Thomas K. Gibson

Thomas Kennedy Gibson (December 4, 1811 – January 3, 1900) was an American farmer, miner and storekeeper from Benton, Wisconsin, who served as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate in the 1st Wisconsin Legislature in 1848.[1]

Thomas Kennedy Gibson
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 7th district
In office June 5, 1848 – January 10, 1849
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Dennis Murphy
Personal details
Born	(1811-12-04)December 4, 1811 Nashville, Tennessee
Died	January 3, 1900(1900-01-03) (aged 88) Benton, Wisconsin
Resting place	United Methodist Church Cemetery Benton, Wisconsin
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Margarette T. Murphy ^(m. 1860; died 1881)
Children	6

Background

Gibson was born December 4, 1811 near Nashville, Tennessee, son of James Gibson and Diannah (Beck) Sitton. At the age of three, he moved with his family to Missouri. In the spring of 1833 he left for Dubuque (at that time in unorganized territory) and worked as a miner until the fall of 1834, when he went back to Missouri, bought cattle which he drove back to Dubuque and sold, then resumed work in the mines until 1836, when he returned to Missouri and ran a store for a while (interspersed with occasional horseback trips to St. Louis) until fall of 1837, when he moved to Benton. He worked as a miner in Benton for many years.

Public office

Prior to the 1847 separation of Lafayette County, Gibson was elected a county commissioner (equivalent to a county supervisor) for Iowa County, Wisconsin Territory in September 1845.[2] He was a member of the five-man Board of Arbitrators created in 1847 to settle disputes over land claims in the New Diggings area.[3]

In 1848, upon Wisconsin's admission to the Union, Gibson was elected as a Democrat to represent Lafayette County in the new Senate. He was assigned to the standing committees on the militia, on agriculture and manufactures, and on engrossed bills.[4] He did not seek re-election.

Later years

In 1849 he opened a store in Benton, which he would operate for the next ten years. In 1857, newly elected President James Buchanan appointed him postmaster of Benton. In 1859, Gibson sold the store and moved to Hastings, Minnesota, and farmed there. On June 17, 1860, he married Margaret or Margarette T. Murphy, a native of Lafayette County and the sister of his successor in the senate, Dennis Murphy. They stayed on the farm in Hastings until their 1865 return to Benton, where they also farmed. By 1881, Gibson owned about 500 acres of land, as well as real estate in Benton itself; and the couple had six children.[5]

He died January 3, 1900, in Benton, and was buried at the United Methodist Church Cemetery.

References

1. "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature 1848–1999 State of Wisconsin Legislative Bureau. Information Bulletin 99-1, September 1999. p. 7 Archived 2006-12-09 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Abstract of Votes" Mineral Point Democrat October 8, 1845; p. 2, col. 5
3. History of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources: An Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages ... Its War Record, Biographical Sketches ... the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution, and of the Constitution of the United States Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881; p. 556, 566
4. Journal of the Senate; of the First Legislature of the State of Wisconsin, Held at Madison June 5th, A. D. 1848 Madison: Rhenodyne A. Bird, State Printer, 1848; p. 27
5. "Biographical Sketches: Thomas K. Gibson", in, History of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources: An Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages ... Its War Record, Biographical Sketches ... the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution, and of the Constitution of the United States Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881; p. 746