Anna Eliza Stickney was born in Horicon, Warren County, New York on November 16, 1855 to Henry J. and Fanny J. (Bunker) Stickney. Her family moved to Wisconsin where she met and married Mark Hoag in 1876. Six months after she married, Anna's sister gave her an autograph book on her 21st birthday. Many Stickney family members and ancestors signed her book. The next year, their daughter Bertha was born. She only lived three months and 14 days. Anna divorced Mr. Hoag and regained her maiden name of Stickney. She married Joseph Gibson in Lochiel(now Wheeler), Wisconsin in 1881 and both came to the Kittitas Valley in 1888. They resided on a farm on the West Side until three years prior to her death in Ellensburg. She had been a resident of the Kittitas Valley for just half a century. She suffered a stroke at the age of 82. She and Joseph did not have children but raised their nephew, Fred Stickney, after saving his life as a child. She was about 50 years old when she took in Fred. He was raised rather isolated from people although he did get to spend time with his brothers and sisters. She was remembered as being very old-fashioned and 'rigid'. She was shocked to hear that other married women would attend lodge meetings at night without their husbands. Her great nieces recall that Auntie always wore long dresses.
"Auntie Gibson" was well loved by her many nieces and nephews. Doris Kinkade remembered her and Uncle Joe's home. It was made of rough timber in almost a log cabin style. The cracks between floor boards were rather large. Georgia Stickney recalled that Auntie and Uncle Joe had a good farmhouse on the river and sold it. They built a barn on their new property but world war I inflation stopped them from building a new house. They lived in the shack that was there. It was like the home on the old TV show "Little House on the Prairie" but not as nice. They had lots of dogs and it was not very well constructed. Georgia Stickney remembered one time she went to the house. Approaching the house, the aroma of the fragrant yellow roses greeted her before reaching the screened porch. They had a well for water. When Uncle Joe's nephew came, they sold part of the land to him, which ended up with the Bender family. The farm no longer had enough land to keep.
Nephews and nieces visited often. Betty Grimm recalled a pickle barrel at their home. Fred raised cucumbers and sold them in stores. Yellow roses filled the entire yard. Fred's son Ken recalled this story about Auntie: "A couple passing through the valley lost their toddler daughter to a train accident. The parents were distressed leaving their child behind and Auntie Gibson reassured her that as long as she was alive, the little girl's grave would be remembered on memorial day. And she kept her word and never forgot. After Auntie passed away, Fred and his family continued the tradition. One year, the family went to the little girl's grave and it was already decorated. They left a note and that Christmas got a card from the now adult brother of the little girl." Perhaps Auntie was thinking of her own little girl's grave back in Wisconsin.
Auntie had arthritis really bad in her later years. She was trying to take care of Joe, who was bedridden. He died in 1936; she died in 1938. They are buried next to each other at IOOF Cemetery in Ellensburg.