Gibson County, Tennessee Genealogy

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Parent County
The Tennessee General Assembly created Gibson County on October 21, 1823, out of lands ceded by the Chickasaws in the Jackson Purchase. It was named in honor of John H. Gibson, who served with distinction under Andrew Jackson in the Natchez Expedition and in the Creek Wars.

In 1819 Thomas Fite built the first cabin in Gibson County, which was then part of Carroll County. Luke Biggs, Davy Crockett, and others followed. Settlement progressed rapidly, and residents soon petitioned the general assembly for the formation of a new county, citing the difficulty of getting to the courts of Carroll County.

Commissioners appointed by the general assembly selected a county seat site near the center of the county where Thomas Gibson, a brother of John Gibson, operated a trading post. Initially called Gibson-Port, the name was soon changed to Trenton. County government was organized in January 1824, when the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions met at Biggs's residence. Following terms of the court met in the residence of William C. Love until April 1825, when the first term of court met in a temporary courthouse made of hewn logs.

Boundary Changes
In 1837 the county line between Gibson and Weakley counties was adjusted to include the southwestern corner of Weakley County, all land below the South Fork of the Obion in Gibson County. This simplified travel to a county seat by eliminating the need for river crossings but thereby robbed Weakley County of its most famous citizen, David Crockett, who had been killed in Texas the year before. In 1871 the newly created Crocket County acquired Gibson County territory south of the Middle Fork of the Forked Deer River for essentially the same reasons.

Record Loss
There was a fire at the Gibson County courthouse in 1941.

Neighboring Counties

 * Carroll
 * Crockett
 * Dyer
 * Madison
 * Obion
 * Weakley

Maps
Tennessee Department of Transportation Gibson County Map pdf.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog