Preston County, West Virginia Biography: Bert T. GIBSON ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 373-374 BERT T. GIBSON, of Masontown, is the type of a busy and successful citizen, one working hard in his own affairs, equally interested in the welfare of his community and its institutions, and it would be difficult to find a man more popular throughout Preston County. This section of Virginia was a new and untried wilder- ness when Thomas Gibson located north of Pisgah in Preston County, where he acquired a large body of land and opened up a farm. His example encouraged many others to settle in that locality, and he lived there to realize some of the fruits of prosperity which his efforts initiated. His son, James Gibson, was equally enterpris- ing in developing the rural community where he lived. He married Rebecca Cramer, whose father, Peter Cramer, brought Rebecca and other members of the family from Frederick, Maryland. After his marriage James Gibson settled at Tunnelton, about 1840, and he and his wife lived there to a good old age. Fourth among their eight chil- dren was the late Milford C. Gibson, who became widely known as a financier and man of affairs. He was reared in the country, and come to manhood with a full knowl- edge of the work required of an ambitious farmer. Before getting settled in any regular occupation he enlisted as a soldier, in July, 1863, in Company B of the Fourth West Virginia Cavalry, and was in the fighting for the Union with his command until honorably discharged in March, 1864. After the war he determined to get a better educa- tion than had been possible in the schools which he at- tended as a boy. He enrolled as a student in the Millsbury Normal School, and after leaving that taught for a year. Then the call of the great West seized him, and in 1867 he followed the tide of migration as far as Henry County, Iowa. Something about the new country did not appeal to him favorably, and in 1868 he returned and resumed his citizenship at Tunnelton, where he entered the lumber busi- ness. In subsequent years he became one of the prominent lumber manufacturers of the state. For a long time he was associated with Charles A. Craig in this business. In 1875 he also established a store at Tunnelton, and con- tinued as a merchant there until his death on November 22, 1912. In 1869 Milford C. Gibson married Mary Anna Jackson, who was born in Ohio, and was reared and educated in Indiana. Her father, Alexander Jackson, went to Iowa during the Civil war and settled in Henry County. His former home was West Virginia. Mrs. Milford Gibson is still living in Preston County. She was the mother of four children: Bert Thomas, James C., Bessie, wife of Robert R. Hardesty, of Kingwood; and Joseph V., a King- wood lawyer and business man. Bert T. Gibson was born at Tunnelton February 5, 1871, and growing up as he did in the home of a successful business man he acquired much knowledge incident to his environment. He acquired his early education in the public schools, and subsequently entered the State University of Morgantown. Of his university career he recalls with especial gratitude the association he was privileged to have with Professor Jack Hare, whose life has influenced a good many hundred young men of the state. Before going to the university Mr. Gibson taught school, continued in educational work afterward, and his deep interest in schools has caused him to accept and occupy a place on the Board of Education of Masontown. For several years he was head of the board. In practical business lines Mr. Gibson took up the lum- ber industry, being in partnership with John Garner at Irona until their plant was destroyed by fire two years later. He then joined his father at Tunnelton, where he remained five years, and from there removed to Reedsville and with his brother, James C., engaged in the lumber business at Kanes Creek. The Gibson brothers became ex- tensive manufacturers of lumber, and converted large areas of timber land in Preston County to milled products. They shipped much of their output to other states. While in the business they furnished the M. & K. Railroad Com- pany with a large amount of their construction material. Mr. Bert Gibson disposed of his interests to H. T. Lin- coln in 1912, and since then his chief interest has been the farm, the old Snider place, which he bought in 1912. The farm, situated just beyond the limits of Masontown, is generally admitted to be the best farm property in Preston County. It has become so largely under the own- ership and administration of Mr. Gibson, who has improved it with one of the generous and attractive country homes of the county, has restored the soil to better than its virgin fertility, and has made it a center for the production of high grade and registered cattle, hogs and poultry. His cattle are the registered Shorthorns, his hogs, the Berk- shires, and his poultry the White Plymouth Bocks. The farm methods on the Gibson farm are those approved and authorized by the Agricultural Department of the state, and the state authorities frequently point it out as an object lesson in successful agriculture. While this farm provides important work for every day Mr. Gibson has other business connections. He is a mem- ber of the firm Gibson Brothers, coal operators in King- wood and vicinity, is a director of the Bank of Mason- town and the Tnnnelton Bank. His father was president of the Tunnelton Bank when he died. Mr. Gibson was a leader in the movement for the Valley District High School. He took a great deal of pride in this splendid institution, and when fire destroyed the building he caught the spirit for its restoration and was one of the leaders engaged in securing pledges by public subscription for the building which now graces the hillside in Masontown. This high school was erected not only with the proceeds of the in- surance from the first building but also with $23,000 of individual subscriptions. Mr. Gibson was reared in the Methodist Church, is one of the trustees of the Church of Masontown and was on the Building Committee when the new church and parson- age were erected, the Gibson Brothers furnishing the lum- ber for the church building. Mr. Gibson was reared in a democratic home, both his father and grandfather having been of that political faith. He east his first vote for Grover Cleveland and tor Wil- liam L. Wilson for Congressman of the Second District. Mr. Gibson's high standing in the confidence of his com- munity and his personal popularity were perhaps best demonstrated in 1910, when he was elected a member of the Preston County Court, defeating a republican in a strong republican district. He was made chairman of the board, and is the only democrat who ever served as chair- man. He continued in office two terms, and then retired voluntarily. Outside of routine work the principal busi- ness of the court was the improving of roads and the bridg- ing of the Cheat River at the mouth of Big Sandy. On September 6, 1893, in Preston County, Mr. Gibson married Miss Mabel Hartman, sister of H. Foster Hart- man and L. Bert Hartman, business men of the county and mentioned elsewhere in this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson have the following children: Mabel, wife of Harold Painter, of Kingwood; Ruth L., an employe in the internal revenue service in Washington, District of Columbia; Ernest B. and Howard, students in the University of West Virginia; and Susan, attending the Masontown grade school.