STORIES OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS

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John Gibson

John Gibson was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on May 23, 1740. At the age of 18, he was an excellent classical scholar. He was in service under General Forbes when Fort Du Quesne [now Pittsburgh] was taken from the French and Indians. He settled there in 1763 for the purpose of trade. In a short time he was taken prisoner by the Indians and had his life saved by an old squaw who adopted him in the room of a lost son. He was detained several years and became familiar with the language of several tribes. On gaining his liberty he returned to Pittsburgh and served under Lord Dunmore in his expedition against the Shawnee Towns which resulted in a treaty with children of the forest. General Gibson was the mediator and interpreter. To him alone was the celebrated speech of the noble hearted Logan delivered in a copse a short distance from the council ground. By him it was communicated to the other Chiefs and to Lord Dunmore. At the commencement of the Revolution General Gibson commanded a regiment in the regular Army, serving a short time in New York and New Jersey, and was later transferred to his more appropriate place upon the frontiers to keep in check the Indians. After the war he filled various civil stations and was appointed Secretary of Indiana in 1800 and filled the office until the state was formed. He then took up his residence with George Wallace, near Braddock's Field, who had married his daughter with whom he lived until April 10, 1822, when his immortal spirit returned to Him who gave it.

Source: The Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson