William Gibson

biography

WILLIAM GIBSON, farmer, post-office Greenville, was born June 15, 1834, in Jefferson Township, to James and Mary (Stewart) Gibson, natives, the father of Lawrence County and the mother of Hickory Township, this county. The parents settled in Jefferson Township on a farm, where the mother died in 1839. They had three children: William, Stewart and an infant. The father afterward married Mary Sample, by whom he had five children, who survive: Alfred, Almira, Jane, Sadie, Eve. He died June 15, 1884, and was buried at Unity Church. With his first wife he was a member of the Seceder Church, but with his last wife became a Presbyterian. Our subject was educated at the common schools, and began for himself when he was nineteen years old, working for $9 a month. He then helped his father for two years, and in 1856 went to Iowa and worked on a farm. Finally, in 1861, he located in Venango County and worked in the oil business one year, afterward working for his uncle, Vance Stewart, near Greenville. In 1864 he was married to Margaret McMullen, born January 22, 1834, in what is now Hempfield Township, to Alex. and Margaret (Thompson) McMillen, the parents of two children:  Wilson and Margaret. The father married for his second wife Elizabeth Blair, by whom he had: Nancy, married John Reznor; Jennie; William, belonged to Company K, Fifty-third Regiment, and was killed at the battle of the Wilderness; Henry, died when four years old; Thomas. The father died in 1886; was a member of the Greenville United Presbyterian Church, and a Republican. His last wife still survives. In 1873 our subject settled on his present farm of seventy-five acres, known as the McFetridge farm. He has one son, Delos W., who married Melinda Hittle, daughter of George Hittle, and has two children: Carrie and Sadie. His wife is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and he is a Republican. He operated the old mill which McFetridge built on this place at an early date.