The family of John Gibson and Jane Patillo Gibson sailed from Liverpool, England to New York on the RMS Mauretania arriving on November 14, 1913. On arrival, they were processed through Ellis Island. In 1913 a westbound transatlantic passage for third class passengers on the Mauretania cost about $17. To put their voyage in historical perspective, the Gibson family crossed the Atlantic about a year and a half after the sinking of the Titanic (April 1912) and about a year and a half before the sinking of the Lusitania during World War I (May 1915).
Both John and Jane and all of their children were born in Scotland. Several members of the family may have arrived in the United States earlier, but that is only conjecture. It is also conjecture that they traveled from New York to San Francisco by steamer around the horn of South America. The Panama Canal did not open until August 1914. The only evidence for this possibility is a steamer trunk and a surviving ticket in the possession of one of the descendants.
The Gibson Family:
John Gibson: 1856-1917
Jane Patillo Gibson: 1864-1942
Jean Gibson Schulz: 1884 to January 8, 1951
James Schulz: April 3, 1884 (San Francisco, CA) to October 1, 1960
Margaret Marshall Gibson Turnbull: April 18, 1885 to December 5, 1845
Andrew Turnbull: August 7, 1876 (Scotland) to January 28, 1953
Robert Gibson: February 28, 1887 to October 11, 1938
Margaret Fraser Gibson: December 26, 1886 (Scotland) to April 28, 1980
John Gibson: June 15, 1889 To February 21, 1973
Elizabeth Young Gibson Rowe: March 13, 1891 (Corstorphine, Scotland) to October 4, 1956
Thomas Joseph Rowe: January 21, 1886 (Edinburgh, Scotland) to September 28, 1951
Ernest Gibson
All members of the Gibson Family and their spouses are enterred in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California except Ernest Gibson (gravesite unknown) and Elizabeth Gibson Rowe and Thomas Joseph Rowe who are enterred in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California.
There is very little information known about Ernest Gibson. He was the youngest member of the family and I remember my folks referring to him as Uncle Ernie. I have an address for him from years ago in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, which is just across the border from Washington, D.C. I also seem to remember that his wife’s name was Bess and that he worked for the government. He did not keep in touch with the rest of the family. If anyone has any information about Ernest Gibson it would be great to have you share it in the comments to this article.