He may have left Prince George County by 12 February 1716/7 when the court ordered that the appraisement of his estate (on an attachment by James Thweatt) be continued to the next court [Orders 1714-20, 104]. In 1721 he was taxed on 370 acres and one poll in Chowan County, North Carolina [Haun, Old Albemarle County NC Miscellaneous Records, 331. 

On 13 November 1727 he bought an additional 100 acres on the north side of the Roanoke River in what was then Bertie County. His daughter Mary co-signed this deed with him [DB B:324]. The land was situated on the south side of Cypress Swamp in what became Northampton County in 1741. A little over six months later on 11 July 1728 he and his sons Edward Gibson and Hubbard Gibson, Jr., sold 370 acres in Bertie County on the north side of the Roanoke River, explaining in the deed that the land had been granted to Hubbard's deceased son John by patent of 10 August 1720 [DB C:37]. The family probably moved to South Carolina with Gideon Gibson in 1731. Hubbard probably died before 1742 when Mary Gibson of Amelia County, South Carolina, sold the 100 acres she and Hubbard purchased in Northampton County [DB 1:58]. His children were

i. John1, born say 1690, a joint plaintiff with Adam Cockburn in a Chowan County suit for a debt against Thomas Crank in October Court 1718 [DB B-#1:45]. He was granted 370 acres on 5 April 1720 on a bank of Falling Run in the part of Chowan County which later became Northampton County, but was not listed in the Chowan County Tax list with his father who was taxable on this land in 1721 [Patent 3:15, #1601]. He was said to have been deceased in his father's deed of sale of this land on 11 July 1728 [Bertie DB C:37].

5 ii. Thomas1, born say 1692.

6 ii. ?Gideon1, born say 1695.

iii. Edward2, born say 1697, signed his father's 11 December 1721 Prince George County, Virginia deed while residing in North Carolina. He was taxable in 1721 in the same Chowan County district as his father and witness to the 15 October 1732 Edgecombe County, North Carolina deed of William Sims to James Millikin for land on the south side of Quankey Creek [DB 1:20]. He may have been related to another Edward Gibson, "(a Mulatto) a stout well-set Man, with short black curly Hair," who escaped prison in South Carolina according to the 19 May 1767 issue of the South Carolina Gazette [Jordan, White Over Black, 174].

iv. Hubbard2, Jr., born before 1706, taxed in 1721 in the same district as his father.

v. Mary, born say 1705, cosigner of a Bertie County deed with her father on 13 November 1727 [DB B:324]. She was living in Amelia County, South Carolina, in 1742 when she sold this land in what was by then Northampton County [DB 1:58]. She recorded a plat for 200 acres on Flat Creek in Craven County, South Carolina, on 27 January 1756 [Colonial Plats 6:389]. She made a Craven County deed of gift of slaves named Owen and Carolina to her son Samuel Gibson on 25 October 1768 [Miscellaneous Record Book NN:401].

3. Gilbert1 Gibson, born say 1686, was sued in Henrico County court on 1 June 1709 by John Ellis for a debt of 2 pounds currency due by account. He sued Joseph Watson in court in July 1710, and he was sued by Allenson Clarke for a 4 pound currency debt in September the same year [Orders 1707-9, 153, 163; 1710-4, 15, 25]. He was granted two patents for land in what was then New Kent County on 11 July 1719: one for 224 acres adjoining Stephen Sunter's patent and Captain Dangerfield's line and another for 125 acres adjoining John Macon and Matthew and Thomas Anderson. And he received a patent for 400 acres on both sides of the South Anna River on 28 September 1728 in Hanover County, 400 acres in Hanover County adjoining John Woodey on 28 January 1733, and 200 acres on both sides of Ballenger's Creek in Albemarle County on 20 August 1747 [Land Office Patents 10:437; 14:3; 15:146; 23:138]. On 10 October 1743 Agnes Goin sued him in Louisa County court for 3 pounds due for services performed. On 26 August 1746 the court approved his request to make a bridle path through Captain Holland's land at Green Spring. He married Sarah Lemay sometime before 24 February 1746/7 when the court ordered the churchwardens of Fredericksville Parish to bind her children out because she was not educating them. On 23 February 1747/8 the court found Gilbert guilty of selling liquor without a license and ordered that he receive twenty-one lashes if he refused to pay the fine [Orders 1742-8, 82, 91, 190, 200, 220, 252]. He made an 18 December 1756 Louisa County deed by which he gave his son Gilbert 200 acres and a slave named Peter, gave his son Jordan 200 acres and a slave named Jack, gave his daughters Tabitha and Mary 100 acres each, gave John Lemay 200 acres and a slave named Kate, gave Samuel and Sarah Lemay a cow each when they came of age, lent 200 acres to George Gibson and his wife Susannah and Benjamin Brannum and his wife Frances the plantations they were then living on during their lifetimes, and made his wife his executrix. However, he stated that the deed was to be void if he returned from a planned trip to South Carolina [DB B:140-2]. Gibson Jones of South Carolina made a deposition in May 1767 stating that he had been living with Gilbert in Louisa County about 20 August 1758 when Gilbert packed up all his household goods and left for South Carolina. The sheriff stopped him about a quarter of a mile from his home and executed a judgment for 10 pounds against a mare and some of the household goods, delaying him until the following morning [Abercrombie, Louisa County Judgments, 46]. Gilbert made a 7 June 1760 Louisa County will, proved 15 October 1764, by which he gave all his estate to his wife Sarah during her lifetime and then divided the estate as follows: to (her son) John Lemay 200 acres on Ballanger's Creek in Albemarle County, to his sons Gideon and Jordan Gibson land on Pamunkey River, to his son William Gibson land on South Anna River, to his sons Gilbert and David one shilling each, to daughters Tabitha, Mary, and Jane Gibson household items and farm animals, and lent to his son George Gibson and daughter Frances Gibson the land where they were then living during their lifetimes provided they paid ten shillings. Feeba Bunch was a witness to the will [WB 1:78]. His children George and Frances sued his widow Sarah and his children by her in 1766. The court took depositions from a number of people including Agnes Going, and on 12 September 1770 the court awarded George Gibson 200 acres and awarded Benjamin and his wife Frances Branham a tract of land between Peter's Creek and Little Creek [Orders 1766-74, 6, 20, 27; 1766-72, 412-3]. Among the depositions was one by Mrs. Ann Moore who stated that Gilbert Gibson's mother had been living with him until he "turned her out" because she would not make over a slave ("Negro wench") that she had for her maintenance [Abercrombie, Louisa County Judgments, 21]. This slave was probably identical to or the daughter of Verity(?) who was lent to her by Gibby Gibson's 1727 Charles City County will. Gilbert's children were

i. George2, born about 1711. He purchased 320 acres in Louisa County and he and his wife Susanna sold 90 acres in Louisa County to William Donathan by deeds proved on 26 March 1745. He was presented by the court on 28 May 1745 for concealing a tithable who was probably his wife. On 14 August 1769 he and Nathan Gibson were brought into court for riotous behavior. George was found not guilty, but Nathan was required to give security for his good behavior for one year. George posted bond as executor of the last will of James Haggard on 8 October 1770 [Orders 1742-8, 140, 152; 1766-72, 335, 418].

ii. Gilbert2, born about 1714, about fifty-three years old on 2 May 1767 when he made a deposition regarding 200 acres of land given by his father to his brother George [Abercrombie, Louisa County Judgments, 46-7]. He was sued for a debt of 1 pound, 14 shillings in Louisa County court on 27 May 1746 [Orders 1742-8, 192].

iii. Frances, wife of Benjamin Branham.

iv. William.

v. Gideon4, born say 1730. On 11 September 1775 Colonel Robert Anderson made a motion in Louisa County court charging that Gideon, being a "Mulatto," had beaten him. The court ruled that Gideon was not a "Mulatto" and granted Anderson an appeal to the General Court. Gideon and his wife Milly sold land by deed proved in Louisa County court on 11 December 1780 [Orders 1774-82, 130, 318].

vi. Mary, born say 1735, pregnant with a child when her father made his 18 December 1756 deed.

vii. Jordan2, born say 1738, not yet of age when his father deeded him two hundred acres and a slave named Jack on 18 December 1756.

viii. David.

ix. Tabitha.

x. Jane.

4. John2 Gibson, born say 1700, received a grant for 328 acres on the south side of the Roanoke joining John Lowe, Jackson, and the swamp on 1 December 1727 [Patent 3:249, #2552]. He was a witness to the 12 August 1728 Bertie County deed of William Whitehead to Edward Bass for land near Urahaw Swamp [DB C:135]. He purchased 335 acres in Bertie County on the north side of Cashie River and Wahton Swamp near the Northampton County line on 28 October 1728 [DB C:52] and was a resident of Bertie on 28 October 1731 when he sold 250 acres in Bertie County on Elk Marsh by an Edgecombe County deed [DB 1:7]. Perhaps he was the John Gibson who recorded a plat for 300 acres in Congrees Township, Berkeley County, South Carolina, on 3 February 1735/6 [Colonial Plats, 4:43]. On 5 February 1756 he made a deed of gift of his household goods in Northampton County to his son George Gibson [WB 2:251]. His children were

7 i. George3, born say 1730.

ii. ?William, born say 1732, a resident of Northampton County on 18 February 1755 when he purchased 100 acres on Burnt Coat Swamp in the part of Edgecombe County which became Halifax County in 1758 [DB 2:186].

iii. ?Charles, born before 1739 since he was taxable in 1750 in John Wade's list for Granville County [CR 44.701.23]. This part of Granville County became Orange County in 1752 and Charles was "a Molata" taxable there in 1755 [T&C Box 1, p.19]. He received a grant for 190 acres on the south side of Bear Swamp in Northampton County on 9 August 1786 and sold it two years later on 31 December 1788 [DB 8:169]. He was head of a Northampton County household of 7 free males and 2 free females in Captain Winborne's District for the state census in 1786 [Census p.29]. He was living in Wayne County, North Carolina, in August 1818 when he made a declaration to obtain a pension for Revolutionary War service. He claimed that he enlisted for nine months in the Tenth Regiment at the courthouse in Northampton County, North Carolina. However, there was no record of his discharge or service. Perhaps he was the same Charles Gibson who applied for a pension from Hawkins County, Tennessee, at the age of ninety-two on 19 January 1839. He claimed to have been born in Louisa County, Virginia, on 19 January 1739 and entered into the service in Salisbury, North Carolina. His neighbors, Jordan and Jonathan Gibson and Benjamin Collins, testified on his behalf [M805-355, frames 55, 62].

5. Thomas1 Gibson, born say 1692, left a 29 October 1734 Hanover County will, proved that year on 7 November, by which he gave his sons Thomas and John Gibson 50 acres each, gave daughter Vine Nicks, wife of Edward Nicks, Frances Humphrey, and Mary Brock a shilling each. He gave his house and cattle to his son-in-law Edward Nicks who he named as executor and directed that Edward should bring up his children John and Valentine Gibson and also William Roberson [Court Records 1733-5, 151]. He was the father of

8 i. Thomas2, born say 1712.

ii. Vine, born say 1714, wife of Edward Nicks/ Nix.

iii. John, born say 1716.

iv. Valentine.

6. Gideon1 Gibson, born say 1695, settled near the Roanoke River in North Carolina about 1720. He purchased 200 acres in what was then Chowan County on the south side of the Roanoke River on 24 July 1721 [DB C-1:142]. He acquired over one thousand acres of land in present-day Halifax County, North Carolina, and on the north side of the Roanoke River in Northampton County. He married Mary Brown sometime before 22 October 1728 when they sold 150 acres "bounded according to the Will of William Brown Gentl decd..." [Bertie DB C:36]. She was under the age of eighteen when her father made his 15 December 1718 Chowan County will, proved July 1719, by which he gave her and each of her six siblings 150 acres [N.C. Archives File SS 841]. Gideon, or (his uncle?) Gibby Gibson, must have impressed the other prosperous free African Americans in that area of North Carolina because three of them named their children after him: Gideon/Gibby Chavis, Gideon/ Gibby Bunch, and Gibson Cumbo. Many of the well-to-do Gibson and Bunch families married whites and were considered white after a few generations.

He sold 108 acres of his land on the south side of the Roanoke River in the first few months of 1730 in what was then Bertie County before moving to South Carolina with several of his relatives who were living on the other side of the Roanoke River in present-day Northampton County [DB C:276]. They came to the attention of the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly in 1731 when a member announced in chamber that several "free colored men with their white wives" had immigrated from Virginia with the intention of settling on the Santee River" [Jordan, White Over Black, 171]. Governor Robert Johnson of South Carolina summoned Gideon Gibson and his family to explain their presence there and after meeting them reported,

I have had them before me in Council and upon Examination find that they are not Negroes nor Slaves but Free people, That the Father of them here is named Gideon Gibson and his Father was also free, I have been informed by a person who has lived in Virginia that this Gibson has lived there Several Years in good Repute and by his papers that he has produced before me that his transactions there have been very regular, That he has for several years paid Taxes for two tracts of Land and had seven Negroes of his own, That he is a Carpenter by Trade and is come hither for the support of his Family. ... I have in Consideration of his Wifes being a white woman and several White women Capable of working and being Serviceable in the Country permitted him to Settle in this Country [Box 2, bundle: S.C., Minutes of House of Burgesses (1730-35), 9, Parish Transcripts, N.Y. Hist. Soc. by Jordan, White over Black, 172].

Like the early settlers of the North Carolina frontier Governor Johnson was more concerned with the Gibsons' social class than their race.

Both Gideon Bunch and Gideon Gibson were in South Carolina when they sold their adjoining Halifax County land to Montfort Eelbeck of Halifax, and both families were taxed in 1755 as "free Molatas" in Orange County, North Carolina [N.C. Archives File T&C, box 1].

Gideon and his wife Mary recorded the birth of their child William in the Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw on 9 October 1743. As "Gideon Gibson of Pe De South Carolina" he sold part of his Northampton County land on 16 November 1746 and the remainder on 15 February 1749 [DB 1:280, 383]. In South Carolina he recorded a plat for 200 acres on the northwest side of the Pee Dee River in Craven County on 13 April 1736 and 200 acres on the south side of the Pee Dee on 1 January 1746/7 [Colonial Plats 4:320, 4:397]. He petitioned the South Carolina Council on 12 November 1747 stating that he had been granted a warrant for 650 acres in the Welch Tract where he had settled fifteen years previous and had kept it as a cow pen with a servant on it for about two years. He had since settled in Persimmon Grove and had nine persons in his household: a wife, seven children and a slave [Holcomb, Petitions for Land from the South Carolina Council Journals, I:266]. On 29 November 1750 he received a grant for 450 acres in Persimmon Grove on the Little Pee Dee River in Craven County [Royal Grants 4:296]. He was granted 300 acres on the upper end of Marrs Bluff based on his petition of 4 August 1752 which stated that he had begun to cultivate land there and had two children and four slaves for which he had not been assigned any land [Holcomb, Petitions for Land III:56]. Land which had been surveyed for him in North Carolina on the north side of the Little Pee Dee River was mentioned in a 17 November 1753 Bladen County land entry [Philbeck, Land Entries: Bladen County, no. 904]. On 13 July 1755 he was granted administration on the estate of James Rowe, "late of Prince George's parish planter as greatest creditor," and on the same day he was granted administration on the estate of Matthew Driggers, also as greatest creditor [Record of Court Proceedings, 35, 97, 127]. He purchased two slaves (a boy named An[s?]lls and a girl named Hannah) from Sarah Sweat of North Carolina for 500 pounds on 28 November 1764, purchased seven slaves (Rillis, Benjamin, Lucey, Pleasants, Cander, Hannah and Nell) from John and Agnes Gibson (his son and daughter) on 7 April 1766, made a deed of gift of three slaves (Achilles, Pleasant, and Pleasant's youngest daughter Judith) to John and Agnes Gibson's children on 24 August 1767, and made a deed of gift to Mary Holland (his daughter?), wife of Joseph Holland, for 50 head of cattle, 50 hogs, 8 horses, and 10 sheep on his plantation at Marrs Bluff Ferry on 8 January 1770 [Miscellaneous Record Books MM:302-3, 371-2; OO:91-2, 222-3]. He was the father of

9 i. Gideon2, born say 1721.

10 ii. John3, born say 1723.

iii. ?Jordan1, born say 1724. He was listed in the accounts of the Public Treasurer on 29 October 1759 for supplying the expedition against the Cherokees with 18 horses which he apparently failed to deliver [Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the South, 937]. He was granted land in what was then Bladen County, North Carolina, on the east side of Mitchel's Creek in present-day Robeson County near the South Carolina border which he sold on 25 September 1761 [Bladen DB 23:85]. He may have been the father of Jordan Gibson, Jr., who recorded a plat for 150 acres adjoining Jordan Gibson, Sr., on the southwest side of the Pee Dee River in Craven County, South Carolina, on 26 January 1765 [Colonial Plats 8:20]. He sold 200 acres in Anson County, North Carolina, on the north side of the Pee Dee River on the Falling Creek branch of Hitchcock's Creek to Benjamin Deas on 15 November 1768 by deed witnessed by Gideon Gibson, and he sold another 300 acres in Anson County in the same area on 2 May 1777 [DB 7:224, 320]. Perhaps he was related to Thomas Gibson who purchased land in this same area of Anson County on 18 August 1761 [DB 6:190]. According to Gregg, Jordan went to the West as a companion of Daniel Boone. He or perhaps a son by the same name was among those "killed by Indians" in North Carolina on 7 January 1788 [NCGSJ IX:236].

iv. ?Mary, wife of Joseph Holland.

v. Agnes, born say 1730, identified as Gideon's daughter in his Craven County, South Carolina deed of gift for the sale of three slaves for the benefit of her unnamed children [Miscellaneous Record Book OO:91-2].

vi. ?Luke, listed in the accounts of the Public Treasurer of South Carolina, paid 4.17.6 pounds on 31 October 1759 for unspecified services to the battalion in the expedition against the Cherokees [Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the South, 936].

vii. ?Daniel, taxable on 100 acres in Marrs Bluff, Liberty County (Prince Frederick Parish) in 1786 [S.C. Tax Returns 1783-1800, frame 119], head of a Georgetown District, Prince Fredericks Parish, household of 6 "other free" in 1790.

viii. William, born 15 September 1743, son of Gideon and Mary, baptized 9 October 1743 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 15].

7. George3 Gibson, born say 1730, was a taxable in 1750 in John Wade's list for Granville County [CR 44.701.23]. This part of Granville became Orange County in 1752, and George was a "Molata" taxable there in 1755 [T&C Box 1, p.19]. By 19 November 1757 he had married Elizabeth Lowe, a white woman of Northampton County, daughter of John and Sarah Lowe. She was mentioned in her father's will of that date. By the terms of this will his wife received a slave and he was allowed to continue to live on 150 acres of land in Northampton County [WB 1:41].

While resident in Northampton County he purchased 439 acres on Quankey Creek in Halifax County on 5 June 1761 and sold it for the same price two years later on 17 January 1763 [DB 7:318; 8:209]. While residing in Orange County on 18 July the same year, he sold two slaves and sixteen head of cattle (which he received from his mother-in-law's estate) to his brother-in-law, Thomas Lowe, of Northampton County [DB 3:622]. On 26 May 1770 he purchased 150 acres on the west side of Flat River in Orange County from (his uncle?) Thomas Gibson.

His 5 November 1775 Orange County will was proved in May 1776 [WB A:195]. He named his (then) wife Mary, and mentioned but did not name his "Sons and Daughters now living in the County" and provided for the schooling of his unnamed younger children. Joel Gibson and Lucrecy Collins were witnesses; Thomas Gibson, Sr., was executor. After his death Mary entered 300 acres on Greens Creek and Rutledges Creek in Caswell County on 13 January 1779 on a line agreed between William Hog and Julius Gibson, and she entered 200 acres in Caswell County on the South Hyco Creek bordering Orange County on 26 July 1779 [Pruitt, Land Entries: Caswell County, I:75, 89]. She was taxable in Caswell in 1790 [NC:79]. The inventory of her Caswell County estate was recorded by Joel Gibson in 1795. The inventory mentioned James, John, and Richard Gibson [WB C:118]. Perhaps George Gibson's children were

i. Andrew, born say 1755, a Caswell County taxable in 1777. He entered 100 acres on both sides of Kilgore's Bridge in Caswell County on 25 August 1778 [Pruitt, Land Entries: Caswell County, 47]. He may have been the Andrew Gibson who was appointed Tax Collector for Chatham District of Orange County at the 29 August 1782 session of the County court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. He was a juror on 26 November 1783. In 1790 he was counted as white in the Tenth Company of Wilkes County, head of a household of one male over 16, 3 males under 16, and 6 females [NC:123]. He was head of an Ashe County household of 7 "other free" in 1800 [NC:79].

ii. George4, born say 1757, a Randolph County taxable in 1779.

iii. John6, born in Orange County, North Carolina, on 16 September 1760 according to his father's family bible. He grew up in Guilford County, North Carolina, where he entered the service. He moved to Tennessee in 1805, and was living there on 16 July 1833 when he made his pension application. He was a horseman employed in collecting cattle for the use of the army [M805-355, frame 0197].

iv. Thomas2, born in Randolph County, North Carolina, on 15 November 1763. When he was eighteen years old, he volunteered in Guilford County and served for two years. He was allowed a pension while a resident of Randolph County. He died 15 October 1850 leaving his children David, Joseph, Hannah (wife of P.M. Nixon), Mary (wife of John H. Hill), and George Gibson [M805-355, frame 0409].

v. Wilbourne, born in Guilford County in 1763 according to his father's family bible. He was drafted into the service in Randolph County in 1781. He applied for a pension while residing in Ripley County, Indiana, on 15 May 1838. His wife Rebecca died 3 March 1839, and he died on 4 April 1843. His only heirs were his daughter Mary Ann Lewis and her husband George W. Lewis who were living in Ripley County, Indiana, on 19 October 1852 when they applied for a survivor's pension [M805-355, frame 0411]. There is a marriage bond recorded for him in Stokes County on 20 November 1797 with Thomas Hill bondsman, but the bride's name was not recorded. His sixteen-year-old son Hezekiah was bound to James Reed in Burke County in October 1804 "due to abandonment" [Wills, Administrations, & Orphans, 1791-1810, 511 by N.C. Genealogy XIX:2827].

vi. Julius, a Wilkes County taxable in 1784.

vii. Lucrecy Collins.



8. Thomas1 Gibson, born say 1712, was presented by the Louisa County court on 28 May 1745 for failing to list a tithable who was probably his wife. A suit against him was dismissed by the court on 24 September the same year because he was not an inhabitant of the county [Orders 1742-8, 152, 157, 167, 171]. He was taxable in Granville County with Charles and George Gibson in John Wade's list in 1750 [CR 44.701.23]. He received two patents for a total of 250 acres in Granville County on Flat River on 2 May 1752 [Hoffman, Granville Land Grants, 31-2]. Orange County was formed from this part of Granville County in 1752, and he was head of an Orange County household of 3 taxable "Molatas" in 1755 [T&C, box 1, p.19]. This land was on Flat River adjoining Charles Gibson, Moses Ridley, and Thomas Collins [Bennett, Abstract of Loose Papers in Granville Proprietary Office, 34, 43]. On 26 May 1770 he sold three tracts of land on the west side of Flat River "part of 606 acres which the sd. Thos. Gibson purchased of Earl Granville:" 100 acres to James Williams, 150 acres to George Gibson, and land to Joel Gibson [DB 3:471, 468, 622]. He received a grant for 150 acres in Wilkes County on the north side of Obed's Creek on the South Fork of New River on 3 November 1796 and sold 100 acres of this land on 18 January 1800 [DB A:142, 147]. He probably died about 1802 when (his son?) Joel sold land in this same area. His children may have been

i. Major, born before 1746, "a Molata" taxable in 1755 in Orange County [T&C Box 1, p.19], and a taxable in Randolph County in 1779. He was counted as white in the 1790 Burke County census, head of a household of 2 males and 3 females in the Eighth company [NC:109]. He was taxable in Burke County on 55 acres and no polls in 1794 (since he was over fifty years old) [Huggins, Burke County, N.C. Records, IV:110].

ii. Joel, born about 1750, purchased land in Orange County from (his father?) on 26 May 1770. He was a Caswell County taxable in 1777 and 1786. He was counted as white in Tenth Company of Burke County in 1790, head of a household of one male over 16 and one female [NC:123]. He sold 200 acres in Ashe County on Obed's Creek on 29 January 1802 and another 100 acres on 6 March 1804. He bought 50 acres on the north bank of the South Fork of New River in Ashe County on 13 July 1804 and sold it a year later on 5 March 1805 [DB A:213; B:311, 339]. He was head of an Ashe County household of 2 "other free" in 1800 [NC:78] and was counted as white in Wilkes County in 1810 [NC:853]. He may have been the Joel Gibson who applied for a pension in Henderson County, Kentucky, on 25 April 1825 at the age of seventy-five for service in the First North Carolina Regiment. His wife was deceased at the time and all his children but one were married and away from home. He was supported by his son Bailey Gibson who had numerous small children to support [M805-355, frame 0162].

iii. John5/Jack Gibson, born say 1756, a Caswell County taxable in 1777, 1784, and 1786. He was head of a Wilkes County household of 2 "other free" and 1 white woman over forty-five years of age in 1810 [NC:853]. The white woman was probably Milley Gibson who made a Wilkes County deed of gift of 2 tracts of land in Burke County on 27 February 1818. The land was to be held by her son Drury in trust for her son Isom when he came of age [DB I:138].

iv. Nathan, born before 1776, head of a Burke County household of 6 "other free" in 1800 and 12 "free colored" in Haywood County in 1830.

v. Archibald, who was counted as white in the Tenth Company of Wilkes County, head of a household of one male over 16, one under 16, and 9 females in 1790 [NC:123] but counted as "other free" in 1800, head of an Ashe County household of 7 [NC:78].

vi. Jordan3, head of a Tenth Company, Wilkes County household of one white over 16, 3 under 16 and one white female in 1790 [NC:123].

vii. Dorothy, head of a Tenth Company, Wilkes County household of two males over 16, two males under 16, and two females in 1790 [NC:123].

viii. Ezekiel, born say 1763, head of a household of one white male over sixteen years in the Tenth Company of Wilkes county in 1790 [NC:123] and head of an Ashe County household of 3 "other free" in 1800 [NC:78].



9. Gideon2 Gibson, born say 1721, had been a resident of South Carolina for fifteen years on 12 December 1746 when he was granted a warrant for 50 acres at a place called Duck Pond on the south side of the Pee Dee River where he was then residing. He called himself Gideon Gibson, Jr., on the same day when he petitioned the South Carolina Council for 200 acres at Duck Pond for himself, his wife and two children [Holcomb, Petitions for Land from the South Carolina Council Journals, I:266]. He and his wife Martha were the parents of Sarah Gibson whose birth (on 29 July 1745) and baptism were registered in the parish of Prince Frederick Winyaw [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 15, 20]. On 2 September 1755 he recorded a plat for 200 acres on the southwest side of the Pee Dee River adjoining Jordan Gibson [Colonial Plats 6:45]. On 15 January 1760 he was paid 343 pounds by the Public Treasurer for supplying the militia in the campaign against the Cherokees [Clark, Colonial Soldiers of the South, 936]. On 15 February 1765 he was granted administration on the estate of John Herring and appointed guardian to John, Peter, Mary, and Hester G___eys of Prince George's Parish [Record of Court Proceedings, 97]. On 25 July 1767 as a leader of the Regulators, Gideon was involved in a skirmish with a constable's party near Marrs Bluff on the Pee Dee River. The incident brought matters between the Governor and the Regulators to a head. The South Carolina Gazette, which like the government was far removed from the location, reported in the 15 August 1768 edition that there were two parties of Regulators. One was made up of people of good principle and property, and the other made up of a

gang of banditi, a numerous collection of outcast Mulattos, Mustees, Free Negroes, etc. all horse thieves from the borders of Virginia and other Northern Colonies ... headed by one Gideon Gibson...

Perhaps in a move to divide the two parties Governor Bull pardoned all those involved except

those persons concerned with the outrages and daring violences committed by Gideon Gibson and others upon George Thompson, a lawful constable, and his party, in the actual execution of a legal warrant, at or near Mars Bluff, in Craven County, upon the 25th day of July last. ... 6 August 1768 [Council Journal, no. 34, 208-211].

Colonel Gabriel Powell, sent to arrest Gideon, arrived with 300 men, but to his utter humiliation, his men sided with Gideon saying he was "one of them" [Hooker, The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution, 177]. Powell resigned his commission and made a racist attack on Gideon Gibson in a discussion of the incident on the floor of Commons. Apparently, he fared little better amongst his colleagues of the Commons than he had in the back country. There are no minutes of the session, but a prominent Charleston merchant, Henry Laurens, was present and described the discussion years later in a letter to England:

Reasoning from the colour carries no conviction ... Gideon Gibson escaped the penalties of the negro law by producing upon comparison more red and white in his face than could be discovered in the faces of half the descendants of the French refugees in our House of Assembly... [Wallace, David Duncan, The Life of Henry Laurens, (N.Y. and London, 1915) by Jordan, White over Black].

Gideon was described by Gregg as

a man of very marked character, of commanding influence, and prominently connected with the leading events of the region in which he lived.

He was shot dead by his nephew, Colonel Maurice Murphy, during an argument over Murphy's mistreatment of an elderly Tory during the Revolutionary War [Gregg, History of the Old Cheraws, 354]. His children were

i. Sarah, born 29 July 1745, daughter of Gideon and Martha, baptized 20 October 1745 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 20].

ii. Gideon5, born 12 March 1750, son of Gideon and Martha, baptized 2 June 1753 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 34]. On 21 September 1773 he was accused before the court in Charleston of having assaulted James McCasey the previous month in Georgetown [Judgment Roll 1774, Box 99B, 23A]. He received about 39 pounds for providing provisions to the militia between 1780 and 1782 [Accounts Audited, no.2786].

iii. Reuben, born 29 November 1751, son of Gideon and Martha, baptized 29 May 1753 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 32].

iv. ?Stephen. According to Gregg, Gideon had three sons, one of whom was Stephen who became wealthy and moved to Georgia about the year 1800. The Hon. Thomas Butler King married his daughter [Gregg, History of the Old Cheraws, 74].

v. ?Roger, another son of Gideon who, according to Gregg, went West before the Revolution.



10. John3 Gibson, born say 1723, and his wife Jemima registered the birth and baptism of their son Gibson in Prince Frederick Winyaw Parish. On 7 April 1766 he and his sister Agnes Gibson of Craven County sold seven slaves to Gideon Gibson, and on 3 September 1767 Gideon sold three slaves for their benefit [Miscellaneous Records MM:371-2; OO:91-2]. John and Jemima were the parents of

i. Gibson2, born 25 February 1749, baptized 29 May 1753.

ii. John4, born 6 January 1753, baptized 29 May 1753 [NSCDA, Parish Register of Prince Frederick Winyaw, 33]. Perhaps he was the John Gibson who was head of a Charleston District, St. Bartholomew's Parish, household of 7 "other free" in 1790 [SC:36].



Endnotes:

1. Gideon Gibson's Northampton/ Halifax County Purchases:

24 Jul 1721 200 acres south side of Roanoke River [Chowan DB C-1:142].

3 May 1722 540 acres southwest side of Quankey Creek [Chowan DB C-1:227].

7 Aug 1727 300 acres north side of Roanoke River [Bertie DB B:289].

8 Aug 1727 300 acres south side of Roanoke River [Bertie DB B:293].



2. Like the Gibsons, the Collins family were taxable "Molattos" in Orange County in 1755 [T&C, Box 1, pp.15,19], were counted as white in the Tenth Company of Wilkes County in 1790 [NC:123], and were counted as "other free" in Ashe County in 1800 [NC:74,75,76].