William Harvey Gibson

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William Harvey Gibson
circa 1879
9th Ohio State Treasurer
In office
January 14, 1856 – June 13, 1857
GovernorSalmon P. Chase
Preceded byJohn G. Breslin
Succeeded byAlfred P. Stone
Personal details
Born(1821-05-16)May 16, 1821
Second Battle of Franklin
Battle of Nashville

49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War
.

Early life

William Harvey Gibson was born at Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio[1] on May 16, 1821, to John Gibson (1778–1852) and Jeannette Gibson (née Coe) (1782–1850). He was raised in a family that valued hard work, plain dress, temperance and sympathy for the unfortunate and opposed slavery and "social gilded livery."[2] The Gibson family also placed special attention on developing good oratory and debating skills and held a regular family debating circle during the long winter evenings.[3]

On his mother's side, Gibson was descended from

Acting Governor of Indiana (1811–1813).[6]

William Harvey Gibson was known to everyone except his mother as "Bill."

Wyandotte Indians on the Upper Sandusky River.[9]

Gibson attended the first school organized in Seneca County, Ohio in 1826 with his brothers Robert, Benjamin and James Allen. It was located in the second room of James Latham's log cabin and the teacher was Mrs. Laura Latham.[10] The Lathams later donated land and asked the community to help build a one-room log schoolhouse, which became known as Craw's Hill School. It was run by Headmaster Edward Ranger. Among Gibson's early schoolmates were Anson Burlingame (diplomat), Consul Wilshire Butterfield (author and historian), O. D. Conger (U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from Michigan), and Charles Foster (35th Governor of Ohio and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury).[11]

In his late teens, Gibson was eager to explore the American West. Together with his brother Robert McDowell Gibson and his neighbors John Kennedy and James Downs, he formed an exploration party that traveled west to explore the

Iowa City. The Gibson brothers returned to Melmore, Ohio. It would be their youngest brother James Allen Gibson who would explore the West and settle in Kansas.[12]

Bill and his brother Robert McDowell Gibson (who would later become a practicing M.D.), enrolled in Ashland Academy in Richland County, Ohio in 1841. (The school later became Ashland University and Ashland Theological Seminary).[13] Here, he honed his debating and oratory skills, becoming known for his strong position on temperance.[14] He learned the carpenters trade, and studied law.[15]

Early Legal and Political career

In 1841 when William Harvey Gibson petitioned the law firm of Rawson & Pennington to join their firm, he was following in the steps of his older brother John Kendall Gibson who had studied law at

U.S. Presidential campaign of 1840, campaigned alongside General William Henry Harrison. Bill (William Harvey) Gibson and Warren P. Noble (later a prosecuting attorney, judge and U.S. Congressman) studied law together under Abel Rawson.[16] Gibson was admitted to the Ohio bar and his first case was defending a client against racial slurs before Judge Reuben Wood.[17][18]

Gibson became involved in politics as a member of the

Republican Party in Ohio.[23] He attended the first organization meeting of the Republican Party in spring of 1856 in Pittsburgh. He was one of the 69 Ohio delegates (of a total 600 delegates from around the country) that attended the first Republican National Convention held in Philadelphia in June 1856.[24] In 1856, he ran and was elected as the first Republican to hold the office of Ohio State Treasurer
.

State Treasurer

In 1855, Gibson ran for Ohio State Treasurer, defeating the incumbent Democrat, John G. Breslin.[25] Breslin was a fellow Tiffin resident, and was related by marriage to Gibson. Gibson was inducted into the office January 14, 1856, and resigned June 13, 1857.[26] Gibson found that the treasury was short several hundred thousand dollars when he entered office. He confronted Breslin, who assured him that the money would be made good. Breslin noted that his predecessor, Albert A. Bliss had been $65,000 short, and had made it up. He intended to do the same. When the Breslin Treasury Defalcation became public, Gibson was forced to resign. An indignation meeting of leading politicians in the streets of Columbus denounced Breslin and Gibson.[27] A commission appointed to investigate found Gibson's crime was not in taking money for himself, but in participating in a cover-up.[28] Breslin had moved to Canada to avoid prosecution,[29] and Gibson returned to Tiffin and opened a law office.[30]

Civil War General, Commander of the Union Army's 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Colonel Gibson with horse later shot from under him

On July 25, 1861, Gibson had a large recruiting poster printed:

TO ARMS! TO ARMS!

Rally to our flag! Rush to the Field!

Are we cowards that must yield to traitors? Are we worthy sons of heroic sires? Let us march, as our forefathers marched, to defend the only democratic Republic on earth!

Impelled by the events of the past week, and assured from Washington that a regiment will be accepted, if enrolled and tendered, I have resolved to organize THE BUCKEYE GUARDS, in northern Ohio.

Let us as patriotic citizens, of adjoining counties, form a regiment that shall be an honor to the State, the exploits of which, in defense of constitutional liberty, shall be recounted with pride by ourselves and our children. The command of the heroic Steedman was organized in this way, and now, at the close of three months' service, they return crowned with glory, to receive the homage of a grateful country.

— W. H. Gibson[31]

Gibson entered service July 31, 1861, and by August 31 was named Colonel of the

Second Battle of Franklin, and the Battle of Nashville.[33][34]

Gibson was known amongst his soldiers for his leadership, his positive speeches, and willingness to personally command in battle. At the Battle of Shiloh he had three horses shot from under him and was wounded by bayonet.[14][35] Gibson was mustered out September 5, 1864, and brevetted Brigadier General March 13, 1865.[32]

Whitelaw Reid summarized Gibson's service in the American Civil War thusly:

He entered the service under a cloud, having been Treasurer of the State of Ohio, and been ejected from his office by

Governor Chase for a defalcation of nearly three quarters of a million dollars. His fault was not in taking the money, but in concealing the fact that it had been taken, before his entrance into office, by his predecessor and relative, Mr. Breslin. General sympathy was felt for him, and it was felt that his entry into the military service was a manly effort to wipe out the stigma which weakness, rather than intentional guilt had placed on him. His career did this, and gave him an honored name among the soldiers of the state.

— Whitelaw Reid, 1895[32]

In his home town of Tiffin, Ohio Gibson is commemorated for his leadership during the U.S. Civil with a bronze statue known as the William Harvey Gibson Monument, located on the grounds of the Seneca County Courthouse. Funding for this statue came from state funds and also from donations made by his soldiers.[36][37]

After the Civil War

Following the Civil War, General Gibson returned to civilian life to practice law. In 1868, Gibson was nominated for

Governor Foster.[41] In 1887, Ohio Governor Joseph B. Foraker appointed him to the Ohio Canal Commission.[35][42]

Legacy

William Harvey Gibson is best remembered for his eloquent oratory during at a difficult period in U.S. history. Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe said that she had "listened to many of the most gifted orators of Europe and America, but have never listened to such eloquence as poured forth for two hours and half as from the lips of William H. Gibson, of Ohio."[43] At Gibson's funeral in 1894, William McKinley, who at the time was Governor of Ohio (1892–1896, and later U.S. president, 1897–1901) made the eulogy. McKinley also noted Gibson's gift for oratory saying that,

For fifty years, Gibson has been the most attractive and sought after of public speakers. On the lecture platform, at hundreds of Grand Army camp-fires, and in the pulpit, wherever duty called him, General Gibson made fitting responses. ... I am here, to pay tribute to the man I loved so much. The last time I heard him was at Old Fort, the Sunday before Memorial day. He was never more eloquent. General Gibson believed the two most important things in life were piety and patriotism. In his creed they were linked in indissoluble union. His piety was broad enough to include every creed and his patriotism wide enough to cover the whole country.[35][44]

He was interred in Greenlawn Cemetery in Tiffin, Ohio.

On May 25, 1847, Gibson was married in the

Presbyterian Church to Martha Matilda Creeger of Tiffin, Ohio, who was born in Maryland.[45]

Notes

  1. ^ Bigger 1901 : 21
  2. ^ Bigger 1901 : 27, 184–187
  3. ^ Bigger 1901 : 109
  4. ^ a b Bartlett 1911
  5. ^ Bigger 1901 : 31
  6. ^ Bigger 1901 : 27
  7. ^ a b Bigger 1901 : 55
  8. ^ Bigger 1901 : 34–35
  9. ^ Bigger 1901 : 60
  10. ^ Bigger 1901 : 59, 60
  11. ^ Bigger 1901 : 63–66
  12. ^ Bigger 1901 : 121
  13. ^ Bigger 1901 : 123–148
  14. ^ a b Smith 1898 : 45
  15. ^ Howe 1891 : 255
  16. ^ Bigger 1901 : 162
  17. ^ Bigger 1901 : 165–168
  18. OCLC 11326875
    .
  19. ^ Bigger 1901 : 169
  20. ^ Bigger 1901 : 172–182
  21. ^ Bigger 1901 : 182, 190–200
  22. ^ Bell 1876 : 121
  23. ^ Bigger 1901 : 203–208
  24. ^ Bigger 1901 : 257
  25. ^ Smith 1898 : 40
  26. ^ Wikoff 1875 : 12
  27. ^ Studer, Jacob H (1873). Columbus, Ohio: its History, Resources, and Progress. Columbus. p. 61.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  28. ^ Bigger 1901 : 274–278
  29. New York Times
    . July 12, 1858. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  30. ^ Bigger 1901 : 278
  31. ^ Bigger 1901 : 313
  32. ^ a b c Reid 1895 volume 1 : 967
  33. ^ Stephens, Larry. "Civil War in Ohio". Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  34. ^ Reid 1895 volume2 : 299–304
  35. ^ a b c New York Times obituary
  36. ^ Baughman 1911 : 263–269
  37. ^ "William Harvey Gibson Monument". Sandusky Scrapbook. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  38. ^ Smith 1898 : 259
  39. ^ Bigger 1901 : 445
  40. ^ Bigger 1901 : 435
  41. ^ Bigger 1901 : 449–450
  42. ^ Bigger 1901 : 450–456
  43. ^ Bigger 1901 : 466
  44. ^ Bigger 1901 : 468
  45. ^ Bigger 1901 : 187

References

External links

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Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of Ohio
1856–1857 		Succeeded by
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