John Gibson ( soldier ) John Gibson ( May 23 , 1740 – April 10 , 1822 ) was a veteran of the French and Indian War , Lord Dunmore ' s War , the American Revolutionary War , Tecumseh ' s War , and the War of 1812 . A delegate to the first Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1790 , and a merchant , he earned a reputation as a frontier leader and had good relations with many Native American in the region . At age sixty he was appointed the Secretary of the Indiana Territory where he was responsible for organization the territorial government . He served twice as acting governor of the territory , including a one year period during the War of 1812 in which he mobilized and led the territorial militia to relieve besieged Fort Harrison . Early life . John Gibson was born in Lancaster , Pennsylvania on May 23 , 1740 , the son of George and Elizabeth de Vinez Gibson . Gibson ' s father was born in Antrim , Ireland and came to Pennsylvania in 1730 . The elder Gibson was a trader , who exchanged goods with the Conestogas who often met near his tavern in Lancaster , Pennsylvania . John Gibson ' s mother Elizabeth was born in France and left that country because she was a Hugenot Most of Gibson ' s early life was spent along the Allegheny frontier where he was a merchant trader . He held local office in several counties as a judge , clerk , and sheriff . Although there is no record of his schooling , he was reputed to be well educated for his times . In 1758 , at age seventeen , he participated in the Forbes Expedition under General John Forbes against the French at Fort Duquesne as part of the French and Indian War . He remained at Fort Pitt after the war to engage in trade with Native Americans . He was captured by Lenape during Pontiac ' s Rebellion while trading in the west and was condemned to be burnt , but escaped death when he was adopted by an old Indian woman whose son had died in battle . He remained with the Lenape tribe for some time . Later Gibson was freed as a result of the Boquet Expedition . After this Gibson returned to being an Indian trader . He built a house at Logstown which was described as the " only house there " by David McClure . Gibson married a relative of Mingo leader Logan and also learned to speak the Mingo language . Gibson ' s wife and several other Mingo were murdered by a group of settlers in May 1774 . Gibson ' s daughter survived this incident , and was put into his care and he saw to her education . In 1774 , he participated in Dunmore ' s War and produced a written translation of Logan ' s famous speech suing for peace : " I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan ' s cabin hungry and he gave him not meat . . . . " Revolutionary War . In 1775 Gibson was made the Indian agent at Pittsburgh to represent the interests of Virginia , acting for John Connolly who in turn acted under Lord Dunmore . With war between the Colonists and England likely to start soon , Dunmore sent a letter to Connolly to contact White Eyes to convince him to join the British cause and fight the colonists . Connolly gave the letter to Gibson to take to White Eyes . However Gibson decided that the local committee of correspondence ought to see the letter , and with their receiving the letter processes were put in place that led to Connolly ' s arrest on November 13 , 1775 close to Hagerstown , Maryland . Gibson was also appointed a magistrate for Fincastle County , Virginia which was at that time considered to include Pittsburgh by Connolly in 1875 . On May 16 , 1775 Gibson was elected the colonel over the 6th Virginia . In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War , Gibson was active in Indian negotiations . In early negotiations Netawatwees requested that traders be sent to his village for him and his fellow Lenape to sell furs to . He specifically requested that Gibson be included among these men , describing Gibson as a " good man " . From October 1778 until January 1779 Gibson served as the agent to the tribes in what is today Ohio for the Continental Congress government . Gibson commanded a regiment during the battles in New York and stayed in the theater until after the retreat through the Jerseys . He was then reassigned to command the army on the western front and left in command of forces at Fort Laurens during the harsh winter of 1778 – 1779 , during which the fort was subjected to a siege by British and native forces . In the summer of 1779 Gibson was made the second in command to Daniel Brodhead . For a few months after Broadhead was removed in May 1781 Gibson was the commanding officer at Fort Pitt . Gibson had intended to send troops to support George Rogers Clark but the negative effects of Broadhead ' s actions prevented Gibson from doing so . In August 1781 Broadhead returned to claim control at Fort Pitt . He arrested Gibson accusing him of having usurped his authority . George Washington sent orders to Braodhead to step down from his command , and so he released Gibson and let him take over command again . Civilian authorities in the area then arrested Broadhead . In November 1781 David Williamson brought in some Moravian Lenapes captured in Salem , Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhutten , Ohio to Fort Pitt . It is unclear if Gibson or William Irvine was in command when these Lenapes were released , but it seems that Gibson was at least blamed for this release . The problem was that after the release there were attacks on western Pennsylvania settlements . The fact that these were probably done by Half - King and his fellow Wyandots and not by the released Lenape was not factored into account by those who felt to denounce Gibson for this occurrence . In January 1782 Irvine went to Philadelphia to meet with congress and left Gibson in charge . The enlisted men at Fort Pitt then threatened to mutiny , which may have contributed to the conditions that led to the Gnadenhutten Massacre , although it was only one of many factors involved in the situation . Life in Pennsylvania . After the war Gibson returned to being a merchant but he went bankrupt , partly due to debts he had incurred in supporting the campaign of George Rogers Clark . Gibson was a judge in Allegheny County from 1791 - 1800 . He was also major - general and commanding officer of the militia for Allegheny County , and a member of Pennsylvania ' s constitutional convention in 1790 . Gibson was also involved with the purchase of the area of the Erie Triangle from the Iroquois for the state of Pennsylvania . Indiana Territory . U . S . President John Adams appointed Gibson to be secretary of the Indiana Territory in 1800 , despite him being sixty years old . Gibson arrived in the territory in July of that year and took up his duties . For nearly a year he was the only government official in the territory and began organizing the government by appointing officers for the territorial militia . Governor William Henry Harrison did not arrive in the territory until January 1801 in which time Gibson served as acting - governor . One of his first acts as secretary was to conduct a census of the territory . It took him a full year of investigation to find that the population was slightly less than five thousand . After Harrison arrived in the territory , Gibson took on several more positions after being appointed justice of the peace , Knox County recorder , and a judge of the low court that tried misdemeanors and petty crimes . Gibson ' s relationship with the local tribes proved invaluable to Harrison during the numerous treaty negotiations in the early part of his term . Gibson , who spoke several of the native languages , was the first to become aware of Tecumseh ' s attempt to massacre the citizens of Vincennes in 1810 and was able to quickly and secretly gather together soldiers to prevent the situation from escalating . He became acting - governor again in the summer of 1811 while Harrison was out of the territory . The American Indian Confederacy led by Tecumseh began to make aggressive movements and attacked Fort Harrison . Gibson called up the territorial militia and the Indiana Rangers , and organized several regiments to go to its aid . He was also instrumental in negotiating treaties with the Lenape and other tribes and preventing them from entering the war against the United States . Gibson remained acting governor once war was officially declared while Harrison led the army against the British and their native allies in the War of 1812 . His final act as acting - governor was to oversee the move of the territorial capitol from Vincennes to Corydon following the reorganization of the territory by Congress . He returned to his secretary ' s position in May 1813 when Thomas Posey arrived in the territory to assume the governorship . Gibson continued in the office of secretary until Indiana achieved statehood in 1816 . After completing his term in government , at age seventy - six Gibson and his wife Ann returned to private life , briefly remaining in Vincennes . He returned to live with his daughter and son - in - law , George Wallace , in Braddock ' s Field near Pittsburg , where he died on April 10 , 1822 at age eighty - two , having suffered two years from an " incurable cataract " . Gibson County , Indiana was named his honor . References . Bibliography