William Gibbs, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of William Gibbs
WILLIAM GIBBS was born in Athens County, Ohio, April 6, 1829, and is a son of Hiram and Elizabeth (Shanks) Gibbs, the former a native of Vermont, the latter of Virginia. The father died at Hickory Point; the mother is yet living in Lowell, Lake County. William Gibbs had but meager opportunities to acquire learning from the schools. He came to Porter County, Ind., with his parents, in 1845, and located on a farm. In 1846, he came to Lake County. After his father's death, he was commissioned to manage the farm, which he did until he was twenty-eight years old, at which time he was married to Miss Mary Gordon, daughter of Joseph and Ruth Gordon, by which marriage he had one child - Laura. After this, he farmed for five years, then peddled dry goods and notions, and later, in 1868, settled in the furniture and agricultural goods business at Hebron; this he continued until 1878; when he moved West to improve his wife's health; this failing, he returned in 1879, and in 1880 she passed away. He was made Justice of the Peace in 1878, and 1879 engaged in the insurance business, in which he has remained. His second marriage was to Miss Mary A. Guinn, daughter of John D. and Eliza Guinn, by which union there was one child - Otto W. Mr. Gibbs is a correspondent for several newspapers. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 321
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook