John B. Gibson

John Banks Gibson was the youngest son of John and Elinor (Ellen) Thomson Gibson, born on January 20, 1839 on the Gibson family farm East Nottingham, Chester County, PA. His father was the schoolteacher at Elk Ridge School^[1] who also did some farming and surveying work.^[2] The Gibson family descended from the Scots-Irish Presbyterian immigrants who settled south western Chester County during the 18^th century.

When John was only a year old, his father died at the young age of 39 of tuberculosis.^[3] His mother worked hard to raise John and his sister Mary Elizabeth (1836-1924) and brother Matthew James (1831-1859). John’s grandfather, Matthew Gibson (1776-1861), had provided the land for their home and also saw to it that the two boys had a solid education. Both John and his brother attended New London Academy, a classical school to prepare students for business or college.^[4]

The 1850 Census records their family on the farm in East Nottingham with Ellen as the head of the household and son Matthew age 18 as the farmer. By the time the 1860 Census was taken the household included Ellen as the head of the household, John now age 21 as farm laborer and daughter Mary with her husband John Quillen and two children. But John B. Gibson did not stay on the farm for long. In 1862 & 1863 he is recorded on the county tax lists as a school teacher in East Nottingham Township.^[5]

Teaching gave way to a better opportunity, learning a trade as a photographer with his cousin, Alexander McCormick of Oxford.^[6] He became McCormick’s assistant in his Oxford Hall Gallery.^[7] Gibson is recorded in the Civil War Draft Registration for 1863 as a “photographist” living in Nottingham.^[8] He served in the 43^rd Pennsylvania Militia in July and August 1863 when the border towns in Pennsylvania were under threat following Gettysburg.^[9]

Ellen Thomson Gibson died in 1865 at age 66 and son John became the executor of her estate.^[10] According to the will of Ellen’s father-in-law, Matthew Gibson (1776-1861), after Ellen’s decease the farm in East Nottingham was to be given to her two children to “share and share alike.”^[11] On April 23, 1866, John Gibson sold his share of the property to his sister Mary E. Quillen for $1200.^[12] Now Gibson had some working capital to go into business.

Gibson took advantage of a great opportunity when he purchased McCormick’s gallery in February of 1867. The Oxford Press reported the news: “A. McCormick has sold his photograph gallery in Oxford Hall to John B. Gibson. The high reputation this gallery has won at home and abroad we are sure will be fully sustained under the management of our artist friend Mr. G., who has been with Mr. McCormick so long as to become perfect master of the business.”^[13]

In April 1867, Gibson went into partnership with George D. Hayes at the Oxford Hall gallery.ⁱ The partnership, however, did not last a whole year. Gibson and Hayes dissolved their partnership by mutual consent on March 1, 1868.ⁱⁱ Alexander McCormick wanted to return to the photographic business, so he purchased Gibson’s share and resumed at Oxford Hall with Hayes as his partner. An announcement of the new partnership was made in the Oxford Press on March 18, 1868.

It was late in the spring of 1868 that Gibson moved to Coatesville to open his own studio.^[16] By this time he was married and had just welcomed a daughter Annie into the family on May 20, 1868.^[17] He is recorded in the tax list for Coatesville in 1869 as an inmate (married man) with a trade.^[18] In the 1870 Census, he is enumerated as a photographer living with his wife Sallie and 2-year-old daughter Annie.^[19] Tragedy struck the family when his wife, Sarah Ann died on August 31, 1872.^[20] John continued on, raising his daughter and operating the studio.

In the years to come, J. B. Gibson’s gallery was the preeminent studio for residents of Coatesville to have their cartes-de-visite and cabinet card portraits made. The Oxford Press reported on June 10, 1874 for its readers who knew Gibson in Oxford “John B. Gibson, Coatesville’s artistic and popular “picture taker,” gives six first-class photographs for one dollar.” During this time, half-length seated, full length standing, and bust portraits were taken before a plain background, using simple furniture. In the 1870s an upholstered chair with ornately carved wooden frame appears in many of his photographs.

The Chester County Times of March 27, 1875 featured an advertisement giving a listing of all his services and as well as the numbered street address:

On August 17, 1876 Gibson married Catherine Amanda “Mannie” Crowl,^[21] who he had known from childhood as one of his neighbors in East Nottingham. She also was a distant cousin of his. The Daily Local News refers to his marriage in this news filler of November 29, 1876, “J. B. Gibson, photographer in this place, did a rushing business on Saturday last. He understands how to get up a first-class picture, and his reputation has extended far and wide. Although he has recently taken to himself a wife, the ladies still hold him as a general favorite when they want good pictures, as he takes photos in all styles now known, and executes them in the finest and quickest manner. We do not wonder that he is so well patronized.” In the years to come, the couple had three children, James Walter born in 1877, Mary Bell in 1880 and Rosalie in 1884. They purchased a home on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1878 in which they resided for the rest of their lives.^[22]

Gibson’s gallery received a glowing description in the Daily Local News of West Chester on November 20, 1878:

Among Gibson’s services was copying, enlarging and coloring photographs. An advertisement appearing in the Daily Local News of December 13, 1879 explains:

Clearly, Gibson preferred to hire an artist to hand-color his photographs. Records are not available to indicate which artists may have worked for him. There are many examples of portraits in the format of cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards and tintypes in the collection of the Chester County History Center. Also featured are two stereographs in the collection of interior views of the Coatesville Presbyterian Church that Gibson took in about 1867.

In the 1880s Gibson followed the trend by adding a painted background to his studio. It depicts a rural scene with a farm house and a stone wall in the foreground. A wooden rail fence or gate could be added to the set up to steady the standing subject. This background appears in a carte-de-visite of Rena Hoffman^[23] and a cabinet card of Fanny C. Knapp^[24] dated May 17, 1884 in Chester County History Center’s Photo Archives collection.

The Coatesville Weekly Times of May 6, 1893 featured a series of photographs by J. B. Gibson of local industries and paid him a compliment in print: “J. B. Gibson, who has his art gallery over Jos. N. Woodward’s store, has been in the photograph business in Coatesville for over a quarter of a century, which is the best advertisement of his doing good work. The industrial establishments presented in this issue, are from pictures made by Mr. Gibson, and the blending of lights and shade and all the little et cetras shown is his work, speak for the fine character of it.”

Gibson conducted his studio until chronic bronchitis prompted him to retire in 1897. West Chester’s Daily Local News made this announcement on April 1, 1897, “John B. Gibson, who for years has conducted a photograph gallery in our town, retires from the business this morning, and he will be succeeded by Robert Young, Jr., who has learned the business under Mr. Gibson.”

But Gibson didn’t completely retire. He kept his hand in by assisting Young in his studio according to a story published in Chester Valley Union newspaper published November 2, 1901, “Mr. John Gibson, the pioneer photographer of Coatesville, ably assists Mr. Young in his work.”^[25]

Gibson also worked part time as a janitor in a local bank until his death on November 10, 1913 from pneumonia.^[26] He was buried in Fairview Cemetery.^[27] Gibson was survived by his wife, C. Amanda and children: Anna Gibson, Rosalie (Mrs. Vincent Kendrick), J. Walter Gibson and Mary Bell Gibson.

But the tradition of photography lived on through daughter Anna Gibson who worked as a photographer in Philadelphia.^[28]

© Pamela C. Powell, 2021, updated 2023.

1. “Reminiscences of Frances Olivia Quillen Madsen, 1938” in Mary Letitia Work Ott, comp., Descendants of John Gibson through Matthew Gibson,. Gibson Family File, Library, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑
2. Inventory, John Gibson, 1840, Estate Papers #10046, Chester County Archives and Records Services, West Chester, PA. ↑
3. Mary Letitia Work Ott, comp. “Anecdotes of Matthew Gibson and his family” in Descendants of John Gibson Through Mattew Gibson, 1967-1970. Gibson Family File, Library, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑
4. .“Reminiscences of Frances Olivia Quillen Madsen, 1938” in Mary Letitia Work Ott, comp., Descendants of John Gibson through Matthew Gibson,. Gibson Family File, Library, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑
5. John B. Gibson, inmate, 1862 East Nottingham Tax List; 1863 Pennsylvania Septennial Census, East Nottingham Township, Chester County Archives and Records Services, West Chester, PA. ↑
6. Letter Mary Ott to Thomas A. Urbine, Jr., March 31, 1981, Thomas Urbine Genealogical Collection, Box 8 Folio 144, Library, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑
7. J. B. Gibson is first recorded in the E. Nottingham Township Tax List as an “Ambrotypist” in 1864. The tax was collected in spring 1864 and covers 1863. ↑
8. Ancestry.com, U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865 [database online], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. ↑
9. Pennsylvania (State) Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1861-1866, Records of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, Records Group 19, Series 19.11 (153 cartons), Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ↑
10. Village Record, (West Chester, PA), 9 May 1865. ↑
11. Matthew Gibson, Will #14044, Chester County Archives and Records Services, West Chester, PA. ↑
12. Deed, John B. Gibson to Mary E. Quillen, April 23, 1866, Deed Book F-7, Volume 153, page 97-98. ↑
13. Oxford Press, (Oxford, PA), 13 February 1867. ↑
14. Oxford Press, (Oxford, PA), 11 April 1867. ↑
15. Oxford Press, (Oxford, PA), 11 March 1868. ↑
16. In the Tax list for Oxford 1868, the entry for freeman John B. Gibson is crossed out and “gone away” is written in. Chester County, Pennsylvania Tax List, Oxford, 1868. Chester County Archives and Records Services, West Chester, PA. ↑
17. The Church Register of the Presbyterian Church of Coatesville, Chester County, Penna. (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publications), p. 78. Ancestry.com – Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 ↑
18. Chester County, Pennsylvania Tax List, Coatesville, 1869, Chester County Archives and Records Services, West Chester, PA. ↑
19. Year: 1870; Census Place: Coatesville, Chester, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1324; Page: 541B: Family History Library Film: 552823. ↑
20. Oxford Press, (Oxford, PA), 4 September 1872. ↑
21. Daily Local News, (West Chester, PA), 23 August 1876. ↑
22. Deed, Eurie M. Stroud & Benjamin T. Lewis, Executors of Joshua Stroud to John B. Gibson March 13, 1878, Chester County Pennsylvania Deed Book B9 Vol. 199 p. 398, Chester County Archives and Records Services, West Chester, PA. ↑
23. John B. Gibson, Rena Hoffman, CDV854, Photo Archives, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑
24. John B. Gibson, Fanny C. Knapp, CC583, Photo Archives, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑
25. Chester Valley Union, (Coatesville, PA), 1 April 1897. ↑
26. Obituary, “Twenty-five years ago today” Oxford Press, (Oxford, Pennsylvania), 9 November 1938. ↑
27. West Chester Star, (West Chester, PA), 12 November 1913. ↑
28. Mary Letitia Work Ott, comp., Descendants of John Gibson through Matthew Gibson. Gibson Family File, Library, Chester County History Center, West Chester, PA. ↑