Hon. John Bannister Gibson and Sarah W. "Sally" Galbraith

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Husband Hon. John Bannister Gibson ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 8 Nov 1780 - Sherman's Valley, Cumberland (later Perry) Co, PA 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 2 May 1853 - Philadelphia, PA 3
         Buried:  - Carlisle, Cumberland Co, PA

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         Father: Col. George Gibson (      -1791) 1 2 3
         Mother: Ann West (      -      ) 1 2

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       Marriage: 1810 3

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Wife Sarah W. "Sally" Galbraith ^{3 4}

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           Born: 25 Jan 1791 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 2 May 1853 - Carlisle, Cumberland Co, PA 3
         Buried: 

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         Father: Maj. Andrew Galbraith (Abt 1750-1806) 4 5 6
         Mother: Barbara Kyle (      -1832) 7

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Children

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1 F Margaretta Gibson ^{2 3 8}

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           Born: 1813 9
     Christened: 
           Died: 15 Dec 1893 9
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Col. Charles McClure (Abt 1804-1846) 2 3 10

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2 F Sarah Gibson ^{3 4}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Capt. Richard H. Anderson, U.S.A. (      -      ) 3 4

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3 F Annie Gibson ³

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: William Milnor Roberts (      -Bef 1886) 3 4

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4 M Lt. John Bannister Gibson ^{3 4 9}

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           Born: 1822 9
     Christened: 
           Died: 1856 9
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

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5 M Col. George Gibson ^{3 4 9}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1886
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Fannie Hunt (      -      ) 3

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General Notes: Husband - Hon. John Bannister Gibson

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He was a young child when his father died, and the mother being left in straitened circumstances, though possessing a farm in Perry County, Pennsylvania, inherited from her father, managed to keep her sons together and instructed them herself, to which training the Chief Justice said he was indebted for all that he was. Subsequently the mother moved to Carlisle, where John's education was furthered at Dickinson College through the efforts of his elder brother George. John read law with Judge Thomas Duncan, of Carlisle, who became one of the judges of the supreme court of the State; and was admitted to the bar in Cumberland County; was later appointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and served on the bench with his preceptor. At the death of Chief Justice Tighlman, of Philadelphia, Judge Gibson was appointed to the position. President Jackson desired to appoint him to the supreme bench of the United States, and promised him the first vacancy; but owing to great political claims of Judge Baldwin, Chief Justice Gibson yielded to his appointment. [HCC 1886, 384]

He entered Dickinson College, graduated therefrom, and entered the law office of his kinsman Thomas Duncan. He was admitted to the Cumberland County bar at the March term, 1803. In 1810 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature, and in 1812 appointed president judge for the Eleventh Judicial district, composed of the counties of Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna and Luzerne. Upon the death of Judge Brackenridge, in 1816, Governor Snyder appointed Judge Gibson associate judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Under the act of Assembly of April 8, 1826, the number of Supreme court judges increased from three to five. The year following Chief Justice Tilghman died, and Judge Gibson succeeded him. In 1838, on the day of the adoption of the new constitution of the State, he resigned his office but was immediately reappointed by Governor Ritner. In 1851, when the judiciary became elective, his seat became vacant. He, however, was re-elected as associate judge and dispensed the high conventions of that office until his death. No greater encomium can be passed upon him than is inscribed upon the marble shaft which marked the place of his repose-from the pen of the late eminent jurist, Jeremiah S. Black. [HAC 1914, 664]

He received his preparatory education in the grammar school attached to Dickinson College, and subsequently studied in the collegiate department, from which in due time he graduated. He entered the office of Thomas Duncan, who was afterward an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and passed through a severe course of reading for the legal profession, and was admitted as an attorney at law at the bar of Cumberland county, in 1803.
He first opened his office at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and after a few years removed to the town of Beaver, in the same state. From this latter locality he changed to Hagerstown, Maryland, and shortly afterward returned to Carlisle. In 1810, he was elected by the (then) Republican party as a representative in the lower branch of the Legislature, and was re-elected the following year, during each session filling prominent stations on committees, etc. In July, 1813, he was appointed President Judge: of the Eleventh Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and three years after was commissioned an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court, which, at that time, was considered equivalent to a life tenure, the appointment being "during good behaviour." At the death of Chief-Justice Tilghman, in 1827, he was appointed by the Governor to succeed him. In 1838, at the date of the adoption of the then New Constitution of the State, he resigned his office, but was immediately re-appointed by the Governor.
By a change in the Constitution making the Judiciary elective, his seat became vacant in 1851. During the same year he was elected an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, being the only one of the former incumbents who was nominated by the Democratic party. He discharged the functions of his office until attacked by his last illness. He died in Philadelphia, May 3d, 1853. As a jurist he stood among the highest in the land. At home and abroad his transcendent legal ability was universally acknowledged. His judicial opinions are among the richest treasures of the country. [MOMCV, 135]

He and his wife had eight children, five of whom lived to maturity.

1 Conway P. Wing, D.D., History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations (Philadelphia, PA: James D. Scott, 1879), Pg 92.

2 —, History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warners, Beers & Co., 1886), Pg 384.

3 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 664.

4 —, History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warners, Beers & Co., 1886), Pg 385.

5 —, History of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884), Pg 895.

6 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 660, 661.

7 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 660.

8 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 286, 584.

9 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 286.

10 William Henry Egle, M.D., M.A., Pennsylvania Genealogies; Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896), Pg 584.