentioned this act, which created a lifetime friendship. A strange coincidence is that Judge Brackenridge, Mr. Gibson and his preceptor, Thomas Duncan, all came to be justices of the Supreme Court of the state. All did not sit together, however, as Gibson's appointment came immediately after the death of Brackenridge. He was appointed June 27, 1816, the day following the death of Judge Brackenridge, by Governor Snyder.
In appearance Chief Justice Gibson was a powerful, broad-shouldered, tall man (over six feet). His face was handsome, intellectual and benevolent, with a florid complexion, and the oil painting of him which hangs in the Supreme Court room.
The chief justice was the father of eight children, as follows:
Anne Sarah; John Bannister, and Francis West, who died in childhood ; Margaretta, married to Col. Charles McClure, who represented the Cumberland district in the United States Congress and was secretary of the commonwealth during the term of Governor Porter; Anna Barbara, married to W. Milnor Roberts, once chief engineer of the state public works, whose name was associated with such projects as the Portage Road, the Harrisburg and Lancaster Railroad, and the Cumberland Valley Railroad; John Bannister II, a lieutenant in the First Artillery, U. S. A., at the breaking out of the Mexican War, brevetted for bravery ; George, colonel of the Fifth Infantry, U. S. A.; and Sallie, married in 1851 to Capt. R. Anderson, of the Second Dragoons, U. S. A., a Southerner, and the last one of the thirty-three officers from South Carolina
to resign from the United States Army in 1861, prior to the war between the States.
Certificate of death:
John Banister Gibson, white, male, 72 yrs. Father: Col. George Gibson. Occupation: Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Pa. Born: 8 Nov 1784, Sherman's Valley, Perry Co. Pa. Wife: Sarah W. Gibson. Died: 2 May 1853, Affection of the stomach, Phila. Pa., W.S. Hotel. Buried: Carlisle Cemetery. Person returning certificate: George Gibson, Carlisle, Pa. Date: 19 May 1853.
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Semi-Weekly Standard (Raleigh, NC), Saturday, May 7, 1853; pg. 3
DEATH OF JUDGE GIBSON. Judge John B. Gibson, late Chief Justice of the State of Pennsylvania, died at Philadelphia (sic) on the 3d. The deceased for the last forty years adorned the bench of the Supreme Court of that State, and had by his eminent talents contributed more than any man of his time to elecrdate (sic) and establish the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth.
Carlisle Weekly Herald (Carlisle, PA), Friday, October 16, 1812; pg. 3
MARRIED - On Thurfday (sic) the 8th inft. (sic) by the Rev. H.R. Wilfon (sic), John B. Gibson, Efq. (sic) to Mifs (sic) Sarah Galbraith, daughter of A. Galbraith, Efq. (sic) decd. all of this place.
==========================
From the History of Perry County, Pennsylvania
**Perry County's Noted Men**
Perry County soil has been the birthplace and the early home of three different men who have became the chief justices of three different states of the Union. Chief Justice John Bannister Gibson, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was one of the greatest to serve in that high office.
His ancestry on his father's side were from Ireland, and emigrated to this country late in the Eighteenth Century, settling at Lancaster, where George Gibson I, built the first public hostelry, keeping tavern for a time. The earliest record of the family shows that in the year 1730 Governor Hamilton was instructed by the proprietors of the province — the Penns — to lay out the city of Lancaster "at or near the tavern of George Gibson," who was the grandfather of the chief justice. This tavern bore the sign of the "Hickory Tree," being located by the roadside, at the point where grew a large hickory tree. There the son, George Gibson II, was born.
The son later located at Silver Springs, Cumberland County, where he purchased a mill. After a time he married Ann West, a daughter of Francis West, who at the time of the outbreak of the American Revolution was judge of the Cumberland County Courts. George Gibson II, removed to what is now Perry County and settled on lands of his father-in-law. He was the father of four children, of whom the eldest, Francis was born before coming north of the mountain, and his greatest distinction was service as register and recorder of Cumberland County for a term. The second son, George, became Commissary General of the United States Army. A third son, William Chesney, became a miller, later going to sea. The fourth son, John Bannister Gibson, born November 8, 1780. A daughter died in infancy. The father, George Gibson II, removed to Sherman's Valley, in 1773, the year following his marriage. Unfortunately the mother, Ann West Gibson, did not live to see her son's elevation to high position. She died in 1809, and her son Francis leased the mill to Jacob Bigler (father of the two governors), and removed to Carlisle, where he remained for many years, later returning there, where he died March 18, 1856, aged 82 years.
John Bannister Gibson's boyhood home, which occupied a site near the mill, was located in the wooded section of present Spring Township, near the Carroll Township line, almost on the banks of Sherman's Creek, with the towering peak of Mt. Pisgah immediately facing it, and below a mighty boulder jutting to the very edge of the waters of the creek, and known to this day as Gibson's Rock. Amid this wild and picturesque section he first beheld the light of day and heard the clatter of the mill and the swish of the waters.
Ann West Gibson, an educated and talented woman, to whom he was indebted for much of his early education. With the determination that her sons should not degenerate she built a school house near the homestead and there, herself, became the teacher. His preparatory education was received at the preparatory school attached to Dickinson College, where he later graduated.
When Gibson was a student at college he drew the attention of Judge Hugh H. Brackenridge, who noticed the "country boy" and invited him to use his fine library. Through his long life he often mentioned this act, which created a lifetime friendship. A strange coincidence is that Judge Brackenridge, Mr. Gibson and his preceptor, Thomas Duncan, all came to be justices of the Supreme Court of the state. All did not sit together, however, as Gibson's appointment came immediately after the death of Brackenridge. He was appointed June 27, 1816, the day following the death of Judge Brackenridge, by Governor Snyder.
In appearance Chief Justice Gibson was a powerful, broad-shouldered, tall man (over six feet). His face was handsome, intellectual and benevolent, with a florid complexion, and the oil painting of him which hangs in the Supreme Court room.
The chief justice was the father of eight children, as follows:
Anne Sarah; John Bannister, and Francis West, who died in childhood ; Margaretta, married to Col. Charles McClure, who represented the Cumberland district in the United States Congress and was secretary of the commonwealth during the term of Governor Porter; Anna Barbara, married to W. Milnor Roberts, once chief engineer of the state public works, whose name was associated with such projects as the Portage Road, the Harrisburg and Lancaster Railroad, and the Cumberland Valley Railroad; John Bannister II, a lieutenant in the First Artillery, U. S. A., at the breaking out of the Mexican War, brevetted for bravery ; George, colonel of the Fifth Infantry, U. S. A.; and Sallie, married in 1851 to Capt. R. Anderson, of the Second Dragoons, U. S. A., a Southerner, and the last one of the thirty-three officers from South Carolina
to resign from the United States Army in 1861, prior to the war between the States.
Certificate of death:
John Banister Gibson, white, male, 72 yrs. Father: Col. George Gibson. Occupation: Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Pa. Born: 8 Nov 1784, Sherman's Valley, Perry Co. Pa. Wife: Sarah W. Gibson. Died: 2 May 1853, Affection of the stomach, Phila. Pa., W.S. Hotel. Buried: Carlisle Cemetery. Person returning certificate: George Gibson, Carlisle, Pa. Date: 19 May 1853.
======================
Semi-Weekly Standard (Raleigh, NC), Saturday, May 7, 1853; pg. 3
DEATH OF JUDGE GIBSON. Judge John B. Gibson, late Chief Justice of the State of Pennsylvania, died at Philadelphia (sic) on the 3d. The deceased for the last forty years adorned the bench of the Supreme Court of that State, and had by his eminent talents contributed more than any man of his time to elecrdate (sic) and establish the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth.
Inscription
In the various knowledge which forms the perfect scholar he had no superior. Independent, upright and able, he had all the highest qualities of a great Judge. In the difficult science of Jurisprudence, he mastered every Department, Discussed almost every question, and Touched no subject which he did not adorn. He won in early manhood, and retained to the close of a long life, the affection of his brethren on the Bench, The respect of the Bar and the confidence of the people.
Written by: Chief Justice Jeremiah S. Black
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