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WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: 30 slaves, 1776; assessed value £966.15.0,
including 23 slaves and 45 oz. plate, 1783. LAND
AT FIRST ELECTION: 386 acres in Talbot County
(all by purchase). ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Gibson had inherited 150 acres from his father
and had purchased 536 acres, all prior to his first
election. In 1774 he gave 300 acres of this land by
deed of gift to his son Woolman Gibson, Jr. (?-ca.
1798). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN
FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: purchased 30 acres
in Queen Anne's County, 1779. In 1789 Gibson
bound himself to convey 165 acres in Talbot
County, which were in the possession of his son
John Gibson III (?-1819), and this tract was con-
veyed by his executors after his death. Without
recording a deed, Gibson conveyed a mill and mill
seat to his son Woolman Gibson, Jr. (?-ca. 1798).
Three months before his death in 1790, he pur-
chased 350 acres in Talbot and Queen Anne's
counties, but paid only a small down payment on
it. In his will Gibson directed that the 350 acres
should be sold if necessary to discharge his con-
tract with the seller, and his executors did dispose
of it at public auction, with the purchaser being
the previous owner of the tract. WEALTH AT
DEATH. DIED: in May 1790 in Talbot County. PER-
SONAL PROPERTY TEV, £2,456.1.11 current
money (including 53 slaves, 61 oz. plate, and
books); FB, £2,230.12.7. LAND: 859 acres in Tal-
bot and Queen Anne's counties.
GIBSON, JOHN, III (?-1819). BORN: in Talbot
County, of age by 1783; younger son. NATIVE: at
least fourth generation. RESIDED: in Talbot
County; Anne Arundel County, 1795; Annapolis,
Anne Arundel County, 1801; Baltimore City,
1811; Annapolis, 1813; on the Magothy River,
Anne Arundel County, at death. FAMILY BACK-
GROUND. FATHER: John Gibson (?-1790). MOTHER:
Elizabeth (?-1797). UNCLE: Woolman Gibson (?-
1786). BROTHER Woolman Gibson, Jr. (?-ca.
1798). SISTERS. Elizabeth; Mary (1766-1790), who
married Richard Tilghman (1740-1809); and
Anna. MARRIED in 1785 Ann Ogle (ca. 1766-
1821), daughter of John Ridout (1732-1797);
granddaughter of Samuel Ogle (1694- 1752); niece
of Benjamin Ogle (1748/49-1809). Her brothers
were Samuel (ca. 1765-1840); Horatio. Her sister
was Meliora Ogle (1780-1781). CHILDREN. SONS
John James; Horatio Samuel. DAUGHTERS: Maria
E., who married in 1807 John Tilghman, of Talbot
County; Ann Ogle. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION:
literate. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent.,
1793; Esq., 1795. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: proba-
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bly a planter; partner with Richard Caton and
others in the Cape Sable Company in Anne Arun-
del County in 1812, which was formed to search
for coal and other mineral ores on the company's
land. The company was incorporated in 1818 to
produce copperas and alum. Charles Carroll of
Carrollton (1737-1832) held the land in trust for
the owners. After Gibson's death, a court case
arose involving the disposition of his one-third
interest in the company, or 20 shares valued at
$20,000. Gibson entailed the shares to his heirs in
1815, then allegedly sold them to Alexander
Mitchell in 1817. Richard Caton stated that he
had been the sole purchaser of the company lands,
that Gibson was merely his agent, and that he was
included in the company only out of Caton's kind-
ness and goodwill. Caton said he knew Gibson "to
be poor, but a man whose integrity and worth"
had led him to grant Gibson shares in the com-
pany. One of the company's creditors deposed
that Gibson's "credit and reputation" was "at too
low an ebb" to be of any help to the company in
terms of loans or other means of raising capital.
According to Caton, however, Gibson proved de-
ceitful and dishonest by applying to his own use
"several and large sums of money which Caton
had confidently placed in his hands" for the use of
the company. In reply, the chancellor in the court
case said that Gibson appeared to have discovered
some coal or other valuable minerals on a tract of
land on the Magothy River in Anne Arundel
County. Gibson informed Caton of his discovery
and together they bought the land. Therefore, the
titles of neither were due to the generosity of the
other, but to the good management of a fortunate
find. Whether the shares belonged to Gibson's
heirs or to the man he supposedly sold them to
was not resolved, however, because the company's
property had to be sold to pay its creditors. PUB-
LIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House,
Talbot County, 1784, 1786-1787 (Claims 1). LO-
CAL OFFICES: militia recruiting officer, Talbot
County, appointed 1778; register of wills, Talbot
County, 1787-1792; justice, Anne Arundel
County, 1794-at least 1800. WEALTH DURING
LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY: assessed value
£218.0.0, including 6 slaves, 1783; £1,000.0.0 cur-
rent money devised to his wife from her father,
1797; assessed value £1,390.0.0, including 50
slaves and 13.10 oz. plate, Talbot County, 1798;
35 slaves, Anne Arundel County, 1798; one-third
interest in the Cape Sable Company valued at
$20,000, including land and other company prop-
erty, 1813. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: controlled
137 acres in Talbot County (actual ownership of
350
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