Ellen Gibson (b. circa 1826 - ?)
MSA SC 5496-51349
Maryland State Colonization Society Emigrant to Liberia from Talbot
County, 1835
Biography:
Ellen Gibson was a free resident of Talbot County who emigrated from Maryland to Liberia with her uncle Jacob Gibson and his family.1 The Gibsons left Baltimore on the schooner Harmony on June 28, 1835 and arrived at Cape Palmas, Liberia on August 23, 1835.2 Jacob Gibson died suddenly sometime before March 1836.3 Ellen's aunt, Rebecca Gibson, remarried in 1837. Ellen initially lived with her aunt's new husband, William Delaney, and his family.4 However, the following year, Ellen was recorded as living with Daniel and Caroline Banks.5 After Daniel Banks died some time around 1839, Ellen continued to resided with Caroline Banks and her young daughter, Georgeann.6, 7 By 1843, the sixteen-year old Ellen was once again living with her aunt, Rebecca Gibson Delaney and her family.8 Following Rebecca's death in 1847, most of Rebecca's children lived with her oldest son, Joseph, and his wife. Ellen, however, does not appear in Joseph Gibson's household.9 After 1843, Ellen no longer appears in the record. There are many reasons that may explain this including her death, her marriage, or her departure from the colony.
2. Hall, Richard L. On Afric’s Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia, 1834-1857. (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), 450.
3. Ibid.
8. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society), Subscribers Reports Census, 1817-1902, MSA SC 5977, Film Number M 13247-1, 1843 a Census.1843 b.
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