Jonathan Catlett Gibson, Jr. (1833 – after 1893) was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer, farmer and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldier who represented

Fauquier County Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868 and later

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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Gibson was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1833 to lawyer Jonathan Catlett Gibson, Sr. (1793-1849) and his second wife Mary Williams Shackleford, one of their five sons who later served 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 ...

. The family was well-off, so that they could afford a private education for their sons. His father owned at least 23 enslaved persons in 1840, the last census during that Gibson's life. Despite his father's death in 1849, this Gibson graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, 1850-51. Pulliam 1901, p. 144 Like his father, J.C. Gibson Jr. would marry twice, in this case to Mary Georgia Shackelford in 1870 and to Florence Eastham Daniel in 1901.

Career

His father owned property in Culpeper and nearby Spotsylvania and Rappahannock counties. By 1860, Gibson had settled slightly to the north in nearby Fauquier County, Virginia and farmed. He may have practiced law in Culpeper and nearby counties before as well as after the war. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Gibson enlisted an infantry company known as the "Sperryville Rifles", after Sperryville, Rappahannock County, Virginia, and became its captain, with his brother Eustace as quartermaster. After the Sperryville Rifles became Company K of the Confederate

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 ...

, Gibson received promotions to major, lieutenant colonel and colonel. His brother Eustace became a captain, and their youngest brother Ned left 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 become a sergeant in the unit before leaving regular army service to work 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 ...

after Federal troops occupied much of Northern Virginia.Culpeper currents
culpepertimes.com May 16, 2013 This Gibson was reportedly wounded 11 times. His elder brother William St. George Gibson, a lieutenant of the "Little Fork Rangers" in the

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 ...

died 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 ...

, although his younger brother Eustace recovered from a severe abdominal wound received at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. Another brother, John W.S. Gibson, would remain a private with Crenshaw's Battery of the Virginia Light Artillery. Following the war, Gibson returned to farming and the law, though his brothers Eustace and Ned moved to mountainous Giles County, Virginia and Eustace would later moveto

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

and serve in the West Virginia House of Delegates as well as the U.H. House of Representatives. In 1867, Fauquier County voters elected Gibson to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868. A Conservative, he was one of two delegates elected from the northern Piedmont constitutional convention district made up of Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties, with fellow Confederate and lawyer

R. Taylor Scott Robert Taylor Scott (1834 – August 5, 1897) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and Confederate officer. Elected three times as Attorney General of Virginia, Scott also served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates and several terms as ma ...

being the other. The 1870 census records J.C. Gibson and his new wife as living at a hotel in

Catalpa ''Catalpa'', commonly called catalpa or catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Description Most ''Catalpa'' are decidu ...

, the former home of veteran Virginia politician John Strode Barbour, whose sons John Strode Barbour, Jr. and James Barbour would revitalize the Democratic party in Virginia. Culpeper County voters elected Gibson to succeed James Barbour as their representative in the Virginia House of Delegates for the 1879/80 sessions, and then again in 1883/84 when the Conservatives swept both the House of Delegates and state Senate with overwhelming majorities. Swem 1918, p. 377Leonard, p. 533 However, he was displaced for one term by Republican (and former Culpeper Sheriff) Jacob S. Eggborn, before Culpeper's voters returned this Gibson to the House of Delegate in 1889/90. Gibson won re-elected to the sessions of 1891/92 and 1893/94 during the Populist and Jim Crow era.

Death

Jonathan Catlett Gibson, Jr. died Tuesday, January 29, 1907.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Jonathan C. Members of the Virginia House of Delegates 1833 births Year of death missing People from Culpeper County, Virginia Confederate States Army officers