County of Gibson County
Location of courthouse: E. Eaton St & N. College St., Trenton
Location of county: NW corner, not at border; crossroads of: US-79, TN-104, TN-105 and US-45W, US-45E
Year Founded: 1823
Named After: John H. Gibson, a soldier of the Natchez Expedition and the Creek War
Elevation: 570 ft (174 m)
Population: 50,541 (2021)
The Person:
Col. John H. Gibson, native of Bedford County, Tennessee married a Miss McConn of Frandfort, KY and they were the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters. On 21 February 1811, he was commissioned a Lieutenant in the 28th Regiment of The Tennessee Militia. He was Second Major of Col. John Coffee's Cavalry Regiment under General Andrew Jackson in 1812- 13 on the campaign to Natchez and in 1813 served as Lt. Col. under Brig. Gen. Coffee in the Creek War.
"Although his descendants lived in Gibson County, it is believed that he never did. Col. Gibson died near Jackson TN in 1823, the year Gibson County was established. He was buried with "honor of war" and just before the 1861 the Tennessee Legislature passed an act authorizing the removal of his body to the grounds of the State Capital in Nashville. His grave was never identified and he sleeps in an unknown grave probably in Madison County." ~ WebRoots
His Find-A-Grave listing.
The Place:
"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 Colonel John H. Gibson, who served under Andrew Jackson in the Natchez campaign, the Creek Wars, and the New Orleans campaign.
"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.
"From its beginning, agriculture has played an important role in Gibson County. Fertile lands along the river bottoms of the North and Middle Forks of the Forked Deer River and the Rutherford Fork of the Obion River and numerous creek bottoms made farming profitable. Diversification has characterized Gibson County's agricultural history. Some sixty years ago the county ranked second in the number of farm products. During the last decades of the nineteenth century and until World War I, truck crops (cabbage, tomatoes, and strawberries) were an important source of income. Difficulties in securing labor and competition from other states caused large-scale production of these crops to be discontinued. Today, agriculture still accounts for a significant portion of the county's economy, with cotton, corn, soybeans, swine, and beef the leading products.
"A number of incorporated towns hold special celebrations. Trenton, the county seat, is the home of the world's largest collection of Veilleuse-Theieres. This collection, numbering 525 porcelain pieces, was donated to the city by Dr. Frederick Freed. A teapot festival is held each year. Since 1934 Humboldt has been the home of the annual West Tennessee Strawberry Festival. Both the Strawberry Festival Historical Museum and the West Tennessee Regional Center for the Arts are housed in the old City Hall. Milan is the home of the West Tennessee Agriculture Museum, where the annual No-Till Field Day is held. Dyer stages the Dyer Station Days each summer. The event takes its name from the original name of the town. Yorkville, one of the oldest settlements in the county, holds the annual International Washer Tournament each year. Rutherford observes Davy Crockett Days. The restored last Tennessee home of Crockett and the grave of his mother are found here. Kenton, on the Obion County line, is the home of the “White Squirrels,” and the town holds a celebration in their honor each year. For a number of years, Bradford observed the Doodle Soup Festival. Doodle Soup, a delicacy unique to the area, is made from the drippings of cooked chicken. At one time Gibson was known as the truck farming capital of the area. Medina celebrates its location as the midpoint from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
"Davy Crockett–hunter, storyteller, and politician–stands out among the notable personalities of Gibson County. Although many Tennessee counties claim Crockett as a citizen, he was living in Gibson County when he announced his candidacy for his term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Peter Taylor, the author of several novels and short stories, is a native of Trenton. Historians Mary U. Rothrock and Samuel Cole Williams both called Gibson County home, and Gentry R. McGee, an early educator, wrote McGee's School History of Tennessee, which was used as a textbook for over thirty years. Andrew D. Holt, a native of Milan, served as president of the University of Tennessee, 1959-70.
"In 2000, Gibson County had a population of 48,152. The county has three hospitals and seven nursing homes. American Ordnance in Milan is the largest private employer, with eleven hundred workers. Gibson County does not have a county system of schools, but supports four special school districts and one city system." ~ Tennessee Encyclopedia