Who Was Doctor Henry Gibson?

New Ipswich Historical Society

WHO WAS DR. HENRY GIBSON? A GRAVESTONE MYSTERY

by Kim Black, September 2022

Doctor Henry Gibson gravestone (before cleaning)

PART I

While cleaning gravestones at the Center Cemetery one morning, I noticed an enormous "should be white" marble obelisk at the top of the first hillside in front of the pond. It was quite plain looking with large, chunky block lettering inscribed on the front of the stone. Upon closer examination, the stone revealed a Dr. Henry Gibson, aged 25, who died 25 July 1844 as well as his wife Sarah M. Gibson, aged 27,who passed 23 July 1847.

First, this writer has never come upon a gravestone of such heft and height for deceased persons in their twenties. Gravestones typically are sized according to the age of the deceased...babies and young children generally have small stones, some with etched names and dates but often with simple initials. As one advanced in age, the gravestone tended to also grow in girth and height with artistic decoration becoming more elaborate or intricate. Of course, economics and spiritual bent influenced what type of stone and decoration ultimately adorned the head of a gravesite. Nevertheless, this stone was unusual!

The second remarkable detail on the stone was the death dates. Henry and Sarah died just three years apart. What happened? Was Henry an accident victim? How did Sarah die? Had they been married long enough to have children? If so, they would have been mere babies in 1847, and who would take care of them?

Gravestone cleaning is so darned interesting! You discover mysterious puzzles that are just screaming to be solved but often end up with even more questions at the end of the investigation. The Gibson research provided a satisfactory picture of what happened to this young couple as well as questions that remain unanswered. Here's their story.

Henry was born 9 Jun 1819 and raised in New Ipswich by parents Stillman and Rebecca Gibson along with eight other siblings. His father was a farmer who spent his later years caring for and treating domestic animals. People came from far and wide to partake of his veterinary skills. That might explain Henry's intention to pursue medicine. After attending Appleton Academy, Henry went to Dartmouth College ca.1838, then went on to Albany Medical College in 1841. He married Sarah Maria Robinson in 1842 and settled in New Ipswich to begin his practice. They were 23 and 22 years old. After two short years, on 25July 1844, Dr. Gibson died from blood poisoning which he contracted during a post-mortem examination.

He was just 25 years old.

Sarah Maria Robinson, Henry's wife, was born in Jaffrey on 19 April 1820. By the time she was 15, her father had died and her mother, Widow Sarah Robinson, married Widower Joseph Cragin of New Ipswich. Joseph already had several children by his first wife and one can imagine the degree of adjustment for young Sarah...she now had a new father, new siblings, new home, and was a stranger in a new school. As mentioned earlier, she married Henry at the age of 22, and was widowed at age 24. At 27 years of age, Sarah died. What a short, sad tale for two young people of this community. How devastated the families must have been knowing their loved ones would never reach their potential.

Upon exploration of the Gibson plot, no other stones were discovered. My assumption that Henry and Sarah had no children, however, turned out to be wrong. Further research produced an 1855 Last Will & Testament for Stillman Gibson, Henry's father. Stillman bequeathed to "Mary Henrietta Gibson, daughter of my deceased son Henry Gibson the sum of two hundred & fifty dollars to be paid her if she lives to be twenty one years of age. Otherwise, if she shall marry before that time even at the age of eighteen she shall have the two hundred and fifty dollars paid her at marriage." Here was another piece of the puzzle - Henry and Sarah had a daughter!

Then, a rare thing in the world of genealogical research occurred...another Last Will & Testament was found. This one, dated 15 July 1847, was drawn up for Sarah Maria Gibson. It was executed one week prior to Sarah's death. Apparently, she was very ill and her passing was imminent. We don't know what caused her death but we now know it was anticipated. In this document, Sarah bequeathed her stepfather, Joseph Cragin, fifty dollars. She left her mother, Sarah Cragin, "seventy five dollars and all my household furniture such as beds carpets glasses books desks & all articles of which I may die possessed excepting what may be otherwise herein after named & also all my wearing apparel excepting such portions as may in the opinion of my mother be fitted & made useful to my daughter Mary Henrietta. I also give in trust to my mother all my jewelry silverware one cane medicine trunk diploma & mortar to be by her preserved & kept & at her discretion presented to my daughter Mary Henrietta Gibson."

One question was answered but now there was another question to ask. Where did young Mary Henrietta go to live? Three years after Sarah's death, Mary Henrietta (age 7) is listed in the 1850 US Federal Census as living with her grandparents, Joseph & Sarah Cragin. Sarah's parents, 66 and 63 years old, honored her wishes to raise and care for Mary Henrietta. This, of course, results in many more questions. Were anyof the Gibsons involved in Mary Henrietta's upbringing? Henry had several siblings of child-rearing age.

Were they unable to afford to take in another child? Were their households already overflowing with children? Was it the express wish of Sarah to have her parents raise Mary instead of the Gibsons? We will never know... unless someone in the community happens upon an old diary that speaks of this matter.

Finally...what happened to little Mary Henrietta Gibson? Did she marry and have children of her own?

Did she live to a ripe old age? Where did she end up? Was life kind to her?

Come back tomorrow for Part II of this fascinating story!

The 161st Children’s Fair - Photo

The 161st Children’s Fair was held on August 20, 2022.

Linda Kivela working on setup for the fair

On this day - August 25, 1908

James Roger diary entry

25th  (Tuesday)

Fair and cool wind E to S, cloudy.  David at Club all day.  Walter Hardy cutting oats in top field.  I swept Hall and turned hay.  Got letter from Sandy and the girls, also pc from Hamish and Alice from Hingham.  Jessie got a cold.

On this day - August 25, 1897 - (Wednesday)

William Jurian Kaula diary

Yesterday we took a trip to Meaux.  Cartwright and I rode on our wheels and the young ladies with Mr. Lufkin in a carriage.  We went by the way of Esbly and after we had passed that town the country on to Meaux was not interesting.  Meaux is a city of 12000 inhabitants and the seat of this arrondisement.  Like many of the inland towns of France the chief object of interest to strangers is the old cathedral.  It dates from the thirteenth century.  It has a large and heavy tower, and one smaller tower of more recent date which is very ugly and is not made of stone like the building but covered with a black-tile.  The Gothic carvings, tracery, windows, and portals were evidently once works of art as they even now, in a terrible mulitated [sic] state convey much of the beauty of line and form which from its original excellence has retained much to be admired.  The church has suffered much from time and from the fury of the mobs and revolutions of the past.  High on the tower and other portions of the building parts have crumbled away, ornaments dissapeared [sic], corners worn off and round, and the roofs are anything but flat planes.  Around the doors were [where] the designs were more intricate and elaborate there is a sad sight of headless angles [angels].  The interior is light and effective and in a far more better state of preservation, partly owing to the fact that the whole of the stone work was covered with a tint of yellow wash that concealed the traces and discolorations of age.  All these stone cathedrals are cool and clammy and here we find the green mould creeping up the pillars.  The window glass was not remarkable and the paintings not unusual in merit.

The river Marne flows through Meaux.  It resembles the Seine outside of Paris.  On two stone bridges there were a number of grain mills with the huge wheels turning by the current.  These buildings were constructed of beams with the spaces between filled with plaster - the first of this kind that I have seen.  Otherwise Meaux did not seem more picturesque than any other ordinary French town.  The houses are the same, the streets of uneven blocks of stone the same, the river with its bath-houses like a miniature Paris.  We rode back over hills and down into the valley at St. Germain and to Crécy - about ten miles.

Note by Kaula:  One of the prominent industries of Meaux is the manufacture of Brie cheeses.  This annually amounts to 5,000,000 francs.