View Polk County Map
  Home
  Find A Record
  Directions
  Contact Information
  History
  Photographs
  Sources
  Resource Links
  Master Polk County
  Burial Search
Spring Valley Cemetery ~ Albert Breese Gibson ~ part of the Polk County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
Print Friendly Version
Gibson, Albert Breese
LAST NAME: Gibson FIRST NAME: Albert MIDDLE NAME: Breese NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME:  AKA 1:  AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
GENDER: M TITLE: 
BORN: 8 Dec 1842 DIED: 25 Mar 1935 BURIED:  (Spring Valley Cemetery)
OCCUPATION:  
BIRTH PLACE:  Pike Co., Illinois
DEATH PLACE: Dallas, Polk Co., Oregon
NOTES: 

1870 OR CENSUS - Alfred B. Gibson (27y, b Illinois) enumerated with  Davis (57y, b Missouri, occupation farmer), Sophronia (55y, b Maine), Almira (25y, b Illinois), Cass (22y, b Illinois), Lyman (15y, b Oregon) and Sarah (12y, b Oregon)

1900 OR CENSUS - Albert B. Gibson (b Dec 1842, Missouri, single) 

1920 OR CENSUS - Albert B. Gibson (77y, b Oregon, single) listed as uncle in house of Asa B. Starbuck (43y, b Oregon) along with his wife Ruth E. (29y, b Ohio) and theri 3 children, Mary E. (5y, b Oregon), Almyra E. (2y4m, b Oregon) and Thomas B. (1y0m, b Oregon)

BIOGRAPHICAL
Breese Gibson Holds Rocrd for Attending Fair.
Oregon Pioneer Misses Only One Session At Salem.
DALLAS, Or., Sept. 24 - A Dallas man, Bresse Gibson, lays claim to a record when it comes to state fairs. Mr. Gibson has missed only one fair, that of 1865, since the establishment of the state fair at Salem in 1861. In that year he was driving an ox team in eastern Oregon, freighting between The Dalles and the Idaho mines.
Mr. Gibson will be 88 years old on December 8 of this year. He has resided in Oregon 77 years. He was a lad of 9 when his father, Davies Gibson, started for Oregon with the migration of 1852. He made the entire trip barefooted, the most of it on foot, driving loose stock.
After the family reached Oregon they settled in the Eola hills in easter Polk county,and Breese spent most of his life there. As a boy he hunted deer within a mile or two of West Salem.
Mr. Gibson has not yet gone to the 1929 fair, but he plans to do so during the week.
[a photograph accompanies the article]
Oregonian, The (Portland, Oregon) 25 Sep 1929, 6:2 

DEATH CERTIFICATE: 

OSBH DC (Polk County 1935) #29 - Albert Breese Gibson, male, retired farmer, single, b. 8 Dec 1842 in Pike Co., Illinois, d. 25 Mar 1935 in Dallas, Oregon (1019 Washington St.) at the age of 92 yrs 3 mos 17 days (23 yr resident of the area), name of father Daviess Gibson, maiden name of mother Sophronia Ingalls (b. Maine) , interment Zena; informant Dr. A.B. Starbuck of Dallas, Oregon. 

OBITUARY: 

OREGON PIONEER DIES AT DALLAS
Albert Breese Gibson, 91, who crossed the plains barefooted from Illinois at the age of 9, died yesterday at the home of a nephew, Dr. A. B. Starbuck, at Dallas, according to word recieved here.
Mr. Gibson was born in Pike county, Illinois, December 8, 1843, and crossed the plains with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Daviess Gibson, in 1852. In an interview a few uears ago Mr. Gibson said he maide the journey barefooted, most of the time of foot driving loose stock.
LIFE SPENT IN POLK
The family settled in Eola hills in eastern Polk county, and Mr. Gibson spent most of his life there, In 1929 Mr. Gibson drew considerable publicity when it was revealed that until that time he had missed but one state fair since the annual show at Salem was inaugurated in 1861. The one fair missed was in 1865 when he was driving an ox team in eastern Oregon, trucking freight from The Dalles to the Idaho mines.
Survivors include two brothers and a sister in Salem, Cass and Dorr Gibson and Mrs. William Patrick.
Oregonian, The (Portland, Oregon) 26 Mar 1935 11:6

Death Calls Breese Gibson At 92 Years

Pioneer of 1852 Passes in Dallas Monday Life Linked With Early Days in Eola Hills County; Funeral Held Wednesday

Albert Breese Gibson, aged 92, passed away at the home of his nephew Dr A.B.Starbuck Monday morning. He had been in failing health for the past several years and critically ill for about three months. Mr Gibson, familiarly known throughout Polk county as Uncle Breese, was one of the oldest remaining pioneer residents of the county. He was born December 8, 1842, in Pike county, Illinois, the son of Daviess Gibson. The father came to Oregon with the immigration of 1849, remaining in Portland for a short time and laer going to the California gold fields. He returned to his home by way of the Isthmus of Panama in time to lead a wagon train of relatives and neighbors across the plains in 1852. Breese was an exceedingly sturdy lad of nine when the long trip bagan. He lost his only pair of leather boots, which were stolen from the wagon tree when drying after the crossing of the Missouri river shortly after the start of the journey. He made the remainder of the trip barefoot. The year 1852 was known as the cholera year, and the Gibson train of some 40 wagons was hit by the dread disease losing almost half its original number along the Platte. Daviess Gibson, far in advance of his time in medial lore, believed that the disease came from the drinking water. He laid down a rule that all drinking water must be boiled, and those who followed his counsel were spared. Breese, however, drank from a water hole while herding cattle and was among the first to be stricken. Calomel and laudanum, administered in heroic doses, soon restored him to health. The train reached the Willamette valley in early October, and the Gibson family spent the first winter at Cincinnati, now Eola. The next spring Mr Gibson purchased a donation land claim relinquishment in the Eola hills and the family settled there. Breese, now a lad of 10, and an older brother assumed the task of carving out a farm from the virgin land while the father attempted to support his family by doing carpenter work. Some 70 years later Breese returned to the old home place and salvaged an oak post he had made that first summer, converting it into canes which he prized very highly. With the exception of two years spent as a bull whacker, teaming with freight wagons from The Dalles to the Idaho mines, Breese spent his entire life in Polk county. He farmed the old home place after the death of his father. About 25 or 30 years ago he retired and for the past 20 years had made his home in Dallas with the Starbuck family. His hobby had been that of making canes from rare or unusual woods. He had some 50 or 60 of these at the time of his death, in addition to many that he had given away. He also made furniture from time to time. A chair made from maple burls is in the Oregon Historical society at Portland and another is in the Dallas Chamber of Commerce rooms. Uncle Breese had a rare gift as a story teller, and was greatly beloved by young and old. He was known among his friends in the eastern part of the county as the “Sage of Eola Hills.” During his early manhood he was noted for his great physical strength. In his rough and ready way he was typical of the early pioneers. It is said that during the panic of the early ‘90s, when money was practically unobtainable, Breese walked in to the Ladd & Bush bank in Salem and asked the elder Bush for a loan as casually as if business were humming. The loan was granted without a quibble. Until 1934 Uncle Breese had attended every state fair session in Salem since that institution was started, excepting one year when he was absent in eastern Oregon. Mr Gibson had never married. He is survived by two brothers, Cass and Dorr of Salem, and one sister Mrs Sarah Patrick of near West Salem. Fred Gibson, county commissioner, and Dr Starbuck are nephews. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at the Clough-Barrick chapel in Salem, with burial in the Zena cemetery beside his father and mother. The body lay in state Wednesday forenoon at the Henkle & Bollman chapel in Dallas.

Itemizer Observer, Thursday, March 28, 1935, 1:1 & 4:6

 

INSCRIPTION: 

Albert Breese Gibson
1842 - 1935
Pioneer of 1852

SOURCES: 

Janssen Compilation
Saucy Survey & Photographs

1870 OR CENSUS (Polk Co, FA#372)

1900 OR CENSUS (Polk Co, Eola, ED 172, FA#137)

1920 OR CENSUS (Polk Co, Dallas, ED 382, page 281)
OSBH DC (Polk County 1935) #29
Oregonian 25 Sep 1929 6:2
Oregonian 26 Mar 1935 11:6

Itemizer Observer, 28 Mar 1935, 1:1 & 4:6 

CONTACTS: 
ROW: II 14 B3  
IMAGES:
     

Home |  Find a Record |  Directions |  Contact Information |  History |  Sources |  Resource Links |  Polk County Map |  Copyright/Terms of Use