Gibson Family Introduction

Below is a summary tree of the first four generations of Leigh Anne Gibson's ancestors. Below that are short summaries for each of the sixteen families at the top of the tree. For more detail on the families, click the links throughout the summaries or visit the Family Trees, Scrapbooks or Biographies sections of this site.

Elliott Daniel Gibson Ancestors
Gibson
The Gibson ancestors were English with John Gibson, born in 1595 in Caton, Lancashire, England being the oldest known ancestor. The trail of Leigh Anne Gibson's Gibson ancestors travels from England to Ireland to the USA. In the USA, her ancestors lived first in Pennsylvania, then Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and finally in Alabama. The predominant majority of her Gibson ancestors lived in Fayette County, Alabama while one, Cullen Lee Gibson, Leigh Anne Gibson's great grandfather moved to Leeds, Alabama in the heart of the Upper Cahaba Valley. Click here for a detailed history of the Gibsons.

Shepherd
The Shepherds are presumed to be of English descent. The earliest known Shepherd ancestor was William Shepherd, born in 1744 in Virginia. He married Jamimah Johnson in 1764 and they settled in Anson County, North Carolina. They had two sons William Jr. and John. William Jr. married Elizabeth Yerby in 1792. They had sixteen children. William Jr. and Elizabeth remained in North Carolina until at least 1819. Sometime after that, they and their children relocated to Fayette County, Alabama. Their fourth son, Issac Shepherd was founder of Shepherd Baptist Church in Newtonville, Alabama and their eleventh child, Jacob Solon Shepherd was a prominent member in the church. Jacob Solon Shepherd married Mariah Nall in 1840 and they had ten children. Their eldest child, Peniah Elizabeth Shepherd married Joseph James Gibson in 1872. They had eight children. Their third son was Cullen Lee Gibson, who was Leigh Anne Gibson's great grandfather.

Elliott
The Elliott ancestors are presumed to be of English descent. The oldest known ancestor is Stanford Soloman Elliott, who was born in South Carolina in 1833 and came to Shelby County, Alabama sometime between 1852 and 1856. Stanford was a Civil War veteran who was captured at Resaca, Georgia on May 16,1864 and held by the Union until the end of the War. Stanford's son Amos Daniel married Lethia Minervi Walker of Shelby County and they moved to Leeds, Alabama. Their daughter Sybil Gertrude married Cullen Lee Gibson.

Walker
Little is currently known about the Walker ancestors in comparison with the other ancestors in Leigh Anne Gibson's family tree. The oldest known ancestor is believed to be Lige Walker. He was born sometime between 1770 - 1804 and may have come to Alabama from South Carolina or Georgia. He married a woman whose surname was Hardiman and they had nine children. The Walkers like to bestow their newborns with plenty of names. For example, Lige's seventh child's name was James Pipkin Delaware Christopher Holmes Peter ty Oliver J. U. Jones Walker! He was known by his friends and family as "Tip". Tip married Amy C. (maiden name unknown) and they had at least four children. Their daughter Lethia Minervi Walker married Amos Daniel Elliott and their daughter Sybil Gertrude Elliott was Leigh Anne Gibson's great grandmother. Click here to view a Walker family history hand written by Sallie Mae Edge. Tip Walker was Sallie Mae Edge's great Uncle. This hand written family history is the basis for all current knowledge of the Walker ancestors.

Simpson
The Simpson ancestors were Irish with Thomas Simpson, born in 1780 in Ireland being the oldest known ancestor. Thomas immigrated to York, South Carolina, where he married Rebecca Arnold and raised twelve children before moving to Branchville, Alabama in the Upper Cahaba Valley sometime after 1825. Thomas' son James C. Simpson married Martha Ann Newton in 1836 and had four children before her death at age 29 in 1847. After her death James remarried to Martha Morgan in 1850. James and Martha (Morgan) had eleven children. Their youngest child, James Grant Simpson, born in 1869, married Martha Mize in 1890. James and Martha had six children. Their third child was Shirley Commodore Simpson. Shirley married Daisy Little and they had six children before Daisy's tragic death from complications of childbirth. Daisy was 32 years old. Their daughter Mary Ruth Simpson married Cullen Lee Gibson's son Cullen Elliott. Cullen Elliott and Mary Ruth were Leigh Anne Gibson's grandparents.

Mize
The earliest known Mize ancestor was James Mize, who was born in Surry, Virginia in 1670. He married Elspet Young and they had twin sons, James and Jeremiah, who were born in 1698. (For more about these two boys, click here). Jeremiah married Tabitha Edmonds and sometime after 1755, they moved to Granville, North Carolina. Their grandson, Obediah was born in 1780 in Granville. He married Sarah Frazier and they had twelve children. Sometime before 1810, Obediah and Sarah moved to Pendelton District, South Carolina and by 1821, they had moved again, arriving in St. Clair County Alabama. Obediah and Sarah's fifth child, John Easley Mize married Elizabeth Lawley. Their granddaughter, Martha Alice Mize married James Grant Simpson. James and Martha were Mary Ruth Simpson's paternal grandparents.

Interestingly, Leigh Anne Gibson's mother, Rebecca Lynne Taylor is also descended from Obediah and Sarah Mize. She is descended from Obediah and Sarah's second child, Lewis who married Ruth Huchingson. Lewis and Ruth's great granddaughter, Mae Etta Mize married Daniel Jackson "Jackie" Taylor. Their son Wilburn Jackson Taylor was Rebecca Taylor's father.

Little
Henry Little is the earliest ancestor known to have lived in the Upper Cahaba Valley of Alabama. It is widely believed that he came to the Upper Cahaba Valley in 1819 from South Carolina. He married Sinthey (Bass) of North Carolina. Their great grandaughter Daisy was Leigh Anne Gibson's great grandmother.

There are competing theories on the ancestry of Henry Little. One theory is that Henry Little's father was Daniel Little, who was born in Rowan, North Carolina and died in Kershaw, South Carolina. In this theory, the Little ancestors were German with Johann Jakob Klein, born in Schotten Germany in 1580 being the oldest known ancestor. Several generations of Klein's lived in Germany before Johann Heinrich Klein immigrated to the USA and settled in Pennsylvania sometime after 1750. Johann Heinrich and his wife Anna Margaretha changed their childrens' surname to Little (the english translation of Klein). Their eldest son, Johann Daniel Little moved to Rowan, North Carolina where the Littles lived for several generations. Johann Daniel's son Daniel moved to South Carolina in 1800, very near the birth date of Henry Little. Henry could have been born in North or South Carolina.

Another theory is that Henry Little's father was Henry Little, Sr., who was born in South Carolina in 1780 and died in Jefferson County, Alabama. The earliest ancestor under this theory is Isaac Little, born in 1720 in Virginia.

McLaughlin
The McLaughlins were Scottish with Dougal McClellan (born 1740 in Scotland) being the oldest known ancestor. Dougal's son Alexander Andrew married Axey Skilman and their children were the first McLaughlin ancestors to be born in the United States. Of their eight children, four were born in Tennessee and one in Alabama. Their son James G. met Kizziah McCain, who was also born in Tennessee, and they were married in Shelby County Alabama in 1820. Their eldest son, William Carl, was born in 1821 and served as the eighth Pastor of the Mount Hebron Baptist Church. He was affectionately referred to as "Parson Billy". Parson Billy's daughter Theodocia married George Washington "Wash" Little in 1880. Their daughter Daisy married Shirley Commodore Simpson and was Leigh Anne Gibson's great grandmother.

Rebecca Lynne Taylor Ancestors
Taylor
The Taylors were English with Richard Taylor, born in Pennington, Castle, Cumberland, England in 1625, being the oldest known ancestor. Richard immigrated to the United States where he met Ruth Burgess and settled in Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts. The Taylor family lived in Massachusetts for several generations before grandson John Taylor moved to Virginia. John Taylor's grandson James Taylor married Ann Nancy Owen and they moved to Grainger County, Tennessee. Their grandson Daniel Taylor met Mary Rowan and they moved to St. Clair County, Alabama where they were married in 1820. Daniel and Mary's grandson was Larkin Taylor. Larkin Taylor's grandson was Wilburn Jackson Taylor, who was Leigh Anne Gibson's maternal grandfather.

Martin
James and Elizabeth Martin were the earliest known ancestors to come to the Upper Cahaba valley from Tennessee some time after 1809. James and Elizabeth had eight children. Their oldest child William married Harriet Frazier in 1825 and they had six children. Their son James R. married Minerva Kerr in 1855. They had four children. Their daughter Mary Jane married Larkin Taylor in 1874.

Mize
See summary above.

Creel
William Creel is the earliest known Creel ancestor. He was born in 1700 and lived in Prince William County Virginia. His son Thomas married Charity Duke in 1770. They lived in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Their son William married Nancy Ann Valentine in 1805. William and Nancy had ten children. Their son Levi married Sina Stivinder in 1826. They had fourteen children, among them four who died in the Civil War. Their son John, born 1827, met Mary Ann Sikes of Barbour County, Alabama and they were married in 1850. Their daughter Emily Ann Creel married James Monroe Mize in 1882. Their daughter Mae Etta Mize married Daniel Jackson "Jackie" Taylor. Their granddaughter Rebecca Lynne Taylor is Leigh Anne Gibson's mother.

Farley

Overton

Lacey

Griffin