![]() ![]() The Bradby family today is found in both the Chickahominy tribe of Charles City and the Pamunkey tribe of King William.įamily Tree Chart showing the Chickahominy and Pamunkey Bradby descendants of Jane Gibson the elder. I recently penned a blogpost about one branch of Jane Gibson’s descendants, the Bradby family, who descend from Jane Gibson’s granddaughter Elizabeth Evans who married Richard Bradby. Charles City is part of the original territory of the Chickahominy and Weyanoke tribes. Based upon Jane Gibson’s geographical location on the Shirley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, it would make sense that Jane Gibson was from a local tribe. Her tribal affiliation was not directly relevant to their pending freedom. For her descendants suing for their freedom, they only needed to demonstrate to the courts that Jane Gibson was a free Indian woman. What tribal nation did Jane Gibson the elder belong to?Īll primary source documents refer to Jane Gibson the elder as an “Indian” as well as a “Mulatto” but her tribal nation is never specified. Therefore Jane Gibson the elder could have similarly adopted the Gibson surname from the white Gibson family. (See the National Park Service website here for selected 17th century references on Virginia Indians). It is reasonable to deduce that the Indian boy Thomas Busby was named after the colonist Thomas Busby. In 1684, a colonist named Robert Caufield of Surry Co, had an “Indian boy” named Thomas Busby, age 10, residing in his household. For example, there was an English born colonist named Thomas Busby (1632-1718) who resided in Surry Co, VA and was an interpreter to the Indians south of the James River during the years 1677-1691. There are numerous examples from colonial Virginia of Indians adopting the surnames of neighboring white families. If Gibson was her married name, it certainly opens up a new research inquiry into what Jane’s maiden name was and the identity of her Gibson spouse.Īnother possibility is that “Gibson” was an adopted name. If she did have a husband, he likely died long before Robert Wills came to live at the Shirley Plantation. It is also important to remember that Robert Wills only knew Jane Gibson during the last years of her life. The testimony from Robert Wills makes no mention of this. It is not known if “Gibson” was Jane Gibson the elder’s maiden name or married name. Was Gibson her married name or maiden name? As a result, there are no known primary source records that document her life when she was alive. These are records that were generated after she died. It is important to remember that all of the primary source documents that identify Jane Gibson the elder, come from the testimony of her descendants and people who knew her. The names of her parents are not documented. What are the names of the parents of Jane Gibson the elder? Genealogist Deloris Williams transcribed Robert Wills’ entire testimony which can be found here. He only knew one George Gibson and that person was the son of Jane Gibson the elder. You can read from the above excerpt that Robert Wills was very clear that the George Gibson that he referenced was the son of Jane Gibson the elder. Source: Library of Virginia, Chancery Court records If it be so expressed in my former deposition it was misconceived, I never did know any but one of that name. Quest: Will you please to answer the second question in this deposition more fully, you have in your answer to that question said nothing about George Gibson the elder?Īns: I never mentioned more than one George Gibson, the Son of the elder Jane Gibson, brother to Jane Evans. Therefore in the follow up testimony on 9 July 1791, Robert Wills was asked a direct question about the identity of the George Gibson he mentioned in his first testimony. Robert Wills’ follow up testimony from 9 July 1791 adds to and corrects his original testimony from the previous month.ĭuring his first testimony from 25 June 1791, Robert Wills mentioned a George Gibson but he either misspoke or his testimony was not transcribed correctly. When reviewing the testimony of Robert Wills, it is imperative that researchers read both his testimony from 25 June 1791 ***AND*** his testimony from 9 July 1791. ![]() The mix-up in the relationship between Jane Gibson the elder and her son George Gibson comes from the testimony of Robert Wills. Jane Gibson the elder did have a son named George Gibson who died without children. No, Jane Gibson the elder did not have a brother named George Gibson. Though this content has been covered previously, I thought it would be beneficial to researchers to highlight this content again.ĭid Jane Gibson the elder have a brother named George Gibson? Due to the amount of questions I receive about Jane Gibson the elder, I have compiled the most frequently asked questions into a blogpost. ![]()
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