A Guide to the Gibson Family Papers, 1775-1938 Gibson family, 1775-1938, Papers of 25342

A Guide to the Gibson Family Papers, 1775-1938

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 25342

Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference)
Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference)
Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by: Renee M. Savits

Repository

Library of Virginia

Accession number

25342

Title

Gibson family Papers, 1775-1938

Physical Characteristics

1.35 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Physical Location

Personal Papers Collection, Acc. 25342

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Gibson family Papers, 1775-1938. Accession 25342, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. J. Hampden Chamberlayne, 1 June 1961.

Biographical/Historical Information

Patrick Gibson (d. 1827), the son of George Gibson (d. 1821), of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, was an exporter of cotton and tobacco. He married Elizabeth Sanderson (d. 1811) in 1797 and they had seven children: George Hardy (1797-1798), Josephine Eleanor (1799-1802), George Sanderson (1800-1872), Henry (1802-1843), Mary Elizabeth (1805-1875), Alexander (1808-1872) and Patrick (1809-1868).

In 1813, Patrick married Martha Ann Elizabeth Macmurdo (1792-1867). Martha was the daughter of Charles James Macmurdo (b. 1771) and Elizabeth Selden (1770-1792) of Richmond, Virginia. Martha and Patrick had seven children including Ann Elizabeth (b. 1817) and Churchill Jones (1819-1892). Ann Elizabeth Gibson married Reverend Hobart Bartlett in 1839 and George Gibson in 1856. Charles Jones Gibson attended Bristol College (Pa.), served as a minister in Petersburg, Virginia, and was married to Lucy Fitz Hugh Atkinson.

Scope and Content Information

Papers, 1775-1938, including booklets, correspondence, genealogy, newsclippings, ephemera, and financial materials of the Gibson family of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. The bulk of the collection consists of family correspondence. The major correspondents are: Patrick Gibson; his wife, Martha Ann Elizabeth Macmurdo Gibson; two of their children, Ann Elizabeth "Bess" Jones Gibson and Churchill Jones Gibson; a cousin, Robert Fitzgerald; Charles James Macmurdo, Churchill Jones and his wife, Martha Selden Jones.

Topics covered in the correspondence pertain to financial affairs, marriages, health, births, deaths, social events, travel, and the education of the children. Of note, are letters from former slaves of Martha Macmurdo Gibson's; correspondence from Patrick Gibson, dated 23 June 1807, concerning the trial of Aaron Burr in Richmond, Virginia; and correspondence regarding secession and the Civil War. Also of note are two lengthy letters from Jubal Early to William Mahone, dated 1871, regarding an article in which negative comments were made about Early, Robert E. Lee, and other Confederate generals, by Mahone. Early's rebuttal letters to Mahone contain very detailed information on several Civil War battles, including Bristoe Station (Va.) and Spotsylvania Court House (Va.).

Also included in the collection are compositions written by Martha Ann Elizabeth Macmurdo Gibson, 1806-1808; military papers of John Hampden Chamberlayne, 1903-1919; poems by John A. Blair, 1809-1813; free negro certificates, 1851-1861; recipes and medicinal cures, 1821-1886. The collection also contains some genealogical information on the Gibson and Macmurdo families, as well as correspondence from 1889 concerning genealogy of the Starke family of Petersburg and Staunton, Virginia.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Oversized folder located in oversize, box 101.

Contents List

Box 1 Folder 1

Booklets, 1827-1871

Box 1 Folder 2

Business cards, nd

Box 1 Folder 3

Compositions, 1806-1808

Box 1 Folder 4

Confederate currency, 1861-1864

Box 1 Folder 5

Correspondence, 1775-1799

Box 1 Folder 6

Correspondence, 1802-1809

Box 1 Folder 7

Correspondence, 1810-1812

Box 1 Folder 8

Correspondence, 1813

Box 1 Folder 9

Correspondence, 1814

Box 1 Folder 10

Correspondence, 1815-1816

Box 1 Folder 11

Correspondence, 1817-1818

Box 1 Folder 12

Correspondence, 1819-1821

Box 1 Folder 13

Correspondence, 1822

Box 1 Folder 14

Correspondence, 1823-1829

Box 1 Folder 15

Correspondence, 1830-1833

Box 2 Folder 1

Correspondence, 1834

Box 2 Folder 2

Correspondence, 1835-1836

Box 2 Folder 3

Correspondence, 1837-1838

Box 2 Folder 4

Correspondence, 1839-1842

Box 2 Folder 5

Correspondence, 1843-1849

Box 2 Folder 6

Correspondence, 1850-1854

Box 2 Folder 7

Correspondence, 1855-1859

Box 2 Folder 8

Correspondence, 1860-1862

Box 2 Folder 9

Correspondence, 1863-1864

Box 2 Folder 10

Correspondence, 1865-1889

Box 2 Folder 11

Correspondence, 1890-1919

Box 2 Folder 12

Correspondence, Churchill Gibson, outgoing to, Ann E. Gibson, nd

Box 2 Folder 13

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, incoming from, Ann E. Gibson, nd

Box 2 Folder 14

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, incoming from, Churchill Gibson, nd

Box 3 Folder 1

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, incoming from, Patrick Gibson, nd

Box 3 Folder 2

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, incoming from, miscellaneous, nd

Box 3 Folder 3

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, outgoing to, Ann E. Gibson, nd

Box 3 Folder 4

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, outgoing to, Patrick Gibson, nd

Box 3 Folder 5

Correspondence, Martha A.E. Gibson, outgoing to Martha Jones, nd

Box 3 Folder 6

Correspondence, Gibson-Macmurdo family, nd

Box 3 Folder 7

Ephemera, 1792-1892

Box 3 Folder 8

Ephemera, nd

Box 3 Folder 9

Financial records, 1859-1862

Box 3 Folder 10

Free negro certificates, 1851-1861

Box 3 Folder 11

Genealogy, nd

Box 3 Folder 12

Inventory notecards, nd

Box 3 Folder 13

Magazines, 1938

Box 3 Folder 14

Military papers, 1903-1919

Box 3 Folder 15

Miscellaneous, 1822-1919

Box 3 Folder 16

Newsclippings, 1884-1912

Box 3 Folder 17

Poems, 1809-1813

Box 3 Folder 18

Recipes and medical remedies, 1821-1886

Box Oversize Folder 1

Miscellaneous, 1858-1917