Gibson, John
Gibson, John,
1740–1822, American frontiersman, b. Lancaster, Pa. After taking part in the capture (1758) of Fort DuquesneFort Duquesne, at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, on the site of Pittsburgh, SW Pa. Because of its strategic location, it was a major objective in the last of the French and Indian Wars.
..... Click the link for more information. (renamed Fort Pitt) in the French and Indian War, he became a trader with the Native Americans there. He was captured in Pontiac's RebellionPontiac's Rebellion,
Pontiac's Conspiracy,
or Pontiac's War,
1763–66, Native American uprising against the British just after the close of the French and Indian Wars, so called after one of its leaders, Pontiac.
..... Click the link for more information. and served in Lord Dunmore's War (see Dunmore, John Murray, 4th earl ofDunmore, John Murray, 4th earl of,
1732–1809, British colonial governor of Virginia, a Scottish peer. Appointed governor of New York in 1770, he remained there for about 11 months before being transferred to
..... Click the link for more information. ). In the American Revolution he was principally useful in dealing with western Native Americans. For a time (1781–82) he was commander at Fort Pitt. Later he was living in Pennsylvania at the time of the Whiskey RebellionWhiskey Rebellion,
1794, uprising in the Pennsylvania counties W of the Alleghenies, caused by Alexander Hamilton's excise tax of 1791. The settlers, mainly Scotch-Irish, for whom whiskey was an important economic commodity, resented the tax as discriminatory and detrimental to
..... Click the link for more information. and earned much animosity from his neighbors by siding with the government. He served (1800–1816) as secretary of the Indiana Territory and was of great aid to William Henry HarrisonHarrison, William Henry,
1773–1841, 9th President of the United States (Mar. 4–Apr. 4, 1841), b. "Berkeley," Charles City co., Va.; son of Benjamin Harrison (1726?–1791) and grandfather of Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901).
..... Click the link for more information. .
Gibson, John,
1790–1866, English sculptor of the classical school. His early promise gained him admirers, and in 1817 he was sent to Rome. There he worked successively in the studios of CanovaCanova, Antonio, 1757–1822, Italian sculptor. He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical school whose influence on the art of his time was enormous. Canova's monumental statues and bas-reliefs are executed with extreme grace, polish, and purity of contour.
..... Click the link for more information. and ThorvaldsenThorvaldsen or Thorwaldsen, Albert Bertel
, 1770–1844, Danish sculptor, b. Copenhagen. In 1797 he went to Rome, where he shared with Canova the leadership of the neoclassicists.
..... Click the link for more information. . He lived chiefly in Rome, although most of his commissions came from England. Gibson, invoking the precedent of the Greeks, endeavored to popularize tinted statues.
Bibliography
See biography by Lady Eastlake (1870), containing his autobiography.