Gibbons, Erastus
Birth
Erastus Gibbons Jr. was born June 11, 1844 in Coeymans, Albany County, NY to Erastus Gibbons Sr. (B. March 2 or 8, 1804, D. April 5, 1878) and Martha Wheat (B. Sept 9, 1807, D. Sept 10, 1875). He was a middle child in a family of about twelve children several of whom died in early childhood.
Marriage & Children
On September 26, 1867, Erastus Gibbons Jr. married Caroline Garrett (B. abt 1848, D. 1888), who was known as Carrie and was the daughter of Abner Garrett and Amanda Gregory.
Military Service
| Residence at Enlistment: | Westerlo[1] |
| Place of Birth: | Coeymans, Albany Co., NY[1] |
| Date of Birth: | 11 June 1844[1] |
| Names of Parents: | Erastus (Gibbons) and Martha Wheat[1] |
| Marital Status: | Single[1] |
| Occupation: | Farmer[1] |
| Term of Enlistment: | 2 years[1] |
| Bounty Received: | None[1] |
| Enlistment Date: | Feb 1862 or Feb 18, 1862[2] |
| Enlistment Place: | Albany, NY[1] |
| Enlistment Rank: | Private |
| State Served: | New York |
| Regiment: | 3rd Infantry NY[2] |
| Company: | Company D |
| Muster Out Date: | Apr 1862[2] or 24 April 1863[1] |
| Muster Out Place: |
| Additional Remarks: "Went with his Reg to Fort McHenry and was there Discharged on account of disability April 24, 1863 P.O. Address Dormansville Albany Co N.Y."[1] |
| Sources Used:1890 Veteran's census; Ancestry.com, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865; Town and City Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War; 1890 US Veterans Census Westerlo; Civil War Pension Index, www.ancestry.com |
Military Service
The Civil War was a very tough time for Gibbons family because Erastus' older brother John H. S. Gibbons (B. March 12, 1835, D. abt 1864) had moved to Alabama before the war and fought on the Confederate side. Brother fighting against brother was a common in the border states and relatively rare for families in the northeast. The family's fears were realized when John H. S. Gibbons was killed during the war and buried with military honors at Demopolis, Alabama.
Erastus' service in the Civil War was very short. He served from February 1862 to April 1862 when he was discharged for a disability, which in the 1890 US Veterans Census is recorded as a "rupture".
Life
While Erastus Jr. was born in Coeymans he was descended from a Westerlo family. In fact his grandfather John Gibbons was one of the founders of Westerlo as he settled there in 1795.
Erastus's parents, who married December 29, 1830, were living in Coeymans at the time of Erastus' birth in 1842 and remained ther in 1850. His father Erastus Sr. was a carpenter and farmer. By 1860 the family had relocated to Westerlo where Erastus Sr. had a large farm.
After the War, Erastus Jr. returned to Westerlo where he was to live for the remainder of his life. He married and began a family. Erastus and his older brother Hiram Gibbons (B. Feb 13, 1839, D. 1910) openned a dry goods store in Westerlo. Erastus and Hiram were living next store to one another in 1870 and several houses away from their parents and younger siblings. This census recorded Erastus and Carrie's child Martha Gibbons, who was born in March of 1850 and was known as Mattie. In the late 1870s both of Erastus Jr.'s parents died. In 1880, Erastus was still a grocer and his family had expanded to include Nettie, William and Estella. It was in June of 1880 that Erastus's health declined sufficiently to file for his Civil War pension. Later in that decade, in 1888, Erastus' wife Caroline, who was only in her 40s or early 50s, died.
After Caroline's death, Erastus's sister Esther M. Gibbons (B. Nov 22, 1840 or Sept 1841, D. May 4, 1925), who was still single, moved in with the family. By 1900, Erastus who was still working as a merchant at age 56, was living with his youngest daughter Estella Gibbons (B. April 1879) and his sister Esther. By 1910, the family had grown to include not only Erastus' sister Esther, but his son Albert Gibbons, who was known as Bert, his daughter Martha Gibbons Fish and a boarder Samuel Luckey. The 1910 has several errors including denoting Esther as Erastus' mother, but the ages are clear that this is incorrect. Erastus was still a storekeeper and his son Albert, whose occupation was given as laborer, was apparently working with his father.
Death
Erastus Gibbons Jr. died on January 30, 1917 at Dormansville, NY.
Obituary
Additional Research Notes
Additional Media
Town and City Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War
Civil War Pension Index
Sources
