Talk:John Gibson (American soldier)

Bad sources...

Some of the John Gibson information is derived from the historical fiction writings of A.W. Eckert. This should be removed and more reliable sources found. TruthBastion (talk) 23:50, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

I beleive I have removed the content in question, thank you for pointing that out. The majority of this article is sourced from Woollen and Gugin, which are qutie reliable. —Charles Edward ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 12:31, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Still bad sources...

Any content that mentions Koonay is pure Eckert, or quoted or paraphrased from Eckert. Likewise the inclusion of Jacob Greathouse as a co-ringleader of the massacre is a modern fiction. Gibson was captured and adopted by Delaware, not Mingo Indians. I have never seen a period document that cites him as living in "southwest Virginia" during his captivity, which is made more unlikely by his being an adopted Delaware. There is a better bio of him, though a bit cleansed, in the biography of his nephew, John Bannister Gibson. The family did not want to acknowledge his Indian country wife and child. There is some better correspondence between he (JBG) and Draper about his uncle, though it is I believe still unpublished, and I suppose not any good for Wiki. TruthBastion (talk) 07:25, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Gugin states that Gibson's wife was killed in a massacre by white settlers, but give no names. It says his wife was the sister of Chief Logan, but mentions nothing about their children. It also reads like he abandoned his wife and returned to trading, it it was in that period that his wife was killed in a massacre by settlers. I think the article should at minimum reflect that. —Charles Edward ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 14:17, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

I think you should find a better source or sources than Gugin. First, if you check the Wiki entry for Logan, in the discussion section, you will see that he was not a chief, so calling him "chief Logan" just perpetuates that myth. I have no idea where the "abandonded" his wife part comes from. See Rev. David McClure's diary for brief discussion of Gibson's relationship with his Indian wife, likewise missionary John Lacey in 1773. Gibson's wife was not Logan's biological sister, all of whom in 1774 were either dead or likely past child bearing age. This is an Iroquois kinship term. The other woman who died in the massacre is called his "mother", again a kinship term, as the Moravian records are clear on Logan's mother passing away in the 1740's. All close female relatives on your mother's side, such as aunts and cousins could be called mother or sister. I would rather see nothing mentioned about the "sister" if the other choice is modern myths by researchers who did not dig deep enough. TruthBastion (talk) 15:15, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Changes

I removed some of the fictional elements, but John Gibson still needs help from some better sources. TruthBastion (talk) 06:39, 31 July 2009 (UTC)