John Gibson b: BEF 1647 Mother: Dorothy MNU Gibson b: BEF 1651.

Children:

1. Dorothy Gibson b: BEF 1667 in Lancaster County, Virginia
2. Robert Gibson b: ABT 1665
3. John Gibson b: BEF 1693 in Lancaster County, Virginia

Abstracts of Lancaster County, Virginia Wills 1653-1800; {Ida J. Lee}

GIBSON, John. 21 Dec. 1697. Rec. 12 Aug. 1698.

Wife: Dorothy. Son: John. Other children but not named Extrx: Wife. Wits: Alex. Swan, Margaret Swan, Jno. Hughs. W. B. 8, p. 82.
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1695-1699 Lancaster County Order Book 4; {Antient Press}: pg 40
Lancaster County Court 13th of July 1698

A Probate of ye Last Will and Testament of JOHN GIBSON, deced. is granted unto DOROTHY his Widdow and Relict according to the tenor of his Will

Generation Two

John Gibson b: bf 1693 in Lancaster County, Virginia married Tabitha King, b: abt. 1697 in Lancaster County, Virginia, married: bf 25 JAN 1715/16 in Lancaster County, Virginia.

John Gibson is listed in the records as being dec'd by 03 Feb 1703-04

John Gibson Liber 22, Folio 120, Hall of Records, Charles Co., Maryland; John Shaw Next of kin: John Shaw Sr., John Shaw Jr. Admr:  Raphael Neale. (Inv.: 19.368; 19 Feb 1724; 25 May 1725). [1-10-1996 bfb]

John Gibson dec'd acct of Ralph Neale admr 12 Mar 1725

13 Jun 1724 John Gibson dec'd acct of Robt King and Mary King his wife the relict of John Gibson 13 Feb 1724

Peter Ord was deceased by 30 Jul 1709 with wife, Anne as admx. Edward Turvey & Robert King the sons-in-law of Peter Ord

Mary Ord was born to Peter and Anne 04 Mar 1683.

Robert King dec'd by 27 Feb 1735-36 - Wm. King, Benj(a) King relations - Mary King Admx.

Robert King dec'd acct of Wm Clary and Mary Clary his wife admx Jacob

Brandt & Newman Tompkins of Charles County Sure. 28 Nov 1738 (Note: Newman Tompkins was the nephew of John and Ann Shaw.)

My question is:

Were the two John Gibson accounts listed above the same man?
--
Barbara Farthing Bonham

Generation Three

Abstracts of Lancaster County, Virginia Wills 1653-1800; {Ida J. Lee}

GIBSON, Robert. 9 Jan. 1739. Rec. 8 Aug. 1740.

Grandchildren: Ezekl, Morice, Wm. and Eliz. Gilbert, who are children of my dau. Winifred Gilbert, Son: William Gibson.   William and George Gibson sons of my brother, John Gibson.  Friend: Nicholas Martin.
Exor: Son, William.
Wits: Nicholas Martin, John Gibson, Thomas Edwards, the last a trustee. W. B. 13, p. 171.

Tabitha King abt 1697 in Lancaster County, Virginia, Death: AFT 1716 in Lancaster County, Virginia

132 Virginia's Mother Church

Oath of allegiance to King Charles II, in the Westmoreland County Court, although there is nothing to show whether or not he held a charge in that county at that time. Quite possibly he did. Complaint was made against him to Governor Berkeley in 1668 by two members of Sittenbourn Parish that he had refused to give them the Holy Communion. The charge was made, also, that he was guilty of "scandalous conduct" in that he had said unseemly things about the king. The governor promptly ordered the county court of Rappahannock County to investigate the charges, and, if proven, to dismiss the parson from his parish; but no record exists to show the results of their investigation. Before forming an opinion, one might prefer to know the reasons that impelled the parson to repel these communicants from the Holy Table ; and, as for saying unseemly things about his Majesty, that royal gentleman certainly laid himself open to people to say many things about his conduct. Somehow one's sympathy goes out to the old Puritan parson. 14

An incident which throws some light upon the attitude of the people of Virginia was the case of a marriage which was performed in Northumberland County in 1656 and repeated in Lancaster in 1657. One John Meredith (or Mereday) and Ann Nash were married on September, 1656, the ceremony being performed by Col. John Trussell, a justice of the peace of Northumberland, "according to the Act of Parliament 24th August, 1653." This marriage, in accordance with the provisions of that law, was recorded in the court records of Northumberland County in the following words :

"Certificate of Marriage, in Sept. 1656. Jno Merryday & Mrs. Ann Nash, als Mallet were married by Coll. Jno. Trussell, according to Act of Parliament 24 August, 1653. Witnesses Geo. Colclough Leonard Spencer & Jno Carter. Rec. 20 Sept. 1656."

Ten months later the following certificate appears in the same court record :

"To all such whom it may concerne. These are to certifie that John Meredith & Ann Nash being three times Published according to Law were married at Currot on (Corotomon), on the 14th of this instant July, 1657 per mee Samuel Cole, Minister ibidem.

2Oth July 1657 this Certificate was Recorded."

The Act of Parliament under which Col. Trussell performed the marriage was enacted August 25, 1653, and was declared to be in effect in England and Ireland. It took the duty of performing marriages entirely out of the hands of the clergy and directed that it must be performed by justices of the peace after preliminary notice had been given on the three preceding Sundays "at the close of the morning exer- cies in Church or Chappell"; or else after notice given in the nearest market town on three market days in successive weeks. It made mar- riage purely a civil instead of a religious ceremony and further ordered that no other form of marriage should be accounted valid according to the laws of England. 14a

The data in this case is quite insufficient to show clearly the reasons why John Meredith and Ann Nash should have been twice married to each other. John Meredith, or Mereday, lived in Lancaster County and, presumably, Ann Nash lived in Northumberland. Our records do not show the name of a minister in Northumberland County at that time, and the Rev. John Gorsuch, the minister in Lancaster, died in that year, 1656. The laws of Virginia made no provision for the performance of the marriage ceremony by anyone except a minister of the Anglican Church; although, because of the necessity of the times, the law winked at the performance of marriages by a lay official, the reader of the parish, when there was no minister to be had. Whatever the situation was, however, the fact appears that John Meredith and Col. John Trussell both acted upon the assumption that the new law about marriages enacted by the English Parliament three years earlier was in effect in Virginia. So the Colonel performed the marriage under authority of that Act, collected his fee, and John and Ann had their marriage recorded, as required by that law, in the Court records instead of in the parish register, and went home more or less happily married.

Within a few months, a new minister, the Rev. Samuel Cole, came to the parishes in Lancaster and found one John Meredith, Shipwright, residing in his parish of Christ Church, and living in marriage with one Ann Nash under the authority of an Act of Parliament; and John and Ann came decidedly into the local limelight. The objections were two-fold. First : they had entered into a civil contract of marriage, but not into a Christian marriage according to the teachings of the Church and the meaning of the marriage service in the Prayer Book. Second : the law under which the marriage was performed did not mention the colonies, had never been enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia and consequently was illegal. The result was that the parson announced the banns of matrimony of John and Ann on three several Sundays in the parish Church, "according to law" and then married them. Then, in addition to making the usual record of the marriage in his parish register, he rode over to the court house of Northumberland County and had his certificate of this marriage entered upon the court records for all the world to see.

So today the two certificates appear in the court records of that county the one a marriage under the law of Cromwell's Parliament; the other, a marriage ceremony performed later to make that earlier marriage valid under the laws of Virginia. It is also worthy of note that, at the next meeting of the General Assembly, held in March, 1657/58, a clause was inserted in an Act entitled "Church Government Settled, which declared succinctly: "and the minister only shall celebrate marriages." 141 *