Biographical Sketch of S. P. Gibson, Johnson County, Missouri, Kingsville Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** S. P. Gibson, a prosperous farmer and stockman residing near Kingsville, Missouri, is a son of one of the leading pioneer families of Johnson county. Mr. Gibson was born in Gallatin county, Kentucky, in 1847, and when he was a lad, eight years of age, he came to Missouri with his parents, John E. and Cynthia A. Gibson, who settled on a farm in John- son county. The Gibsons made the journey westward from Warsaw, Kentucky almost entirely by water, coming on a boat up the Missouri river and landing at Sibley and bringing with them six slaves from their old plantation home in Kentucky. They settled on the tract of land which is now two miles north of the site of Kingsville. The farm was known as the "Bluff's Spring Farm." In those days the postoffice was located on the Gibson farm. A tanyard, mill, and store were also located on the farm. The old mail route to Kingsville from Lexington passed by the door of the Gibson home. The trip to the new home in the West meant much to the children of the Gibson family. They had never been away from the farm in Kentucky before and were wild with joy when the family started to Missouri and could not understand why their parents and the neighbors all looked so sad. The grown folks knew that they might never meet again, and they never did. The father and mother realized that it was a hard, lonely life they were to begin, but to the little ones the boat was like a house on the water and everything was so strangely beautiful as they sailed slowly on the river that it seemed as if they were going into a new and better world. After the family were safely housed in the small, rude log cabin home in Johnson county and as the years passed by enlightenment came to the younger members of the family as to the meaning of pioneer life in the West. S. P. Gibson has experienced all the countless privations incidental to life in a new country and the hardships and sacrifices of war. William Henry Gibson, brother of S. P. Gibson, enlisted in the Civil War and served under General Price and died of fever in the first year of the war, in 1861. In an old fashioned "subscription school" in Johnson county, S. P. Gibson received his early education. After attaining maturity, he went to Ohio to enter the Lebanon Northwestern Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and for one year, 1870 and 1871, was in atten- dance at that institution. Mr. Gibson returned to Johnson county, Mo., in 1872 and remained with his widowed mother on the home place until her death. He assisted in the building of the Missouri Pacific railway from Holden to Strasburg. Mr. Gibson has always been actively engaged in farming and stock raising since he was a boy in his teens and, though he has now passed the allotted three score years and ten, he is still active and interested in the work of the farm as when he was a score of years younger. In 1876, S. P. Gibson and Miss Emma Fuller were united in marriage. Mrs. Gibson is a native of Virginia. She came to Missouri with her parents in 1865. To Mr. and Mrs. Gibson have been born the following children: Mrs. Anna Derr, Kansas City, Mo.; Maude, deceased; John T., who resides in the state of Washington; Mrs. Mary Clark, Excelsior Springs, Mo.; Albert and Viola, at home with their parents; and S. J., of Rose Hill township, Johnson county. Mr. Gibson is independent in politics. He and Mrs. Gibson are highly respected members and earnest supporters of the Baptist church. Mr. Gibson knows full well what "hard times" are. No man can live in this world 70 years and not experience many misfortunes and hardships, not see many days that are "cold, and dark, and dreary," but he has bravely and cheer- fully withstood all the travail and woe which surely comes to all at some time in life and the path he has trod has been ever onward and up- ward. In the words of the poet, S. P. Gibson is leaving behind him: "Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, may take heart again." ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================