WILLIAM
GIBSON, farmer, post-office Greenville, was born June 15, 1834,
in Jefferson Township, to James and Mary (Stewart) Gibson, natives, the
father of Lawrence County and the mother of Hickory Township, this
county. The parents settled in Jefferson Township on a farm, where the
mother died in 1839. They had three children: William, Stewart and an
infant. The father afterward married Mary Sample, by whom he had five
children, who survive: Alfred, Almira, Jane, Sadie, Eve. He died June
15, 1884, and was buried at Unity Church. With his first wife he was a
member of the Seceder Church, but with his last wife became a
Presbyterian. Our subject was educated at the common schools, and began
for himself when he was nineteen years old, working for $9 a month. He
then helped his father for two years, and in 1856 went to Iowa and
worked on a farm. Finally, in 1861, he located in Venango County and
worked in the oil business one year, afterward working for his uncle,
Vance Stewart, near Greenville. In 1864 he was married to Margaret
McMullen, born January 22, 1834, in what is now Hempfield Township, to
Alex. and Margaret (Thompson) McMillen, the parents of two
children: Wilson and Margaret. The father married for his second
wife Elizabeth Blair, by whom he had: Nancy, married John Reznor;
Jennie; William, belonged to Company K, Fifty-third Regiment, and was
killed at the battle of the Wilderness; Henry, died when four
years old; Thomas. The father died in 1886; was a member of the
Greenville United Presbyterian Church, and a Republican. His last wife
still survives. In 1873 our subject settled on his present farm of
seventy-five acres, known as the McFetridge farm. He has one son, Delos
W., who married Melinda Hittle, daughter of George Hittle, and
has two children: Carrie and Sadie. His wife is a member of the United
Presbyterian Church, and he is a Republican. He operated the old mill
which McFetridge built on this place at an early date.
History of Mercer County, 1888, page 1149
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