Tillman, OK -- H.A. (Gus) Gibbs Suicide - 1931 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by: Maxine Reggio - reggio@flash.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with the USGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FREDERICK LEADER OCTOBER 7, 1931 Inquest ends in suicide finding (FUNERAL SERVICES LATE WEDNESDAY FOR H.A. GIBBS.) (Members of family believe tragic shooting might have been accidental) Funeral services for H.A. (GUS) Gibbs, who died of a pistol wound Tuesday night, were held Wednesday afternoon at 4 o'clock from the Church of Christ in Frederick in charge, James H. Camp, Minister. Interment is to be made in the City Cemetery. Gibbs, resident of Tillman County for more than a quarter of a Century and a native born Oklahoman, died at the farm home five miles west and a half mile south of Frederick at 7:30 o'clock Tuesday night, from a pistol bullet wound to his head, sustained about 5 o'clock in the evening. Gibbs was fatally shot and a Negro woman, Molly Cartwright, employed on the farm with her husband for the past 8 years was accidentally wounded by the same pistol, a .25 caliber automatic, which Gibbs carried. A coroner's jury impaneled by Judge Roy Curtis of the Justice Court Wednesday morning, conducted an investigation into the fatality and returned a verdict of Death By Suicide. Members of the Jury were J.C. Phipps, J.G. Eberle, George M. Burkardt, G.W. Reeves, John Wade, and Everett Smith. The Jury visited scene of the shooting during the morning. (ACCIDENT POSSIBLE) No one saw the actual shooting of Gibbs and the belief was expressed by relatives at the home Tuesday night that the discharge that wounded the woman and the shot that brought death to the pioneer farmer, were both accidental. According to the Negro woman Gibbs had driven his car near the cotton wagon, where she was weighing afternoon pickings. Her husband was working nearby. Gibbs asked her how much cotton was on the wagon and he told her to take totals for the Gin. She said his pistol dropped to the floor of the car and that she remarked, "You dropped your gun." Gibbs, the woman said picked the gun up and it was discharged. She was struck and turned away. a moment later another shot was fired. She turned back and Gibbs was slumped back in the seat of the car. The Negro woman and her husband rushed Gibbs to the Farm home, where aid was immediately summoned. Gibbs lived until shortly after 7:30 without regaining consciousness, when he expired. The bullet that wounded the woman pierced her left arm and ranged into her body, it is believed to have penetrated her lung. Her condition is not critical, although complications might make the injury a fatal one. The bullet that struck Gibbs entered just over the right eye. It's range could not be determined because of the fact that the ball did not emerge. Minute powder burns were detected after the wound was dressed at the undertaking parlor, the attending Physician said. There were other Negroes picking cotton in the field but none of them professed to having seen the accident. Gibbs was 41 years old. He was born in the Indian Territory that is now eastern Oklahoma in 1880 and came to Tillman County with his parents in 1902, settling with them on a place southwest of Frederick, near where he lived at the time of his death. He had acquired two quarter sections of land in Tillman County. In 1910 he was married to Margaret Phelps, to which five children born, all of whom survive. They are Otis Gibbs, Bonnie Gibbs, Anita Gibbs, Betty Joyce Gibbs, and H.A. Gibbs, Jr. He was a member of the Church of Christ. He was a sincere friend to hosts of Tillman County people, and a beloved neighbor in the community in which he lived for more than a quarter of a Century. He had bravely borne the effects of minor strokes of paralysis, suffered during the past few years, although he had been comparatively strong in recent months and had attended diligently to his own farming operations. In addition to his immediate family, Gibbs is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Gibbs, North Thirteenth Street, Frederick, and the following brothers and sisters, residents of Tillman County; Mrs. Vernie Aldridge, R.W. Gibbs, North Twelfth Street, Frederick; H.A. Gibbs, Amos Gibbs, Mrs. Minnie Peters and Mrs. Lora Etter. In addition another sister, Mrs. McDonald, lives in Oklahoma City.