Civil War Union soldier. He enlisted shortly before his 16th birthday as a fifer in the 215th Pennsylvania Volunteers Infantry, Company D, mustering in on April 6, 1865. He served first as an orderly for Lt. Colonel Francis B. Jones, and later as clerk to Major General John F. Hartranft, who was appointed special Provost Marshal at the trial of John Wilkes Booth's conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Gibson was noted in the 1920s as the last surviving person present at the trial and witness to the executions. After the war, he returned to Central High School, Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1867. He went on to amass a considerable fortune in his gas fittings business, the Gibson Gas Fixture Works, and erected an opulent home in Germantown, Philadelphia. He was the father of Walter Brown Gibson, a prolific author and professional magician best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow. Also the father of Conrad, who died in infancy and is buried in the same plot, Arthur, Helen, Alice Wright (21 June 1879-24 Jan. 1945, m. Harry Sumner Whitney), Theodore Whidden (9 Aug. 1893-8 May 1967), and Anthony (d. 1989 in Philadelphia).
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 6, 1931:
WAR HERO DIES AT 81
Alfred C. Gibson, believed to have been the last official of the court that tried the conspirators in President Lincoln's assassination, died Sunday at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena St. He was 81. Mr. Gibson was clerk to General Hartranft commander of the military prison at Washington where the conspirators who plotted with John Wilkes Booth were imprisoned, tried and executed. Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, by the Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of Riverside Church, New York. Burial was private at Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery.
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 20, 1931:
Alfred C. Gibson, manufacturer and clerk at the trials of the conspirators who plotted the assassination of President Lincoln, left an estate of $70,000 to his widow, Mrs. May Whidden Gibson, in his will filed for probate last week.
Mr. Gibson died February 1 at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena Street. He was 81. As a boy of [15] he enlisted in the 215th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. He was assigned as clerk to General Hartranft, commander of the Military prison at Washington, where those concerned in the assassination plot were tried and executed. General Hartranft later became Governor of Pennsylvania. Later, Mr. Gibson returned to this city and founded the Gibson Gas Fixture Works, Broad and Callowhill Streets; retiring from business in 1918. His will was executed in July 1919, making his widow his sole heir.
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 6, 1931:
WAR HERO DIES AT 81
Alfred C. Gibson, believed to have been the last official of the court that tried the conspirators in President Lincoln's assassination, died Sunday at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena St. He was 81. Mr. Gibson was clerk to General Hartranft commander of the military prison at Washington where the conspirators who plotted with John Wilkes Booth were imprisoned, tried and executed. Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, by the Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of Riverside Church, New York. Burial was private at Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery.
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 20, 1931:
Alfred C. Gibson, manufacturer and clerk at the trials of the conspirators who plotted the assassination of President Lincoln, left an estate of $70,000 to his widow, Mrs. May Whidden Gibson, in his will filed for probate last week.
Mr. Gibson died February 1 at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena Street. He was 81. As a boy of [15] he enlisted in the 215th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. He was assigned as clerk to General Hartranft, commander of the Military prison at Washington, where those concerned in the assassination plot were tried and executed. General Hartranft later became Governor of Pennsylvania. Later, Mr. Gibson returned to this city and founded the Gibson Gas Fixture Works, Broad and Callowhill Streets; retiring from business in 1918. His will was executed in July 1919, making his widow his sole heir.
Civil War Union soldier. He enlisted shortly before his 16th birthday as a fifer in the 215th Pennsylvania Volunteers Infantry, Company D, mustering in on April 6, 1865. He served first as an orderly for Lt. Colonel Francis B. Jones, and later as clerk to Major General John F. Hartranft, who was appointed special Provost Marshal at the trial of John Wilkes Booth's conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Gibson was noted in the 1920s as the last surviving person present at the trial and witness to the executions. After the war, he returned to Central High School, Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1867. He went on to amass a considerable fortune in his gas fittings business, the Gibson Gas Fixture Works, and erected an opulent home in Germantown, Philadelphia. He was the father of Walter Brown Gibson, a prolific author and professional magician best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow. Also the father of Conrad, who died in infancy and is buried in the same plot, Arthur, Helen, Alice Wright (21 June 1879-24 Jan. 1945, m. Harry Sumner Whitney), Theodore Whidden (9 Aug. 1893-8 May 1967), and Anthony (d. 1989 in Philadelphia).
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 6, 1931:
WAR HERO DIES AT 81
Alfred C. Gibson, believed to have been the last official of the court that tried the conspirators in President Lincoln's assassination, died Sunday at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena St. He was 81. Mr. Gibson was clerk to General Hartranft commander of the military prison at Washington where the conspirators who plotted with John Wilkes Booth were imprisoned, tried and executed. Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, by the Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of Riverside Church, New York. Burial was private at Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery.
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 20, 1931:
Alfred C. Gibson, manufacturer and clerk at the trials of the conspirators who plotted the assassination of President Lincoln, left an estate of $70,000 to his widow, Mrs. May Whidden Gibson, in his will filed for probate last week.
Mr. Gibson died February 1 at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena Street. He was 81. As a boy of [15] he enlisted in the 215th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. He was assigned as clerk to General Hartranft, commander of the Military prison at Washington, where those concerned in the assassination plot were tried and executed. General Hartranft later became Governor of Pennsylvania. Later, Mr. Gibson returned to this city and founded the Gibson Gas Fixture Works, Broad and Callowhill Streets; retiring from business in 1918. His will was executed in July 1919, making his widow his sole heir.
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 6, 1931:
WAR HERO DIES AT 81
Alfred C. Gibson, believed to have been the last official of the court that tried the conspirators in President Lincoln's assassination, died Sunday at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena St. He was 81. Mr. Gibson was clerk to General Hartranft commander of the military prison at Washington where the conspirators who plotted with John Wilkes Booth were imprisoned, tried and executed. Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, by the Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of Riverside Church, New York. Burial was private at Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery.
Germantown Independent-Gazette, February 20, 1931:
Alfred C. Gibson, manufacturer and clerk at the trials of the conspirators who plotted the assassination of President Lincoln, left an estate of $70,000 to his widow, Mrs. May Whidden Gibson, in his will filed for probate last week.
Mr. Gibson died February 1 at his home, 19 West Phil-Ellena Street. He was 81. As a boy of [15] he enlisted in the 215th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. He was assigned as clerk to General Hartranft, commander of the Military prison at Washington, where those concerned in the assassination plot were tried and executed. General Hartranft later became Governor of Pennsylvania. Later, Mr. Gibson returned to this city and founded the Gibson Gas Fixture Works, Broad and Callowhill Streets; retiring from business in 1918. His will was executed in July 1919, making his widow his sole heir.
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