William Harvey Gibson

William Harvey Gibson (born May 16, 1821 in Cross Creek Township , Ohio , † November 22, 1894 in Tiffin , Ohio) was an American lawyer , officer and politician . He was Ohio Treasurer of State from 1856 to 1857 . During the Civil War held Gibson the rank of Brevet - brigadier general in the 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Union Army .

Early years

William Harvey Gibson, son of Jeannette Coe (1782–1850) and John Gibson (1778–1852), was born in Jefferson County about six years after the end of the British-American War . He grew up in a family that valued hard work, modest clothing, moderation and sympathy for the unfortunate, as well as against slavery and social gilded livery . The Gibson family also paid particular attention to developing good public speaking and debating skills. In this context, a regular round of debates was held during the long winter evenings.

On his mother's side, he was descended from Robert Coe , who in 1634 reached the Massachusetts Bay Colony on board the ship Francis . On his father's side, he was of Scottish - Irish descent. His grandfather was Colonel John Gibson , the commanding officer of the 7th  Regiment of Virginia during the Revolutionary War , 1800-1810 Secretary of the Indiana Territory and Acting 1811-1813 Governor of Indiana .

William Harvey Gibson was known as Bill to everyone but his mother . He was the tenth of eleven children. Gibson had five brothers and five older sisters. Their names were: Sally (1801–1864), Polly (1803–1869), Hetty (1805–1847), Patty (1807–1808), Eliza (1810–1890), Robert McDowell (1812–1878), Moses Coe ( 1814–1893), John Kendall (1816–1841), Benjamin Milton (1818–1872), and James Allen (1823–1898). In 1821 his father purchased 320  acres from the federal government in Seneca County, Ohio. When he was just four months old, the family moved from Jefferson County to Seneca County. The family settled in Melmore, Ohio. At that time it was still a forested borderland and home to the Seneca and Mohawks . Both sides of the family were Presbyterians. Gibson was baptized with ten Native American children by Reverend James B. Findley. The ceremony was translated by the Indian interpreter Black Jack . The chief Gray Eyes gave a speech. In the 1820s, the Gibson brothers brought their grain to the flour mill the federal government built for the Wyandot on the upper reaches of the Sandusky River .

Gibson attended Seneca County's first school established in 1826 with his brothers Robert, Benjamin, and James Allen. The school was in James Latham's two-room log cabin and the teacher was Mrs. Laura Latham. The Lathams later donated land and asked the community for help building a one-room wooden school building known as Craw's Hill School . Edward Ranger was the headmaster. Gibson's former schoolmates included Anson Burlingame (diplomat), Consul Wilshire Butterfield (writer and historian), Omar D. Conger ( Congressman and US Senator from Michigan ) and Charles Foster (35th  Governor of Ohio and US Treasury Secretary ).

In his late teens, Gibson was keen to explore the Wild West. Together with his brother Robert McDowell and his neighbors John Kennedy and James Downs, he formed a scouting group that traveled west to explore the Iowa Territory . The trip was a disaster as Kennedy and Downs died when they reached Iowa City . His brother Robert McDowell then returned to Melmore. It was her youngest brother, James Allen, who explored the west and eventually settled in Kansas .

Bill and his brother Robert McDowell, who later became a MD , began attending the Ashland Academy in Richland County in 1841 . The school later became Ashland University and Ashland Theological Seminary . There he improved his debating and speaking skills. He was also known for his firm position in matters of moderation. He did an apprenticeship as a carpenter and then studied law .

When William Harvey Gibson asked Rawson & Pennington to join her in 1841 , he followed in the footsteps of his older brother John Kendall, who studied law at Washington & Jefferson College and campaigned for General William Henry Harrison prior to the 1840 presidential election . William Harvey Gibson and Warren P. Noble (later a prosecutor, judge, and congressman) studied law together with Abel Rawson. Gibson was admitted to the Ohio bar. In his first case, he defended a client against racial abuse before Judge Reuben Wood , who later became the 21st governor of Ohio.

Political career

Gibson subsequently joined the Whig Party , which had strong anti-slavery views. He made speeches for Henry Clay during the presidential campaign in 1844 . At the time, the Whig Party opposed Texas joining the Union because it was a slave state . During the presidential campaign in 1848 he supported Whig candidate General Zachary Taylor . However, he was concerned about the Whig Party's lack of resolve in abolishing slavery. Therefore he visited in 1848 Henry Clay at his home in Ashland ( Kentucky ) to discuss it. Gibson ran unsuccessfully for the office of Attorney General of Ohio in 1853 . After the great defeat of Whig candidate General Winfield Scott in the presidential election in 1852 , Gibson joined the Free Soil Party in 1853 and subsequently helped establish what would later become the Republican Party of Ohio. Gibson attended the first organizational meeting of the Republican Party in Pittsburgh in the spring of 1856 . He was one of 69 delegates from Ohio, the first Republican National Convention in Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania visited) in June. 1856 A total of 600 delegates came from all over the country.

Treasurer of State

In late 1855, he successfully ran for the office of Treasurer of State of Ohio. In the election he defeated the incumbent John G. Breslin , who belonged to the Democratic Party . Gibson was the first Republican to hold this office. Breslin came from Tiffin, Ohio and was Gibson's brother-in-law. On January 14, 1856 Gibson took up the post as treasurer and held this until his resignation on June 13, 1857. Gibson found out when he took office that several hundred thousand US dollars were missing from the tax authorities. He confronted Breslin, who assured him that the money would be refunded. Breslin advised him that his predecessor, Albert A. Bliss , left him a shortfall of $ 65,000 and he made up for it. He was going to do the same. When the embezzlement of Breslin became public, Gibson was forced to resign. A gathering of indignant political leaders on the streets of Columbus, Ohio led to the exposure of Breslin and Gibson. A commission was then set up to investigate the incident. She found that Gibson had not embezzled the money himself but was participating in the cover-up of the embezzlement. Breslin moved to Canada to avoid prosecution. Gibson returned to Tiffin and opened a law firm there.

Civil war

Colonel William Harvey Gibson with his horse Morgan, which was later shot dead under him.

On July 25, 1861, Gibson had a large recruiting poster printed:

"TO ARMS! TO ARMS!
Rally to our flag! Rush to the Field!
Are we cowards that must yield to traitors? Are we worthy sons of heroic sires? Let us march, as our forefathers marched, to defend the only democratic Republic on earth!
Impelled by the events of the past week, and assured from Washington that a regiment will be accepted, if enrolled and tendered, I have resolved to organize THE BUCKEYE GUARDS, in northern Ohio.
Let us as patriotic citizens, of adjoining counties, form a regiment that shall be an honor to the State, the exploits of which, in defense of constitutional liberty, shall be recounted with pride by ourselves and our children. The command of the heroic Steedman was organized in this way, and now, at the close of three months' service, they return crowned with glory, to receive the homage of a grateful country. "

Gibson began his service on July 31, 1861. On August 31, 1861, he was then appointed Colonel in the 49th  Ohio Infantry Regiment . Gibson was the regiment's commanding officer throughout the war. In August and September 1861 he organized and trained the 49th Ohio Infantry at Camp Noble , which was near his home in Tiffin, Ohio. The regiment was drafted for three years and, under Gibson's command, participated in 42  battles including: the Battle of Shiloh , the Siege of Corinth , the Battle of the Stones River , the Tullahoma Campaign , the Battle of Chickamauga , the Battle of Missionary Ridge , the Atlanta Campaign , the Battle of Resaca , the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain , the Siege of Atlanta , the Battle of Jonesboro , the Second Battle of Franklin, and the Battle of Nashville .

Gibson was known by his soldiers for his leadership, decisive speech, and willingness to be in command of battle in person. At the Battle of Shiloh, three horses were shot to death beneath him and he was bayonet wounded. Gibson resigned from the army on September 5, 1864. On March 13, 1865, he was appointed Brevet Brigadier General.

Whitelaw Reid described Gibson's service during the Civil War as follows:

"He entered the service under a cloud, having been Treasurer of the State of Ohio, and been ejected from his office by Governor Chase for a defalcation of nearly three quarters of a million dollars. His fault was not in taking the money, but in concealing the fact that it had been taken, before his entrance into the office, by his predecessor and relative, Mr. Breslin. General sympathy was felt for him, and it was felt that his entry into the military service was a manly effort to wipe out the stigma which weakness, rather than intentional guilt had placed on him. His career did this, and gave him an honored name among the soldiers of the state. "

In his hometown Tiffin, a bronze statue was erected in his honor, which is better known as the William Harvey Gibson Monument. It was placed on the grounds of the Seneca County Courthouse . The statue was financed from state funds and donations from his soldiers.

Late years

After the civil war he resumed his work as a lawyer in Tiffin. In the congressional election in 1868 , he ran in the 9th  Congressional District of Ohio for the 41st Congress , but suffered a defeat to the Democrat Edward F. Dickinson . In 1871 he founded the town of Gibsonburg in Sandusky County (Ohio). Gibson continued to make speeches in support of the Republican Party. In the 1880s he became a preacher for the Methodist Episcopal Church and was named Ohio Adjutant General by Governor Charles Foster . Ohio Governor Joseph B. Foraker appointed him to the Ohio Canal Commission in 1887 .

Gibson died in Tiffin in 1894 and was buried there in Greenlawn Cemetery .

family

His wife was Martha Matilda Creeger (1823-1903), who was born in Maryland . They were married on May 25, 1847 in the Presbyterian Church in Tiffin. The couple had at least two sons: William Ernest (1855–1879) and Milton Harvey (1858–1862).

legacy

William Harvey Gibson is best known for his eloquent speeches during the most difficult period in US history. Here is what abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe said:

"[I] listened to many of the most gifted orators of Europe and America, but have never listened to such eloquence as poured forth for two hours and half as from the lips of William H. Gibson, of Ohio."

At Gibson's funeral in 1894, William McKinley , who was still Governor of Ohio at the time, gave the laudation. McKinley said:

"For fifty years, Gibson has been the most attractive and sought after of public speakers. On the lecture platform, at hundreds of Grand Army camp-fires, and in the pulpit, wherever duty called him, General Gibson made fitting responses. ... I am here, to pay tribute to the man I loved so much. The last time I heard him was at Old Fort, the Sunday before Memorial day. He was never more eloquent. General Gibson believed the two most important things in life were piety and patriotism. In his creed they were linked in indissoluble union. His piety was broad enough to include every creed and his patriotism wide enough to cover the whole country. "

literature

• Bigger, David Dwight: Ohio's silver-tongued orator , United Brethren Publishing House, 1901

Web links

Commons : William Harvey Gibson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} William Harvey Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Bartlett, Joseph Gardner: Robert Coe, Puritan , OCLC 4219904
3. ^ Sally Gibson Patterson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
4. ↑ Polly Gibson Welch in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
5. ^ Hetty Gibson Harper in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
6. ^ Patty Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
7. ↑ Eliza Gibson Duncan in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
8. ^ Robert McDowell Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
9. ↑ Moses Coe Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
10. ^ John Kendall "Paul" Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
11. ^ Benjamin Milton Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
12. ↑ James Allen Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
13. ^ ^{A b c} Smith, Joseph Patterson: History of the Republican Party in Ohio , Volume 1, Lewis Publishing Company, 1898, pp. 40, 45, and 259
14. ^ Howe, Henry: Historical Collections of Ohio , Volume 3, Henry Howe & Son, 1891, p. 255
15. ^ Gibson, Martha M .: Reminiscences of the early days of Tiffin, 1967, OCLC 11326875
16. ^ Bell, William junior : Annual Report of the Secretary of State to the Governor and General Assembly of the State of Ohio for the Year Ending ... , Columbus Printing Company, State Printers, 1876, p. 121
17. ^ Wikoff, Allen T .: Annual Report , 1875, p. 12
18. ^ Studer, Jacob Henry: Columbus, Ohio: Its History, Resources, and Progress , Jacob Henry Studer, 1873, p. 61
19. ^ The runaway State Treasurer , The New York Times, July 12, 1858
20. ^ ^{A b c} Reid, Whitelaw : History of Ohio during the war, and the lives of her generals , Clarke, 1895, p. 967
21. ↑ Stevens, Larry: Civil War in Ohio
22. ^ Reid, Whitelaw : History of her regiments and other military organizations , R. Clarke Company, 1895, pp. 299-304
23. ↑ ^{a b c} Gen. William H. Gibson , The New York Times, November 23, 1894
24. ^ Baughman, Abraham J .: History of Seneca County, Ohio , Lewis Publishing Company, 1911, pp. 263-269
25. ↑ Martha Matilda Creeger Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
26. ^ William Ernest Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.
27. ↑ Milton Harvey Gibson in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved June 13, 2015.