The patriarch of the Oklahoma branch of our Gibson Family Tree, James Ambrose Gibson, was born on 19 December 1841, along with his twin brother, John D. Gibson, to Moses and Nancy (McKee) Gibson. They were probably born in Rutherford County, Tennessee.
He didn't stay long in Tennessee as he was part of the large Gibson family exodus from Tennessee into Missouri. Shortly after the Gibson clan had arrived in their new home, Newton County, Missouri, his father passed away, probably of malaria. At present, we don't know where James Ambrose and his brothers grew up, but it is quite likely his mother took them back to Tennessee where she probably remarried.
Later in their teen-age years, by 1860, both John and James were back in Newton County, Missouri. With they outbreak of the Civil War, they joined the Confederacy. Along with childhood friends - John Lindsey, Green Barlow, Abe Hulse and Nathan Price [quite possibly his cousins]- they were in the battles at Pearidge, Arkansas and Verdigris, Oklahoma. During one period, they got separated from their unit for about a month and a half and went with General Stan Waite, a Cherokee Indian. Later, they rejoined with General Coffee came and went with him.
James Ambrose was wounded during a one cold day - raining and freezing - in Missouri. He and some men in his outfit went over to talk to some girls sitting on a fence. Some men shot them from the mountains. James Ambrose was shot in the neck and shin. These wounds are believed to have ended his participation in the Civil War.
In September 1865, James Ambrose Gibson was married to Clara Elizabeth Hodge. We have the following account of their "courtship" from their great- granddaughter, Minnie Mae Morris:
"Clara told her [Minnie Mae] out of her own mouth, that she was taken to raise by
some people, as her own folks weren't around. She was in an unhappy situation, and
only 14? She was outside with a group of other children playing, when James A.
Gibson rode up on a horse with cooking utensils strapped on the side. He singled her
out to talk to. He ask her if she would run away with him and marry him.
"It was the time of the Civil War, lots of killing & distress. She climbed on the
horse barefoot, & in a print gingham dress, ran off from her people, and rode
horseback into the Indian Nation with him to marry."
Later, James Ambrose is believed to have still been a part of the army stationed near old Fort Arbuckle in the Chickasa Nation portion of Indian Territory. He was part of a troop of soldiers sent out to rescue some women and children kidnapped by Indians. In the ensuing battle in the Wichita Mountains outside of Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he obtained the tomahawk still in the family's possession [see the full tomahawk story].
James and Clara (Hodge) Gibson raised a large family having at least nine children - Mary, Amanda, Martha "Mattie", Nathan, Elizabeth, John, Elijah, and Emery [see the James A. Gibson Family]. They lived in and around Tishimingo and Davis, Oklahoma.
James was a Methodist circuit-rider preacher in his later years. He was ordained to the office of deacon in the "Indian Mission Conference" of the "Methodist Episcopal Church, South" on 6 October 1889 in Atoka, Indian Territory. He was also a charter member of the Masonic Lodge in Davis, Oklahoma. Later in life, he moved his family to Moral in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Territory.
He and a couple of associates had laid out the design of the Old Moral Cemetery in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, not realizing his own life was soon to end. He passed away on 17 February 1894 of pneumonia. He was reported to be the first person buried there. His gravestone can be found in the SE corner.
His wife, Clara, lived another 45 years dying at the remarkable age of 96 years old. She lived to see many of her great, great grandchildren. During the last part of her life, she lived in the Old Confederates Home in Ardmore, Oklahoma and was buried there, when she passed away on 24 July 1939.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003