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Gibson County History and Information |
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County History |
Court Records |
Vital Records |
CENSUS Records |
TAX Records |
Military Records |
Church & Cemetery | Maps & Atlases | Genealogy Addresses | Genealogy Related Sites | |
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Gibson County was created on April 1, 1813 and was formed from Knox County. The County was named for General John Gibson, official of the Indiana Territory. The County Seat is Princeton. Princeton, the County Seat, was first settled late in 1812 (or early 1813) by General Evans, Judge Prince, Brazil Brown, General Wilson, Colonel Hargrove, Major Robb and the Messrs Jones, Stockwells and Shannons and was named for Judge William Prince, who represented the First Congressional District in Congress in 1823-25. By 1849 it contained 12 stores, two groceries, good county buildings, a Seminary for boys and another for girls, five churches, one each of the Covenanters, Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, associate Reformed and Methodists; the population was about 800 at that early date. See also County History for more historical details. Counties adjacent to Gibson County are Knox County (north), Pike County (east), Warrick County (southeast), Vanderburgh County (south central), Posey County (south southwest), White County, Illinois (southwest), Edwards County, Illinois (west), Wabash County, Illinois (west). Gibson County is divided into 10 Civil Townships as follows: Barton, Center, Columbia, Johnson, Montgomery, Patoka, Union (formed from Johnson & Patoka), Wabash, Washington and White River. Cities, Towns and Communities include Antioch, Beck, Buckskin, Crawleyville, Douglas, East Mt. Carmel, Egg Harbor, Fort Branch, Francisco, Haubstadt, Hazelton, Hickory Ridge, Jimtown, Johnson, King, Knowles, Lyles, McGary, Miller, Mount Olympus, Mounts, Oakland City, Owensville, Patoka, Princeton, Skelton, Somerville, and Wheeling.
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NOTE: The date listed for each category of record is the earliest record known to exist in that county. It does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and certainly does not indicate that all such events that year were actually registered. See also the Gibson County Courthouse History Gibson County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1813 , Probate Records from 1813 and Court Records from 1813 and is located at 101 North Main,
Princeton, IN 47670;
(812)386-840; (812)385-5025 Fax Gibson County Recorder has Land Records from 1836 and is located at 101 North Main,
Princeton, IN 47670;
(812)385-3332; (812)386-9502 Fax;
bwoodburn@sigecom.net - email.
Gibson County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at Courthouse Annex, Rm 25, 800 S. Prince Street, Princeton, IN 47670; (812) 385-3831. Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Gibson County, Indiana are 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Gibson County, Indiana are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms. See Also Statewide Records that exist for Indiana Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states. You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Maps. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Maps by clicking the link below: |
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The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Military Records by clicking the link below:
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Records of county taxes were kept as early at 1842, although most were discarded. Remaining ones would be at the county courthouse. National Archives-Great Lakes Region has records of the Internal Revenue Service for Indiana for 1867 to 1873. These are tax assessment records, arranged by district and then chronologically. Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Tax Records by clicking the link below: |
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The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over. Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
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There are many churches and cemeteries in Gibson County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Gibson County Tombstone Transcription Project. Baptist records are found at Franklin College (in Franklin); Methodist at DePauw University (in Greencastle); Mennonite at Goshen College (in Goshen); Presbyterian at Hanover College (in Hanover); Disciples of Christ at their historical society in Nashville, Tennessee; and French Catholic at Vincennes University in the Byron R. Lewis Collection. There are also Catholic church histories and records at the Catholic Archives, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Quaker records are at Earlham College (at Richmond). The commissioner's office of each Indiana county may have burial records for soldiers, sailors, and marines. If available, the records should include name, age, date of enlistment, discharge date, and death date. Records begin about 1862. The Indiana State Library holds records of inscriptions from some Indiana cemeteries. The "Indiana Cemetery Locator File," compiled by the Genealogy Division, is an alphabetical listing of cemeteries, indicating the location in the state and the designation in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library where inscriptions may be found. Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Gibson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Gibson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
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Since John Severns first arrived with his family in 1789 and settled along the Patoka River, the rich tapestry we know today as Gibson County has been intricately woven with generations of adventurous, spirited, and determined individuals. Once a wilderness situated in the Northwest Territory, the county officially came into its own in 1813. The county derives its name from General John Gibson, a gallant soldier of the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, who was later served as acting territorial governor of Indiana. Francisco, settled in 1817 and platted in 1851, became a thriving trading center during the "heyday" of the Wabash 1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain Gibson County was organized in 1813 and was named in honor of General John Gibson, Secretary of the Treasury from 1801 to 1816, and repeatedly acting Governor in the absence of Governor Harrison. He had been taken prisoner in early life by the Indians, continued among them many years and was familiar with their language and usages. It was to him that the celebrated speech of Logan was made. Though far advanced in life, he would have been still active, but for blindness, which afflicted him during the latter part of his service. Gibson County is bounded west by the Wabash, north by White River, east by Pike, and south by Warrick, Vanderburgh and Posey counties. It contains about 450 square miles. It is divided into eight civil townships, to-whit: Montgomery, Patoka, Johnson, Columbia, Washington, White River, Wabash and Barton. The population in 1830 was 5,417, in 1840, 8,977, and at this time [1849] about 11,000. The surface of the country is agreeably undulating; a small portion of the county is barrens; about one sixth is river bottoms on the Wabash, Patoka and White rivers; the balance is heavily timbered with walnut, beech, sugar, hickory, ash, oak, etc. The soil is generally loam and sand, and very productive in corn, wheat, and oats, which are taken to a southern market in flat boats. Hogs, horses and cattle are also raised largely for exportation, to the value of $200,000 annually There are in the county six grist and saw mills propelled by water; four steam grist and 4 do. Saw mills; about thirty stores and groceries, tow lawyers, physicians and preachers in every neighborhood, and generally good schools. The opening of the canal and other advantages for trade and agriculture presented to Gibson County, through heretofore too much neglected, must make this an important part of the State. 1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature Gibson County has some of the richest farmland in the state, and several veins of coal. According to the report of the State Mine Inspector for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1914, there were four mines in operation under his jurisdiction that produced 251,379 tons of coal. It is comparatively level, of rich sandy loam, which produces fine melons and cantaloupes as well as other agricultural, and orchard products. In some parts of the county oil and gas have been found. Gibson is one of the southwestern border counties, separated from the state of Illinois by the Wabash River. The county's northern border is White River, which separates it from Knox County. The Potoka River also traverses the northern part. Gibson County covers an area of 486 square miles that is divided into ten townships. The incorporated city is Princeton, 7,505; towns: Oakland City, 2,842; Fort Branch, 1,341; Owensville, 634; Hazleton, 507, and Somerville, 273. Population of the county in 1890 was 24,920; 1900,30,009; 1910, 30,137; 1920, 29,201; 1930, 29,202. Princeton is located twenty-seven miles north of Evansville and is served by two railroads. As it is an important shipping point. Industrial activities to the city include railroad shops, a brick and tile works, wooden case mill, tool, ice, and pickle factories, catsup plant, flour and limber mills. There are a number of working coal mines in the vicinity as well as a natural gas and oil field. The possibilities of the district are vast, for it is the largest undeveloped bituminous coal section in the Middle West. Of artistic interest in the city is the monument to the Fifty-eight Indiana Regiment, dedicated in 1865 to the soldiers of the Civil War. Another monument is dedicated to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of that war. The marker is in the form of a tablet and bears an inscription to the memory of Archer Post, G. A. R. All these are on the lawn of the County Courthouse. In the Public Square is a monument of William Prince, erected in 1914. Watercolors by Frank Snapp are among the distinguishing features of the Public Library. East of Princeton, in Oakland City, is Oakland City College, the final outgrowth of an effort on the part of the General Baptist denomination, a body of Liberal Baptists, to found an institution of learning in the Mississippi Valley. After several previous efforts, the present organization was incorporated in 1885. Colonel W. M. Cockrum donated a beautiful campus of native oaks in the west edge of the town of Oakland City, and the building was begun. After a long period of hard struggle, owing to the lack of financial strength, the building was completed, and schools opened in 1891. W. P. Dearing, just then graduating from the college at the age of twenty, and being the first graduate of the Oakland City College, was in 1895 chosen Dean of the college and placed in actual charge of the institution. Since its beginning the college has enjoyed a growth, not rapid but constant, and has been gradually enlarging its equipment and scope of work. It now has the following departments: Preparatory, Collegiate and Normal. Theological, Vocational, Music and Art. It is partially endowed, having been the recipient of several gifts including some 400 acres of land. One of the features of this college and a point of pride in the town is the Cronback Memorial Building, 40 by 300 feet and two stories high, which is the home of the entire vocational department. This makes possible the realization of a dream to give to the immediate territory a needed service in practical education along the lines of agriculture, orcharding, dairying, poultry, domestic science, and such other things as will meet the community's needs. Some of the other objects of artistic interest in the college are the various memorials in the form of sundial, bronze birdbath, and bridge. Annually, the Oakland City College has a loan exhibition of paintings. Oakland City has a monument in memory of the soldiers and sailors of the Civil War, erected in 1893. Southwest of Princeton is Fort Branch, which embraces the historic Pioneer Fort built in 1811 for protection against Indians. Six miles west of this, near the town of Owensville, is the Miller Montgomery farm, where there is a bronze tablet in memory of one of the first settlers of Gibson County, Lieutenant Thomas Montgomery. Industrial figures for the county show that 782 wage earners were employed in the twenty-three manufacturing establishments, according to the 1935 federal census. A total of $855,487 was paid in wages, and value of the products was $3,418,211. There are 2,422 farms averaging 107.2 acres each. Their value was $9,523,522. A total of 71,120 head of livestock was reported. The total tax valuation for 1936 was $23,685,880. ? |
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