I have been volunteering in the genealogy library of the Johnson County Museum of History for almost one year. I have enjoyed helping library researchers find documents and information about their Johnson County ancestors.
However, I never thought that I'd find any information about my ancestors in the museum's library. I didn't think that my family had a Johnson County connection until my parents moved here. My sister and I were the only family members I thought were born in the county. Well, my "assumptions" were turned upside down when I found evidence that my 2x great-grandmother Sarah Richards lived in White River Township with her mother Rebecca (Gibson), stepfather Greenberry Mullinix, and half-siblings in the 1870 and 1880 Censuses. Then I was further astonished to find that my 3x great-grandmother was married 4 times, the last two marriages being recorded in the Johnson County Marriage Record and Application Books in the museum's library. Rebecca's 3rd and 4th marriage applications have been helpful in tracing her father, Jasper Gibson, and these records pointed toward his birth in Butler County, Ohio and verified the name of his wife.
Additionally, I found the administration and guardianship papers that resulted when Rebecca's 2nd husband, Greenberry Mullinix, died. This pointed out that her father, my 4x great-grandfather, Jasper Gibson, was initially appointed the guardian of her minor children. Shortly after, he asked the court to be released from his guardian duties because of an illness in his family. Another clue! More questions!
When I decided to search for anything else about Jasper Gibson, the website Mocavo.com surprised me. The search results included a link to the digitil version of the book, Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent and Representative Men of Indianapolis and Vicinity (1908), which contains a biographical sketch of his son John W. Gibson. This volume includes detailed information on his father Jasper and his grandfather Archibald.
"Jasper N. Gibson was born in 1824 in Ohio, near Cincinnati, received a common-school education and learned his father's trade, and also followed farming to some extent. When a young man he came to Marion county, but he returned to Ohio and married Rebecca Crubaugh, who was born about 1817 in Preble county, Ohio, daughter of John and Mary Crubaugh, of Pennsylvania German stock. After his marriage, Mr. Gibson worked at chairmaking and rented land near Cumberland, Ind. At the time of the Civil war his eldest son, John W., was the only one of the sons old enough for service, and both father and son became members ot Company D, 79th Ind. V. I., Jasper N. Gibson enlisting Aug. 8, 1862, for three years or during the war. However, he only served eighteen months, becoming ill from exposure, and he was honorably discharged at Madison in 1863. He served in Kentucky and Tennessee and took part in the battle of Perryville. He was sick in hospital for about a year, at Nashville, Tenn., and Madison, Ind., having contracted rheumatism on account of exposure, and in fact he was so much disabled that he never was able to do much heavy work after his army experiences. In his younger years he was a most industrious man, and he always bore the reputation of being a good citizen and an honorable man in all the relations of life. He died at the age of seventy-two years, in Johnson county, Ind. Mr. Gibson was originally an old-line Whig in political sentiment, but he became a Republican in course of time, and supported Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. He was a member of the Baptist Church, his wife of the Methodist Church. Their children were : John W., Rebecca, Thomas, Mary, Ann, George and Newton."
Of course, I've found inconsistencies and inaccuracies in some of the information in this quasi-vanity publication, but it helps give me a start, just not solid proof. I have supporting evidence and records that both Jasper and his son John W. served in the Civil War, Indiana 79th, Company D. After finding Jasper's obituary in the Franklin Evening Star newspaper and by checking the cemetery index, I learned that he is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Johnson County.
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| J.N. Gibson, Co. D., 79th Ind. Inf. (photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor RosiePosie, link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=326334&GRid=84427863&) |
