Gibbons, William T.

Born: 1813-XX-XX Kentucky

Flourished: Morgan County, Illinois

William T. Gibbons was a shoemaker, city marshal, doorkeeper, and Union Army soldier. In June 1844, he married Julia Ann Gibbons in Morgan County, Illinois. By 1850, William and Julia Gibbons would have three children. The couple moved to Springfield, Illinois, where, in 1850, Gibbons was employed as a shoemaker and owned real property valued at $300. In 1851, Gibbons ran as a Democrat for Springfield city marshal, winning the election over Nathaniel S. Bates, the Whig Party candidate, by forty-two votes. Gibbons failed in his bid for re-election in 1852, losing to Bates by 246 votes, but regained the job in 1854. In January 1857, Gibbons won election as doorkeeper of the Illinois House of Representatives. In 1860, he was living in Jacksonville, Illinois and working as a shoemaker and owned a personal estate of $100. During the Civil War, Gibbons served as a sergeant in the Second Illinois Light Artillery.

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Morgan County, 30 June 1844, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 73; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 20 March 1851, 3:1; 22 April 1851, 3:1; 21 April 1852, 3:1; 5 April 1854, 3:1; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 6 January 1857, 2:3; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Jacksonville, Morgan County, IL, 83; Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL.