Jonathan Catlett Gibson Sr. (1793– Dec. 9, 1849) was a nineteenth-century Virginia farmer, lawyer, politician and War of 1812 veteran, whose five sons would fight for the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, including three sons who followed in his footsteps and became lawyers, of which two served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

and West Virginia House of Delegates.

Early and family life

J.C. Gibson married Martha Dandridge Ball, daughter of Col. Burgess Ball and George Washington's niece Frances Ann Washington, but she died when their two daughters were infants. In 1824 the widower Gibson remarried, to Mary Williams Shackelford. They had five sons (all of whom would enlist in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

as discussed below), and six daughters.

Career

The elder J.C. Gibson enlisted twice in J.R. Gilbert's company of Virginia militia for service in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, in July 1813 and January 1814. He eventually rose in the local militia, and when General Lafayette traveled to visit President Madison at his estate, Montpelier in nearby Orange in 1824, Major Gibson led a mounted fifty man volunteer escort. Following the war, Gibson returned to farm using enslaved labor, as well as practice law in Culpeper County (slightly north of Albemarle but still in Virginia's Piedmont region). Gibson's plantation was named "Dandridge" in memory of his first wife's ancestors. He owned 7 slaves in the 1820 census, 20 slaves in the 1830 census, and at least 23 slaves in the 1840 census, the last before his death. In a contested election in 1830, J.C. Gibson Sr. defeated incumbent Joseph S. Hansbrough to represent

Culpeper County Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culp ...

part-time in the

, serving alongside Edmund Broadus. The following year, Gibson became one of the three commissioners charged with raising $1500 to build a bridge across the

Rapidan River The Rapidan River, flowing U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 through north-central Virginia in the United States, is the largest tributary of the Rappahannock ...

Death and legacy

Gibson died on December 9, 1849, after a stroke. The Huntington Library in California has some papers relating to Gibson, transferred through his daughter Frances, who married twice, both to Alabamians and whose daughter Martha (a/k/a "Mattie") would marry Issac Jordon Stone, who moved his family to North Carolina and ultimately California, where his mother-in-law lived her final years. During the American Civil War, all five of his sons would enlist in the Confederate Army. William St. Pierre Gibson would become Lieutenant of the "Little Fork Rangers" (

4th Virginia Cavalry The 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia. History The Virginia 4th Cavalry comp ...

) and die at the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

. Jonathan C. Gibson Jr. would become Captain of the Sperryville Rifles (Company K of the

49th Virginia Infantry The 49th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia. The 49th Virginia completed its organiz ...

) survive the war and like his father serve in the Virginia House of Delegates. Edwin (Ned) Gibson would leave his studies at the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

to serve with his brothers in the Sperryville Rifles as a Sergeant, but later served with

Mosby's Rangers The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders, or Mosby's Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Noted for their lightning strike raids on Union tar ...

, John Williams Gibson would become a private with Crenshaw's Battery of Virginia Artillery, and

Eustace Gibson Eustace Gibson (October 4, 1842 – December 10, 1900) was a Democratic politician and lawyer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, who served in the Confederate Army and in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868. He moved to the State of ...

would become captain and quartermaster of the Sperryville Rifles and later a lawyer, member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and the U.S. House of Representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Jonathan C. Sr. Members of the Virginia House of Delegates 1793 births 1849 deaths Virginia lawyers People from Culpeper County, Virginia 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century Virginia politicians