John "Jack" Gibbons was the son of John Jeremiah Gibbons and his second wife, Sophronia Spencer Gibbons. Sophronia (who seems to be the person named in the censuses as Margaret Spencer) died of tuberculosis when he was about three months old; he was her only child. He had an older half-brother, Oswald/Oswell, and a half-sister, Nellie, who were the children of their father's first marriage to his first cousin, Eliza Elinor Gibbons. Both of these siblings died in young adulthood without leaving any progeny. Most likely, all of these Gibbonses were buried in a family burial plot in Sunderland, Calvert County. It is thought that a school was built over it; it is unlikely that there will be any memorials for them on www.findagrave.com. (One partial gravestone for an infant half-sister, Lucy Turner Gibbons, is housed at the Calvert County Historical Society.) The family had a loose association with All Saints Episcopal Church, Sunderland, but is not buried in their churchyard.
Jack grew up on his father's farm. His maternal aunt, Mary Elizabeth Spencer, remained in the household after Margaret Sophronia's death. (She appears there in the 1880 census.) Most of the family members died before the end of the century and Jack may have been at loose ends when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. Jack enlisted and went to Cuba by ship, whereupon he caught yellow fever. By the time he had recovered, the ten-week-long war was over; he had never left the ship. However, he was entitled to all the benefits of a veteran.
He worked in Baltimore as a cabinet maker and married at the age of 44. His only child was born a year later. After the death of his wife in 1931, he sold his house on 20th St. and lived in the same house as his newly married daughter and her husband for awhile before going to visit a friend in St. Petersburg, FL for "a few weeks." He remained there for the rest of his life, making only occasional short visits to Baltimore. He lived at Bay Pines Veterans Home except for a brief marriage to his shuffleboard partner. He left her to go back to Bay Pines, claiming he was divorced, but he was not.
He spent his days traveling alone on public transportation to various spots of interest around St. Petersburg. It was on one of these forays that he fell or jumped into Tampa Bay and drowned, despite the best efforts of a stranger to save him. The man reported that the old man fought him off, saying that he wanted to die. The coroner ruled the death a suicide, though Jack had lately written a perfectly normal letter to his granddaughter which she received a few days after his death. Jack was 87 years old. He was buried with military honors.
Suggested edit: For Bio: Father of Mrs Dorothy S Nichols
Jack grew up on his father's farm. His maternal aunt, Mary Elizabeth Spencer, remained in the household after Margaret Sophronia's death. (She appears there in the 1880 census.) Most of the family members died before the end of the century and Jack may have been at loose ends when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. Jack enlisted and went to Cuba by ship, whereupon he caught yellow fever. By the time he had recovered, the ten-week-long war was over; he had never left the ship. However, he was entitled to all the benefits of a veteran.
He worked in Baltimore as a cabinet maker and married at the age of 44. His only child was born a year later. After the death of his wife in 1931, he sold his house on 20th St. and lived in the same house as his newly married daughter and her husband for awhile before going to visit a friend in St. Petersburg, FL for "a few weeks." He remained there for the rest of his life, making only occasional short visits to Baltimore. He lived at Bay Pines Veterans Home except for a brief marriage to his shuffleboard partner. He left her to go back to Bay Pines, claiming he was divorced, but he was not.
He spent his days traveling alone on public transportation to various spots of interest around St. Petersburg. It was on one of these forays that he fell or jumped into Tampa Bay and drowned, despite the best efforts of a stranger to save him. The man reported that the old man fought him off, saying that he wanted to die. The coroner ruled the death a suicide, though Jack had lately written a perfectly normal letter to his granddaughter which she received a few days after his death. Jack was 87 years old. He was buried with military honors.
Suggested edit: For Bio: Father of Mrs Dorothy S Nichols
John "Jack" Gibbons was the son of John Jeremiah Gibbons and his second wife, Sophronia Spencer Gibbons. Sophronia (who seems to be the person named in the censuses as Margaret Spencer) died of tuberculosis when he was about three months old; he was her only child. He had an older half-brother, Oswald/Oswell, and a half-sister, Nellie, who were the children of their father's first marriage to his first cousin, Eliza Elinor Gibbons. Both of these siblings died in young adulthood without leaving any progeny. Most likely, all of these Gibbonses were buried in a family burial plot in Sunderland, Calvert County. It is thought that a school was built over it; it is unlikely that there will be any memorials for them on www.findagrave.com. (One partial gravestone for an infant half-sister, Lucy Turner Gibbons, is housed at the Calvert County Historical Society.) The family had a loose association with All Saints Episcopal Church, Sunderland, but is not buried in their churchyard.
Jack grew up on his father's farm. His maternal aunt, Mary Elizabeth Spencer, remained in the household after Margaret Sophronia's death. (She appears there in the 1880 census.) Most of the family members died before the end of the century and Jack may have been at loose ends when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. Jack enlisted and went to Cuba by ship, whereupon he caught yellow fever. By the time he had recovered, the ten-week-long war was over; he had never left the ship. However, he was entitled to all the benefits of a veteran.
He worked in Baltimore as a cabinet maker and married at the age of 44. His only child was born a year later. After the death of his wife in 1931, he sold his house on 20th St. and lived in the same house as his newly married daughter and her husband for awhile before going to visit a friend in St. Petersburg, FL for "a few weeks." He remained there for the rest of his life, making only occasional short visits to Baltimore. He lived at Bay Pines Veterans Home except for a brief marriage to his shuffleboard partner. He left her to go back to Bay Pines, claiming he was divorced, but he was not.
He spent his days traveling alone on public transportation to various spots of interest around St. Petersburg. It was on one of these forays that he fell or jumped into Tampa Bay and drowned, despite the best efforts of a stranger to save him. The man reported that the old man fought him off, saying that he wanted to die. The coroner ruled the death a suicide, though Jack had lately written a perfectly normal letter to his granddaughter which she received a few days after his death. Jack was 87 years old. He was buried with military honors.
Suggested edit: For Bio: Father of Mrs Dorothy S Nichols
Jack grew up on his father's farm. His maternal aunt, Mary Elizabeth Spencer, remained in the household after Margaret Sophronia's death. (She appears there in the 1880 census.) Most of the family members died before the end of the century and Jack may have been at loose ends when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. Jack enlisted and went to Cuba by ship, whereupon he caught yellow fever. By the time he had recovered, the ten-week-long war was over; he had never left the ship. However, he was entitled to all the benefits of a veteran.
He worked in Baltimore as a cabinet maker and married at the age of 44. His only child was born a year later. After the death of his wife in 1931, he sold his house on 20th St. and lived in the same house as his newly married daughter and her husband for awhile before going to visit a friend in St. Petersburg, FL for "a few weeks." He remained there for the rest of his life, making only occasional short visits to Baltimore. He lived at Bay Pines Veterans Home except for a brief marriage to his shuffleboard partner. He left her to go back to Bay Pines, claiming he was divorced, but he was not.
He spent his days traveling alone on public transportation to various spots of interest around St. Petersburg. It was on one of these forays that he fell or jumped into Tampa Bay and drowned, despite the best efforts of a stranger to save him. The man reported that the old man fought him off, saying that he wanted to die. The coroner ruled the death a suicide, though Jack had lately written a perfectly normal letter to his granddaughter which she received a few days after his death. Jack was 87 years old. He was buried with military honors.
Suggested edit: For Bio: Father of Mrs Dorothy S Nichols
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CPL CO D 5 MD INFANTRY
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
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