My Genealogy Hound

A. F. GIBSON is one of the few remaining old settlers left of the original eighty-five composing the Soldiers’ Free Homestead Colony, by which the village and township of Gibbon were mainly settled. He came with the colony in April, 1871, and has been a resident of the town and township since. He had just turned into his twenty-first year when he came to Buffalo county, and was one of the unmarried men of the colony.

He came West like all of his associates to better his condition. He came to stay, and, whether by accident or design, he came in a condition to effectually carry out this purpose, being unincumbered by any ties and unconcerned for the future except as to himself. In the general selection of homesteads which took place a few days after the settlement of the colony, Mr. Gibson chose an “eighty” in the southwest quarter of section 22, township 9, range 14, west, lying only a short distance from where the town of Gibbon was located. He settled on this soon after selecting it and immediately began his improvements. His first efforts toward making a farm on the raw prairies, with little or nothing to go on, in a new and untried condition of agriculture, far from market and unsurrounded by any of the helps and conveniences common in the older communities of the East, were such as are well known by experience to hundreds of old settlers all over this state, but which doubtless will not be sufficiently known to or appreciated by those who will come in after years. He began in an humble way, as did all. The first tedious stages of building and breaking being over, the seasons of grasshoppers and dry years followed. He suffered the privations and hardships which all were forced to suffer during those times of trial, but he stuck to his purpose and never allowed his interest to flag or his courage to weaken. He took a cheerful and even hopeful view of the situation and remained, confidently awaiting better times. Better times came, but they came very gradually. Even after the crisis of 1873-4-5 was passed it was a long and arduous struggle and a conflict of apparently unequal strength and often of seemingly doubtful issue. Mr. Gibson remained on his farm making his way as best he could and demonstrating the virtue in the homely old maxim of “keep pegging away” until in time his footing was assured and he reached something of a breathing spell. During this time he had remained single, fighting the battle alone, determined to win it if he could, and if he could not to go down without dragging any one with him. In the fall of 1877, however, when he felt that he had reached a point where he could afford to take the step, he decided to marry, and on October 9th of that year he was united to Miss Louisa A. Brodrick, daughter of James and Maria Brodrick, then of Buffalo county, having moved to this county a few years previous. Mr. Gibson remained on the farm and continued to improve his homestead and gradually accumulated property till 1883. He then moved into Gibbon, where he now resides, but yet retains his farm interests. In 1883 he engaged in the livery business and at the same time began, in 1886, to deal in agricultural implements. He sold his livery business in 1886 and in 1888 bought of T. B. George the Enterprise mill, which had recently passed out of the hands of its builders and was then struggling to maintain its existence as a paying institution. Mr. Gibson divides his time between his farm, his implement business and his mill. The mill is one of the promising enterprises of Gibbon and will doubtless grow into an industry of great profit. It was built in 1886 by F. C. Hitchcock, then cashier of the State bank of Gibbon, with funds which, as it afterwards turned out, belonged to the bank.

It was transferred to the directors of the bank to secure them against loss, and by them sold to T. B. George and thence passed into the hands of the present owner. When built, it was designed to meet what was then believed to be a growing demand for mill products such as were not made in the regular flouring mills. It is a buhr-stone mill, run by steam, and makes everything except wheat flour. Formerly it was not a paying investment, but under its present management it is developing a good local trade and is reaching out considerably towards the northwest, in which direction there is unquestionably a good field for its products. Mr. Gibson’s farming and stock interests and agricultural implement business are gradually growing, so that all round his affairs seem to be in a reasonably prosperous condition. Further comment on his ability and standing as a business man or his value to the community as a citizen need hardly be given. The above facts show what he is and what he has done. He has been a quiet but nevertheless a very efficient force in the growth and development of his adopted home. He is a prudent, thoughtful man. He watches the details of his business with care and personally sees that all things are done in a proper manner. He has been schooled mainly in the affairs of the world and is in the strictest and best sense of the word a business man. He is plain and straightforward in his dealings and practical and matter of fact in his methods. Probably his chief characteristics are those which have been developed and brought into prominence by his long residence and hard experience in this community, these characteristics being his persevering industry, strict attention to his own personal concerns, his liberal manner of dealing with others and his broad and generous sympathy with those struggling under difficulties or misfortunes. As remarked at the beginning of this sketch, Mr. Gibson is one of the few old settlers who still remain in this vicinity. He is one of the fewer still who have never resided elsewhere, even temporarily, since he first settled here, now nearly twenty years ago. How much courage it has taken to pull patiently through twenty years in Buffalo county those who do not know may gain some idea of by reading the history of the county. The first decade were years of toil, of privation and suffering, which none but those possessing the stoutest hearts could endure. They were years of pathetic interest, for they carried with them the issue of life and death to struggling men and women. In the men who passed through the trials of these years are to be found some of the best specimens of manhood, some of the highest-minded, most reputable citizens of the country, not the least of whom is the subject of this memorial article.

Reverting to his earlier years in order that we may preserve something of his ancestral history for those who may grow up to read this work, it may be recorded that A. F. Gibson was born in Mercer county, Pa., July 17, 1850, of parents who were also Pennsylvanians by birth. He is a son of Samuel and Mary E. Gibson and a descendant of two of the first settled families of western Pennsylvania. His father is a native of Lawrence county, and his mother was born in Mercer county. These counties join, and his parents have at times been different residents of each, and are still living. His mother bore the maiden name of Wilson and was a daughter of John Wilson, a native of Westmoreland county, Pa., who settled many years ago in Mercer county. Mr. Gibson comes of good stock, his people as a rule being substantial well-to-do farmers. They are marked chiefly for the quietness of their lives and, on his mother’s side, for their love of home and their attachment for one another. They are not as a rule migratory, though both his grandfathers were pioneers, with, it may be presumed, a taste for the pleasures of pioneer life, and were not unacquainted with its hardships and dangers. These qualities Mr. Gibson in a large measure inherits; and these qualities, modified by the peculiarities of his local surroundings, have made him what he is.

Mr. Gibson has a pleasant home and a family of four children — Claude Wilson, Carl Brodrick, Guy and Glenn.